UniBlue PowerSuite - Clean and Optimize Your PC

Installation of PowerSuite was fairly quick and straightforward: enter the product License Key, accept the EULA terms, and select where the product should be installed. [1_LicenseKey.jpg] It only took a minute or two and the product was done installing. [2_InstallProgress.jpg] And, voila! Just like that PowerSuite is installed and ready to roll.

What's Not:&nbsp

The installation ends with an option to launch the software, which I did. The initial console showed all Red X's for status because I had not yet downloaded necessary updates or run the initial scans to identify and fix any existing issues. I think that all of this initial scanning and baselining of the system should be a part of the installation. By the time the product really starts for the first time, it should be updated and ready to run.

The Main Console of the user interface is clear and simple. [3_MainConsole.jpg] At a glance you can quickly see the status of your PC as it related to each of the three PowerSuite products.

UniBlue uses the standard Green - Yellow - Red system for identifying the status of a given product. A green circle with a checkmark means everything is good. If there are any minor or critical issues, the circle will be yellow or red, as appropriate, instead.

Below each product on the Main Console is a link that will launch the individual applications. Each application is layed out with a similar look and feel, so it feels fairly well integrated even though there are three separate products.

Within the product interfaces, there are some options displayed in the left pane of the screen, and tabs across the top. They are fairly intuitive when it comes to navigation, and an average user should be able to click their way through customizing the configuration.

The UniBlue PowerSuite is really just a bundle of three separate products, but as a suite, the combination includes the following features:

While the SpyEraser functionality crosses over into the security genre, the suite is primarily focused on PC maintenance and optimizing PC performance.

• Scan Registry to identify errors and 'orphaned' entries
• Fixes Registry issues at the click of a button
• Defragments the Windows System Registry
• Remove hard drive disk clutter
• Optimize CPU and system memory performance
• Maximize Internet data transfer rates
• Identify and remove spyware and adware threats
• Real-time protection against spyware infections

What's Not:&nbsp

While the interface is fairly intuitive and an average user ought to be able to click his or her way through the menus and options to configure the products, UniBlue could do a better job of explaining the options and holding the user's hand, so to speak, to walk through customizing the way the products scan or the real-time protection settings.

The UniBlue PowerSuite performed flawlessly for me.

The RegistryBooster scan took a decent amount of time, as did the initial SpyEraser scan, but neither seemed to take an unreasonable amount of time.

I especially appreciated the RegistryBooster functionality. Having a product that can clean up the Registry at the click of a button can both speed up and improve the stability of your computer system.

The SpeedUpMyPC features seemed to work nicely. There were tweaks and optimizations made, and I believe I detected an increase in system performance. But, I did not scientifically measure the results so I can't say for sure that it worked, or how well.

SpyEraser also worked fine.

What's Not:&nbsp

I did not experience any issues, but reading various reviews and user comments on forums, it seems that there are a significant number of users who have reported problems.

The most common claim seems to be that the SpeedUpMyPC portion of the suite either doesn't produce any noticeable speed increase, or in some cases even slowed systems down.

Again, I did not experience any such issues, and it is possible that were user-error, or limited to specific hardware or versions of Windows. Just be aware that not everyone thinks this product rocks.

If you go shop for any of the individual products--RegistryBooster 2, SpeedUpMyPC 3, or SpyEraser 2--you will find that they each run about $30. So, the fact that you can get all three bundled into the PowerSuite for the same price makes the price to value a virtual no-brainer.

If you are not having any system performance issues, you may not need this product. For spyware protection, in and of itself, I would recommend using Spy Sweeper, or a security suite product with spyware protection built in, such as Norton 360.

However, if you are interested in cleaning up, maintaining, and hopefully speeding up your PC, this product is a great value for the price.