The Best Tuneup Utilities

A new PC has snappy out of the box performance that lets you launch programs, process data, and surf the Web with ease. Unfortunately, that silky-smooth experience eventually goes bye-bye as the hard drive suffers fragmentation, and junk files clog a system's insides. Make no doubt about it, your PC will experience this problem. Reinstalling the operating system will remedy the issue, but that's a time-consuming activity that you wouldn't want to perform on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. There is another solution: use a PC tune-up utility.

PC tune up utilities are applications designed to fix the wear and tear that computers suffer over time by repairing hard drive fragmentation, fixing the registry, and deleting useless files. While all of the tools listed here perform these basic actions, a few go the extra mile by implementing unique features. For example, the Editors' Choice award-winning Iolo System Mechanic 10 ($49.95, 4.5 stars) scored high marks for its top-notch tune-up capabilities, but also for its Program Accelerator (which smartly re-aligns all of a program's dependent files on the hard drive so that the PC finds them faster), useful desktop widget (which delivers at-a-glance system information), and Whole Home Licensing (which does away with install limitations). SlimWare Utilities' SlimCleaner also scored an Editors' Choice Award for its unique approach. Not only is it free and license-free, but it uses aggregated data from its user base to recommend the optimal settings for your PC; it even rewards you with badges for contributing accurate information. AVG PC Tuneup 2011's ($29.99, 4 stars) overall performance and real-time system monitoring makes it another to turn to when it's time to clean up a PC.

This isn't a collection of every available PC tune-up utility, but the ones included here are some of the best that you'll find. Some are paid apps, some are free apps, but you can rest easy knowing that even the lowest scoring of these PC tune up utilities will leave your PC in better condition than they found it. Click the links below to read full reviews of these PC tune-up utilities that will make your computer run like new. If you've got a tune-up utility you like better, let us know in the comments section.