System Suite 8 Professional Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)System Suite 8 is just what I've been looking for! Since installing it my computer runs much faster and smoother and loading programs and files is once again a "snap." Just like it was when I first bought my laptop. I feel like I have a brand new computer!
Installing the software was a bit "hairy." One of my other programs (which was supposed to be "disabled") kept popping up messages and acting weird. But once System Suite was installed everything was okay and I was ready to see what this program could do. So I clicked the two ONE CLICK buttons to protect and optimize my computer and just let it do its thing. After awhile the software reported my system to now be in "excellent" shape. Boy, that was an understatement!
All my files and programs now load rapidly and when browsing the internet switching back and forth between tabs in Firefox is virtually instantaneous. This program ROCKS!
I had previously been using PC Trend Micro, which did an excellent job handling viruses and spyware. Well, System Suite 8 uses Trend Micro's technology for those functions PLUS restores and tunes up your computer and keeping everything running at its peak! All this for a bargain price.
The interface is clean, neat and very user friendly. Very simple. However, if you want to adjust the settings you certainly can. And you can schedule the functions to run in the background anytime you wish. I like the way System Suite gently "pops up" a lower-corner report occasionally to show you the status of your system. It's like having a friendly technician constantly working for you, just to make sure you have a pleasant computing experience.
I've been using computers for 20 years now and this System Suite software is a real treat. It does everything it is supposed to. And unlike some software that slow down your system (I won't mention Norton), System Suite 8 speeds things up!
My wife and I both love this software (you can install it on 3 computers) and we highly recommend it. System Suite 8 has tuned things up for us, is protecting our computers and is keeping everything running at maximum speed and efficiency. We wish ALL computer programs were this good! :)
Just take your time installing the program. Then simply click the ONE CLICK buttons to optimize your system. After that you can tweak the powerful settings anyway you wish and schedule the software to keep everything running at maximum efficiency. System Suite is powerful and simple to operate. You can't get much simpler than ONE CLICK buttons! But for those of you who want to "get under the hood" and tweak things yourself, you certainly can. This software is fantastic!
UPDATE: September 3, 2008 ... Three weeks ago my wife and I switched to Apple MacIntosh computers, so we no longer need this software (viruses, defragging, etc. is no longer an issue for us). However, I just sent an email to Avanquest thanking them for this great product. Anyone using a PC would benefit greatly from this software that works great. It's one of those programs that works "the way its supposed to" on the Windows system. Highly recommended, and I wish you all the best.

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System Suite 8 Professional is the Ultimate All-in-One Suite for PC Security Anti-Virus Anti-Spyware Maintenance and Privacy. System Suite's easy-to-use interface detects and removes viruses and spyware tunes up your hard drive fix Windows startup and registry problems recover lost data and diagnoses your hardware and much more. Get powerful protection and performance enhancement with System Suite's integrated suite of 60 powerful tools designed to maintain and protect your PC and keep it running just like the day you bought it. Defend against viruses spyware and hackers diagnose Windows problems recover lost data protect against spam and more. Data Recovery Tools restore your non-booting PC and recover deleted files and data. Launch Programs and Files Faster with DiskCleaner and DiskFixer to help you regain wasted disk space and repair problems on the drive's surface. JETDefrag the high performance disk defragmenter gives you a powerful and timesaving tool that reorganizes your hard drive. NetDefense Firewall is the ultimate defense against hackers and spammers. WebDefense identifies and blocks malicious websites preventing Phishing and fraud scams. File Shredder protects you from identity theft by securely erasing sensitive data. Firewall & Anti-Spam Secure File Shredder Disaster Recovery Tools Spyware Remover NetDefense Firewall Anti-Spam Control PC Maintenance Recovery Commander Internet Cleanup Windows Startup Manager Fraud & Phishing Scam Prevention Active Intelligence Monitor Enhanced Recover Commander Supports Windows NTFS FAT & FAT32 Disk Repair System Requirements - Windows 2000 XP or Vista Internet Explorer 5.01 or later 64MB RAM and 40MB free space Format: WIN 2000XPVISTA Genre:UTILITIES UPC:018059014718 Manufacturer No:1471

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Driver Genius Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'll make this hopefully short.
1. As I said, this is the trial version of Driver Genius. The full version off the internet cost me (I think it was) $39 dollars.
2. You will be given 15 days to get free updates before you are cut off from updates.
3. I have both the internet download and the Amazon.com version. When I tried to install the Amazon version over mine (it appeared to have better control board and maybe easier to use) I was asked to sign up to purchase permission to use it--again. It would not take my licenes key and serial code numbers--I think I can find a way a around that problem.
4. My version works fine.
5. My version will track down all drivers my system needs to operate.
six. Neither version will tarack down drivers for games or other user added software for business programs and such.The bottom line: The full version (like I have) is worth it--but I think you should be aware this is the 'trial' version.
BYE!

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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard Review

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(More customer reviews)Having purchased and been very happy with Acrobat 4-6 standard editions, I am sorry to say Version 7 is real step backwards for Adobe:
-- The program will not read many pdf documents Acrobat 4-6 will (this may some sort of font copyright problem or just a flaw in this version of the software).
-- The Activation process is tedious, difficult and prevents you from using your own software, even if you only install it on one machine.
Having purchased this software almost a year ago, I uninstalled it because it did not read files Acrobat 6 does, as mentioned above. I thought this might be a bug in the program which Adobe would fix. So I installed and uninstalled it several times, each time the program would not work. Now the program tells me I have activated it too many times, though I have no working copy of the program. The software tells me to call Adobe customer support, but after keeping me in a computer loop for 10 minutes I learn the "call center" is closed, or there is simply no answer after 50 minutes.
If I could return this software I would. It does not work. I can't return my copy, but you don't have to buy a copy. Stick with 6.0 or the cheaper Scansoft program. Acrobat 7.0 does not work, and after a time Adobe won't let you use, even if you buy it, full price.

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Pinnacle Studio Ultimate V14 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Pinnacle Studio line of video processing software has a
very simple and intuitive interface. It is relatively easy
to learn the software. Even though it is for beginners/home
users, it does provide options for more advanced, Hollywood
style video processing. But only when it works.
I have used Studio consistently since its version 9. The
most recent version is now Studio 14 and it comes
in several variations: basic, ultimate, and ultimate
collection.
My recommendation: 4 stars for its simple interface. Zero
for everything else.
* Installing Studio 14 (in my case the Ultimate version)
If you purchased earlier "Ultimate" or "Plus" versions of
Studio, or if you bought fancy "transitions" or similar
premium features for earlier versions of Studio, the ONLY
way that you can take advantages of only SOME of them,
is to re-install the older Studio versions. In previous
installations of Studio, you could simply reuse your
activation code to get those features, plugins, or premium
options back. For Studio 14, your earlier activation codes
or serial numbers mean nothing. You have to reinstall old
software. But how many customers keep three, four earlier
versions of a software? Pinnacle never gave a hint that
an older version has to be kept.
Furthermore, even with older versions, you cannot recover
everything for Studio 14. For example, I had already paid
for two plugins (known as Heroglyph and Adorage). Even
though I re-installed Studio versions 11 and 12, I was
unable to get these two plugins activated. I contacted
Pinnacle. They asked me to repay for these plugins! That's
absolutely unacceptable.
Note that the above problems are well documented in
Pinnacle's own users' forums: to visit, go to pinnaclesys
dot com, under support, click on forums, and follow the
"edit" forum. Many customers have complained that they had
to go back and install Studio 10, 11, 12 in order to get
back some of their "transitions" or other premium features.
* Customer service: absolutely horrible
You will have a service code that entitles you to one phone
call. For other calls, you will have to pay. When I called
the support, it was an absolute waste of time. First,
there is a long queue. Second, the person only talked
in uncertain terms: "it should", "I think so", "try it",
"I am not 100% sure", etc. No definite or precise responses
to any of my installation or activiation questions.
* Pixelation problems continue
A popular feature of many video processing software is that
of making a video (DVD) of still photos, using certain
transitions or filters to make photo presentation more
fun. A common (and well documented) problem with Studio
version 10 and afterward has been pixelation. The photos,
especially at transition points, get pixelated and look
ugly. Pinnacle's response: it is your hard-drive, update
your video card driver, replace your video card driver,
re-size your photos, etc.
The pixelation problem is a very serious one as there are
several threads in the "edit" forum, each consisting of at
least 40-50 individuals experiencing the same problem and
complaining.
* Personal experience with Studio 14
No MAJOR differences with Studio 12. It crashed the very
first time but worked the second time. However, because I
still do not have access to many of the "transitions",
premium features, and plugins that I already purchased
with earlier versions of Studio, I do not know if I can
do anything other than simple video processing that I can
do otherwise with the free video software that comes with
the Windows operating systems.

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The ultimate software for making great HD movies at home. Make great movies at home.

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iolo System Mechanic 7 Professional - 3 PCs Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It's good at finding bugs in the registry, spyware, and other nasties.
The trouble is, cleaning seems to rip out other applications' settings (such as PhotoImpact 11) and requiring a reinstall (or repair install) of those applications.
I also did a disk scan and it claimed there were problems requiring a chkdsk (I use WinXP w/SP2). A full disk scan revealed NO problems at all. Reassuring as I've been getting freaked out, but annoying because I can't find any other causes. AND this is on a newly formatted PC as well.
As v7 is a new release, wait for a product update or bug fix. Once the wrinkles are ironed out, I think this will be a good product. Right now it's overzealous and also has a tendency to find menace behind every shadow.
02/09/07 update: They have released a patch since my original review. Having installed it, it's been working MUCH better; and no applications (esp. PhotoImpact 11!) have had to be repaired or re-installed on a daily basis. And it fully recognized Trend Micro PC-Cillin firewall/antivirus. If anything, running the detection wizard keeps finding ONE security vulnerability, which it claims it fixes, but an immediate re-scan still shows the vulnerability. It doesn't say any detail information, so I can't manually repair it. However, all the other programs are gone and it does a competent job at cleaning up garbage and compressing the registry, and I've put my system through the paces (reluctantly, reformatting is a nightmare...)

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Five award-winning products in one authoritative solution including System Mechanic 7, iolo AntiVirus, iolo Personal Firewall, Search and Recover 4, and DriveScrubber 3.everything you need to keep your PC safe, fast, and error-free.Fix problems, boost performance, eliminate crashes, defend against spyware, viruses, and hacker threats, and much more.Use one centralized system dashboard to automatically perform all vital PC maintenance.Protects and repairs up to 3 PCs for one year!

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ROXIO EASY CD & DVD Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Installing this program on a computer running Windows XP a HUGE problem. After installing Window gives the message that the software will cause Windows to become unstable, and that Windows prevented the drivers from loading. Then sends you to Roxio website for patch. The patch did not work, and their support service provides a resolution that involves editing your computer's Registry, a task I do not want to attempt.
By the way, the only way you can speak to a live person is to pay $35 per hour, more than I paid for the program itself.
Totally frustrating software for XP.

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Adobe Acrobat Standard 9 Review

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(More customer reviews)Acrobat 8 has never integrated with Office 2007, or worked right with my scanner, so I foolishly bought Acrobat 9 in the hope it would be an improvement. It's not.
It seems Adobe simply focused on jamming more features into an already bloated and buggy application making things even worse. The office 2007 integration *still* does not work--even after spending hours trying the suggested solutions from Adobe. Beware, even for this $300 product, Adobe CHARGES for any phone support beyond basic installation help.
In addition to not working with Office 2007, Acrobat 9 is slow, throws up frequent error messages, and leaves part of itself running even after you shut it down which keeps Windows from shutting down without clicking past an "Acrobat has stopped responding" message. I also had trouble with Adobe's finicky product activation.
Memo to Adobe: More features are useless if the basics don't work reliably. People don't want products that take 20 minutes to install, forever to load, require hours of searching for and trying various support solutions to no avail, throw up frequent error messages, etc.
Someone else needs to come along (Google are you listening?) and derail Adobe's PDF train with a simple, reliable product that's more like Acrobat used to be in the old days (say version 5). For the 3% of the PDF users who actually *need* all the extra obscure publishing features, they can still buy Adobe's buggy bloatware. The rest of us just want reliable basic PDF support that works with the current applications and standards.

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Adobe Acrobat Standard v9 Windows

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PDF Converter Professional 5.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Scansoft products used to be decent products with strong support. That was before Nuance bought them out. Since capturing a basic monopoly on Voice to text, Text to Voice, scan to text, and PDF conversion, the company has grown arrogant, and less customer oriented than Microsoft at their worst. As one reviewer wrote, they charge you for customer support. The process goes something like this.
You visit the web page, and if you product is the current generation, or one prior, (it doesn't matter, current gen get treated no better)you have to enter in your license/product code, enter in your credit card number, and agree to be charged $9.95 for a totally useless email experience that only allows you access to their support page when you get a reply. My most recent experience involves Omnipage Pro, which has PDF converter and Creator built in. Omnipage Pro is such a slow and practicality useless program, that I uninstalled it after a week. However, a need came up where I needed a PDF converter, so I thought I'd load that part of the software.
I ran set up, used custom, had PDF creator and Converter installed leaving out the scanner software, entered in my key code, started the program, was asked if I wanted to activate the software, I did, however it wouldn't let me, telling me the license code was not valid. I attempted to find the problem/solution in their knowledge base, but don't bother, there is little if anything in there other than contact technical support.
So off to techincal support I went, only to discover that even for an installation problem, I had to pay. I did, after two days I got a response, telling me they needed my license code. As I'd had to enter it to get to the support page, this was irritating but I went to the webpage since they do no allow you to just hit respond. Entered in the key and two days later got another message telling me that my key code was for Omnipage Pro, not PDF converter. Gee, thanks for telling me that since I had to go to the Omnipage section to begin my initial inquiry.
I tried rewording my request, stating I have OmniPage pro, with comes with PDF creater and PDF Converter, and only wanted Converter to install, however it rejects my key code. Another two days pass, I get an emailed response telling me I don't have the proper code for PDF converter, mine is for Omnipage Pro. Again, I was grateful for the insight.
Back to the website, asked if there was anyway I could just install the portion of Omnipage that had the separate PDF. After more than a week passed, I get an email, telling me that I must install the entire program, register it, activate it, than I can uninstall the Omnipage pro leaving the PDF converter.
Following the instruction, I load the entire program, activate it, test PDF converter which works, go to add and remove, PDF creater and converter are listed separate from Omnipage,so I uninstall it per the directions of the last email. I go to use the PDF converter, it asks me if I want to activate it, (which I'd already done, but what the heck)it asks me for my key code, which I enter, only to get back a reply the key code I've entered is not valid.
Back to the website, explain the problem, and surprise, the response after two days is "your key code is not valid for PDF converter, only for Omnipage".
I give up, decide I'll just load the entire program and live with Omnipage taking up room. I install the entire program, enter the key code, asked to activate, which I do, only to get a message the key code is not valid as I've already installed Omnipage previously. Back to the webpage. set out the problem. A week goes by, I get a response asking me for the key code, and a screen shot, and a copy of the receipt. I supplied all, and am still waiting for a response.
My advice, stay away from all nuance programs. I've spent close to two hundred dollars for a Pro version of a product, received no free customer support, and after wasting more than two weeks, still have no product to run.


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Item #: Q45230. PDF Converter Professional 5, the only complete PDF solution designed specifically for business users, delivers everything you need to create, convert, and edit PDF files. Now you can create 100% industry-standard PDF files from any PC application, or convert PDFs into fully-formatted MicrosoftWord, Excel, PowerPoint, XPS, and Corel WordPerfect files.Additionally, you can fill and save online PDF forms with one click, or secure your PDF files by applying digital signatures or using drag and drop security settings. Using the intuitive interface, which places commonly-used functionality at your fingertips, you'll be a PDF expert in no time. PDF Converter Professional 5 truly delivers better PDF for your business. Product Description: ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional - ( v. 5 ) - complete packageCategory: UtilitiesSubcategory: Utilities - encoders / format convertersVersion: 5License Type: Complete packageLicense Qty: 1 userLicense Pricing: StandardLanguage(s): EnglishLocalization: United StatesPlatform: WindowsDistribution Media: CD-ROMPackage Type: RetailOS Required: Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit versions) Customers also search for: Discount ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional - ( V. 5 ) - Complete Package, Buy ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional - ( V. 5 ) - Complete Package, Wholesale ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional - ( V. 5 ) - Complete Package, 0780420118034, M109A-G00-5.0, Data Management Software

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iolo System Mechanic 7 Pro Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)What went wrong? I had Sys Mech 6 Pro, no problems, upgraded, now it's like having a virus. Installation was a nightmare, I had to reinstall it three times, and I still get error messages. The high speed internet isn't anymore. My auto fill functions for IE and Netscape don't work. The anti virus email protection does a fantastic job, it won't let any emails through unless you disable it. I am constantly running out of memory, I have nearly a gig of RAM, and only the browser running. I had to give the boot to boot time defrag, it just hangs and I have to restore the computer back to last know good configuration. Should I go on? Ok, I will. It will fix say 12 registry errors, rescan, comes back clean. Turn off the computer for the night, next morning, it finds 144 errors!!! Won't tell you what in the hell they are. Programs like MS Works don't load as quick, even Internet Explorer seems to wait a few seconds longer. Tech support works as well as this program, it doesn't. Since it's new, there isn't much on the program in the trouble shooting area of the website. I email them, they send me links on how to fix things in the older version, and some have nothing to do with my problem period. Like I keep getting error messages when the firewall starts. Tech support sends me a link on how to do a check disk if I am having problems with the defrag program??? Even typing now is slow, I type, and sometimes it takes a second for a letter to appear. If you want to impress your friends by making them think you have Sys Mechanics, but don't want to pay for it, here is a work around. First remove half the ram in your computer, download several viruses, then disable your email, and switch back from cable internet to dial up. Chow

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Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Professional Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Adobe comes out and delivers another fine Acrobat product. While I purchased this for the sole purpose of creating PDFs and forms we could email our customers, have them fill out, save and email back, the brief touches I've had with the automatic form generators have left me impressed. The user interface is well thought out and clean which is a touchy subject for me personally as a programmer who specializes in UI design. Everything is movable, hide-able and customizable in a new sharp looking set of toolbars that should feel right at home in Windows Vista.
But, while it's a fine product that loads quickly thanks to a pre-loader when Windows starts, it does suffer from it's share of problems. The new user interface, while fancy, is glitchy, and has crashed out the software on more than one occasion. Simple innocuous tasks such as dragging a form element into alignment can suddenly leave you staring dumbfounded at your desktop as Windows defends itself from some index out of bounds fault. Is it entirely stable? No, but sadly, it's up to par with 99% of the industry's X.0 release software standards; which means it's 98% usable, but don't hand your boss an unpadded deadline that doesn't take into account a few crashes here and there.
Finally, yes, while the price of RAM continues to decrease, the memory (and hard disk) footprint of software continues to increase to obscene levels. Make sure your office equipment is on the more modern side because it'll take up 20meg+ of your RAM just when the computer starts; which is in this IT professional's opinion, a hefty price to pay just to look at PDFs in my web browser or on my hard drive without a 20 second load-up delay. Load it up and create a PDF of a simple Word 2003 document that contains only a page of text, and task manager tells you it's now eating up 50 meg. In short, it won't run well on the bargain-basement Intel Celeron, 256meg Windows XP machine.
As a final note for those who aren't heavily into IT looking to buy this product for their small office, you need to be connected to the internet when this is installed and be absolutely sure you install it on the computer it's going to permanently reside on. Like most expensive modern business software, Acrobat requires an activation in the name of Digital Rights Management that records it's serial number and the hardware ID of the computer it's installed on and keeps it on file at Adobe. One copy of the software will let you install it on exactly one machine. Try to install it on another machine (even if the original machine got obsoleted, kicked the bucket or transferred to different personnel), and you'll be met with a "this is already installed, please buy another copy" message. DRM forces forethought in these modern times.
Overall, it's excellent software, and for the faults I listed, I still give it 4 stars because it's an extremely solid product that'll work hard for you. Expect the crashing issues to clear up as Adobe silently releases 8.0.1 and onward as free patches that will be downloaded automatically thanks to Adobe's built-in upgrade manager. While executives balked at the idea of office personnel with 1 gig of RAM in a common desktops a year ago, in reality, that's the working minimum these days for your office's power users who may have eight things open and/or running at once. It's a $50 upgrade that to a power user, saves about 5 minutes of worktime on every hour of computer use. Do the math and get them the tools they need because software like this won't be getting less bloated anytime soon.
Finally, if all you're looking at is to create PDF files, there are many smaller, cheaper programs out there that can easily do the task. You might want to hit up Google and investigate further.

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Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional software enables business professionals to reliably create, combine, and control Adobe PDF documents for easy, more secure distribution, collaboration, and data collection. Combine files from multiple applications, collaborate on documents via e-mail or server, and collect information with electronic forms. Protect sensitive information with passwords and permissions. Enable users of Adobe Reader software (version 7.0 or 8) to participate in document reviews, fill and save forms, and digitally sign documents.

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