System Mechanic Professional 20 is an amazingly comprehensive tool that provides everything you'll need to clean, speed up, repair and secure your PC.

If your PC isn't performing, for instance, then System Mechanic will help you defragment your hard drive; optimise your Internet connection settings for faster downloads; defragment and compact the Registry; optimise the boot process by removing unnecessary startup programs, and get a temporary performance boost by closing down selected background processes.

But this is just the start. There are tools here to defragment and compact the Registry; repair hard drive problems; enhance system security, locate unnecessary duplicate files, or recover from disaster if Windows won't boot. A Windows tweaking tool provided easy access to more than 100 key Windows settings, an Advanced Uninstaller completely removes apps to free up hard drive space - and you could still create a very capable maintenance suite from the other tools that we haven't had space to mention.

This Professional build of System Mechanic then goes even further, though. So you also get a complete antivirus and antispyware engine, which uses strong real-time protection to detect and block malware before it can damage your PC.

The package also includes a solid and reliable file recovery tool, that will restore accidentally deleted files, photos, music, documents, emails and more, from just about any drive or device.

And because occasionally you want to be sure that confidential data really has gone forever, then a secure deletion tool will quickly wipe the contents of a drive. Which means you can sell it without worrying that the buyer will be able to recover and view your usernames, passwords or other personal details.

All this power doesn't make the program difficult to use, though. System Mechanic may have more than 50 performance-related tools and features, but it can also automatically scan for and locate any problems itself. If you want to zoom in on a particular area - disable this startup program, delete those junk files - then you're free to do so. But if you're in a hurry then you can just click "Repair All" and sit back as System Mechanic fixes everything, all on its own.

Whether you're a Windows expert or a PC novice, then, System Mechanic Professional has features which will appeal. But don't take our word for it: install the full-featured 30-day trial version, and find out exactly what this powerful suite can do for you.

The latest v24 brings backup support so you can keep your most important data secure.

Note that iolo System Mechanic Professional 23 includes a Whole Home 1-Year license, which enables you to use it across every PC in your home, across every member of your family.

Review by Mike Williams.