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Sometimes nostalgia takes over as you install a new version of an old favourite application. This happened recently while installing the latest version of VCOM's Fix-It Utilities 6 Professional. I seem to remember that installing a product was far easier a few years ago despite the advancements in the so-called ease-of-use department - maybe I should get rid of these rose-tinted spectacles.

With VCOM's Fix-It Utilities 6 Professional you are given the option to install the main program plus bonus items of Recovery Commander and PowerDesk 5. While you can cherry-pick, the temptation is to select everything and then sit back and let the software do the work. Unfortunately this installation insists that you are on hand to add your own input.

Initially progress is fairly straightforward as PowerDesk 5 is installed. Next in line is Recovery Commander which has its own installation routine that allows you to schedule when check points, for rolling back your system when things go pie shaped, are created. Before reaching its conclusion, the installation will create an automatic check point and this can be time consuming so a degree of patience is required.

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The final module, the main Fix-It Utilities 6, and probably the main reason for buying this title, requires the entry of a 24-character serial number. Again you can select from various settings that include whether to activate an auto-update feature plus virus scanning of files and emails. Those who already have anti-virus software need to be aware that problems can arise if you attempt to run two anti-virus applications.

When you first run Fix-It Utilities 6 Professional, it will recommend connecting to VCOM's website to check for any new updates. Of course, with a brand new program you would hardly expect there to be any updates but think again. In my case there was nearly 17MB of update files waiting to be downloaded. This did seem rather excessive for a new program although 11MB of files related to the latest anti-virus updates.

Fix-It Utilities, as you would expect from its title, comprises of several different tools designed to help keep your computer system running smoothly. The opening menu gives access to various groups of tools including One-stop solutions that combine features found elsewhere. Other groups of tools include anti-virus; anti-spyware; optimisation and maintenance; diagnose; fix; recover; and cleanup options.

My first port of call was the clean-up section. This offered to get rid of items such as unnecessary files, registry entries and Internet clutter. I did not expect this to take too long but it was over 40 minutes before I was able to regain control of my system and discover that 32,762 files had been consigned to the Recycle Bin. As most of these files were under 5KB each, the saving on hard disk space was minimal and hardly worth the wait.

Running the Diagnose module confirmed that the system was running smoothly although it insisted I have a five button mouse rather than the three button version that was actually selecting the various Fix-It options. Running the program's defrag tool, entitled JetDefrag, took 14 minutes to complete on a 40GB hard drive while synchronising the system clock with an appropriate atomic clock server was almost instantaneous. You can carry out virus scans, undelete files, create a rescue CD, monitor system usage and carry out Registry repairs. Reports are presented after each activity and you can also view a log of all the actions carried out by Fix-It.

As mentioned earlier, Recovery Command creates System Restore check points and lets you roll back your system to a specific point if difficulties occur. PowerDesk 5 is an excellent File Manager utility that provides greater functionality that the standard Windows offering.

This latest version of Fix-It Utilities provides a wide range of tools that should help ensure your system run smoothly. The product is priced at £37.95 and will run on any Windows 98SE system or later.

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