A full scan with Norton ran nearly two hours the repeat scan finished in 15 minutes. This kind of optimization can really speed up subsequent scans. Many antivirus utilities leverage the first full scan to identify safe files, ones that need no further scanning. However, this product relies on Bitdefender's engine, and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus took an hour and 16 minutes, so this result is totally consistent. A full scan took one hour and 15 minutes, which is a good bit longer than the current average of about 50 minutes. On this tab, IObit shows three big icons for Quick Scan, Full Scan, and Custom Scan. But in the Ultimate edition, the default tab is Antivirus, not Clean & Optimize. The product uses the same dark blue background, with white text and as-if glowing blue icons. Installing Advanced SystemCare Ultimate is just as quick and simple as installing the basic tune-up utility.

Still, our Editors' Choice tune-up utilities remain Iolo System Mechanic and AVG TuneUp. Advanced SystemCare Pro earned 3.5 stars in our review.

Exercising the test system after tune-up, we found it noticeably snappier. Time tests, detailed in the full review, showed that the tune-up process measurably improved performance. Given the need for constant vigilance and antivirus updates, the subscription model does make sense. Advanced SystemCare Ultimate, like almost every other antivirus tool, is a subscription, $49.99 per year. You can purchase the tune-up utility once and use it for as long as you like, paying again only if you upgrade to a more advanced version. IObit's products are almost always steeply discounted, but at first glance, the list price of this mini-suite and of the standalone tune-up tool appear the same-$49.99 for use on three PCs.

The current version 11 adds ransomware protection, among other enhancements, but testing revealed a big hole in protection against ransomware, and the product failed some of our hands-on tests. The company's main focus is tuning performance, with antivirus capabilities added only in the top-of-the-line IObit Advanced SystemCare Ultimate. With IOBit, things are the other way around. When antivirus utilities expand into full-scale security suites, we're accustomed to seeing them add performance tune-up tools, perhaps to offset any perceived slowdown caused by security functions.

Advanced systemcare antivirus review