In march of this year i installed glary utilities in my PC i was running windows xp x 64 edition. I ran a scan with the program and it asked me if i wanted to delete files becouse THE PROGRAM said it was okay to delete them i did and it said i needed to reboot to continue whish i did.the PC rebooted up and told me the sys32 files had been DELETED!!!!! I wrote a letter to www.GLARYSOFT.com.
Updated June 25, 2019- Just wondering in the past Norton Power Eraser flagged this as an unwanted app in the past. Come to find out when I looked at my desktop and add/remove program it was totally gone.I didnt uninstall it. So I did a NPE scan on unwanted apps it wasnt there and all the glarys folders were gone.Im not complaining rather be safe than sorry.
- While Glary Utilities is not terrible, in my opinion, Advanced SystemCare is a much better product. Glary is regularly updated, but seems to only ever receive very minor changes and fixes, rather than adding new features. Some features don't work too well. For example, I've never seen the driver updater in Glary, ever find any driver updates.
- So it is more up to you to decide i think glary utilities do less mistakes and it is less agressive than advanced systemcare, their effect on windows depends from machine to another one, if you are happy with glary utilites then stick with it.
- FWIW NPE has flagged my Glary Utilities for awhile now. I'll wait a day or two and NPE does not flag my Glary Utilities. Perhaps flag is related to Glary program update.
Table of Contents
- 2. Free vs Pro Features
Glary Utilities is an all-in-one utility for cleaning your PC. Like most other PC cleanup tools, it has a free version and a paid version called Glary Utilities Pro.
So what exactly does Glary Utilities Pro do compared to the free version? Is Glary Utilities Pro worth $40/year?
I checked out the free and paid versions to answer these questions for you. Let's get right into it.
Glary Utilities Review
| Tons of features | Expensive for what you get | 4/5 Powerful but hard to use |
| Can undo changes | ||
| Effective at freeing disk space | UI is hard to use | |
| Able to fix computer problems |
Is Glary Utilities Pro Worth it?
To answer your question, Glary Utilities Pro is only worth it if it's on sale. I mention this because it seems like the software is on sale a lot of the time for up to 50% off. At that sale price, I would recommend buying the pro version. Otherwise, you should get Iolo System Mechanic (full review) instead for better value.
The free version, as you'll see, has a huge amount of features. If you're looking for extra features Glary Utilities Pro offers such as scheduled scans and scheduled privacy data cleaning, then you should go with Iolo System Mechanic instead. The chaotic UI of Glary Utilities also makes it hard to justify the money, but if you're a power user then this shouldn't matter much anyway.
Glary Utilities Free vs Pro
Glary Utilities has so many features that it would be overwhelming to list them all out here. I'll do my best to cover everything that matters. Here's a comparison at a glance:
Free Features
1-Click Maintenance
This is the main feature of Glary Utilities and what people will probably use most often. It can:
- Fix broken registry items
- Fix broken shortcuts
- Remove spyware
- Repair hard disk errors
- Erase browser data for privacy
- Clean up temporary files
- Manage your startup programs
This is convenient that Glary Utilities provides an all-in-one place to do all these useful functions. Broken registry items and hard disk errors could cause issues with your computer. Also, clearing browser data and removing temporary files is always a good idea to save space.
However, I wouldn't recommend solely relying on Glary Utilities to get rid of spyware. For that purpose, you should use Malwarebytes.
Windows Registry Maintenance
Glary Utilities allows you to perform the following Windows Registry tasks:
- Repair
- Defragment
- Backup
- Restore
First of all, I'm not going to tell you that cleaning up or defragmenting your registry will speed up your computer, because it won't. However, I think it's good to fix registry issues because they could cause problems with your computer down the line.
I would recommend backing up your registry using Glary Utilities before performing a registry repair, just for some peace of mind.
File Management
Glary Utilities provides tons of features to do various things with files and folders on your PC. They are:
- Remove duplicate files
- Analyze disk space
- Split files
- Restore deleted files
- Permanently delete files
- Encrypt/decrypt files
I think all of these features are useful, but I wish Glary Utilities executed them a little better. For example, there's no way to see my disk usage by file type, only by folder names. Also, the duplicate file finder found false positives (because it doesn't search the actual file contents, only file metadata like size and date created).
Other than that, these tools are fantastic. You can delete files such that they can't even be recovered by specialized software, and you can encrypt files to ensure only you will be able to access them.
System Tools
These features allow you to do various system-level tasks, such as:
- Manage startup programs
- Manage services, scheduled tasks, and processes
- Repair system files
- Backup Windows
First off, you can do all of these yourself with tools Windows already provides. In fact, the 'Repair System Files' tool literally runs the System File Checker in the background. Also, you can manage startup programs, services, and processes in Windows Task Manager (open with Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
That being said, it's convenient because Glary Utilities provides you with an easy way to access and manage these system settings.
Driver Management
This suite of tools allows you to:
- Backup drivers
- Restore drivers
- Uninstall drivers
- Update drivers
Keeping your drivers up-to-date is extremely important to make sure your computer functions correctly. Glary Utilities does a good job of providing you with all the tools you need to make sure your drivers are working correctly.
I recommend backing up your drivers once you get them working.
Program Management
In terms of managing your programs, Glary Utilities helps you:
- Uninstall programs
- Update programs
You can uninstall programs yourself in Windows and it's really easy, so this isn't too special. However, the software updater is nice since most programs will only tell you they need to be updated when you actually open them.
See here for why you should always update your software.
Pro Features
Is Glary Utilities Any Good
Deep Registry Clean
In the free version of Glary Utilities, you can only fix problems for parts of your registry. With Glary Utilities Pro, you can do a 'deep scan' and fix all registry problems.
I find it strange that this isn't a free feature, since other free versions of PC cleaners like CCleaner allow you to clean your entire registry. What's the point of cleaning your registry if you're not cleaning all of it?
Scheduled 1-Click Maintenance
If you have Glary Utilities Pro you can automatically schedule 1-Click Maintenance scans to run every day, week, month, etc. at a certain time.
This is a useful feature to always make sure your computer doesn't have useless files, and to stay on top of any computer issues you may run into. Personally, I use CCleaner Pro and run automatic scans once a month.
Erase Privacy Tracks Automatically
Instead of manually clearing your browsing data with Glary Utilities each time, this feature lets you do it automatically every time you logoff or shutdown windows (see above picture).
Browsing data includes things like tracking cookies, browsing history, and temporary files of your browser. This is a useful feature to protect your privacy, but I wish you could customize when this happens. For example, I would like this to happen when I close my browser instead because I leave my Windows logged in most of the time anyway.
Automatic Updates
Honestly, this is a feature that should be free since it's not really that important. This all comes down to whether or not you'll have to click a few extra buttons to update Glary Utilities
Free Technical Support
It makes sense that Glary Utilities doesn't provide free technical support to everyone that uses their free product, since they have so many users. I personally don't find this that useful, but I could see how you may need technical support given how complex this software is.
Glary Utilities Vs Ccleaner
Is Glary Utilities Safe?
In short, yes, Glary Utilities is safe. It won't introduce anything dangerous like malware to your computer.
However, this is a very powerful tool with a ton of features. It's important that you pay close attention to what you're doing to make sure you don't accidentally delete anything.
One thing to mention is that Glary Utilities has a Restore Center (similar to Avast Cleanup) where you can undo the following changes:
- Uninstalling programs
- Enabling/disabling startup programs
- Clearing browser data
- Cleaning disks
- 1-Click Maintenance scans
- Repairing registry
- Fixing shortcuts
- Removing Malware
If you're careful with what you're doing and use the Restore Center when needed, you should be 100% safe.
Alternatives
There are many PC cleaners out there, such as:
If you're looking for an alternative that also has a free version, check out CCleaner. It does some things better like the disk analyzer and duplicate file finder.
However, if you actually want to speed up your computer, you should use Iolo System Mechanic. The main thing that makes it different from other PC cleaners is that it dynamically re-allocates system resources to programs that are actually being used.
Conclusion
Glary Utilities is a monster PC cleaning tool, with a ton of advanced features. The pro version also offers useful additions like scheduled maintenance, and scheduled privacy data cleaning.
However, the user interface and user experience could definitely be improved. It feels chaotic, and I had trouble finding tools often. Also, like most other PC cleaners, it most likely won't speed up your computer.
Overall, I recommend picking up Glary Utilities Pro if it's on sale, or the free version if you're a hardcore user. Otherwise, my #1 choice for PC cleaning tools is still Iolo System Mechanic. It has a comparable feature set, the interface is a lot easier to deal with, and it's much more effective at increasing the performance of your computer. Check out my full review of it here.
What if a tool promised all-in-one cleaning tools for your PC, would you use it? Well, as with all the decisions we do in life, we have to be extra careful. Every decision we make in life has a corresponding consequence, although, for a PC cleaning tool, the impact is indirect.
System Tools
These features allow you to do various system-level tasks, such as:
- Manage startup programs
- Manage services, scheduled tasks, and processes
- Repair system files
- Backup Windows
First off, you can do all of these yourself with tools Windows already provides. In fact, the 'Repair System Files' tool literally runs the System File Checker in the background. Also, you can manage startup programs, services, and processes in Windows Task Manager (open with Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
That being said, it's convenient because Glary Utilities provides you with an easy way to access and manage these system settings.
Driver Management
This suite of tools allows you to:
- Backup drivers
- Restore drivers
- Uninstall drivers
- Update drivers
Keeping your drivers up-to-date is extremely important to make sure your computer functions correctly. Glary Utilities does a good job of providing you with all the tools you need to make sure your drivers are working correctly.
I recommend backing up your drivers once you get them working.
Program Management
In terms of managing your programs, Glary Utilities helps you:
- Uninstall programs
- Update programs
You can uninstall programs yourself in Windows and it's really easy, so this isn't too special. However, the software updater is nice since most programs will only tell you they need to be updated when you actually open them.
See here for why you should always update your software.
Pro Features
Is Glary Utilities Any Good
Deep Registry Clean
In the free version of Glary Utilities, you can only fix problems for parts of your registry. With Glary Utilities Pro, you can do a 'deep scan' and fix all registry problems.
I find it strange that this isn't a free feature, since other free versions of PC cleaners like CCleaner allow you to clean your entire registry. What's the point of cleaning your registry if you're not cleaning all of it?
Scheduled 1-Click Maintenance
If you have Glary Utilities Pro you can automatically schedule 1-Click Maintenance scans to run every day, week, month, etc. at a certain time.
This is a useful feature to always make sure your computer doesn't have useless files, and to stay on top of any computer issues you may run into. Personally, I use CCleaner Pro and run automatic scans once a month.
Erase Privacy Tracks Automatically
Instead of manually clearing your browsing data with Glary Utilities each time, this feature lets you do it automatically every time you logoff or shutdown windows (see above picture).
Browsing data includes things like tracking cookies, browsing history, and temporary files of your browser. This is a useful feature to protect your privacy, but I wish you could customize when this happens. For example, I would like this to happen when I close my browser instead because I leave my Windows logged in most of the time anyway.
Automatic Updates
Honestly, this is a feature that should be free since it's not really that important. This all comes down to whether or not you'll have to click a few extra buttons to update Glary Utilities
Free Technical Support
It makes sense that Glary Utilities doesn't provide free technical support to everyone that uses their free product, since they have so many users. I personally don't find this that useful, but I could see how you may need technical support given how complex this software is.
Glary Utilities Vs Ccleaner
Is Glary Utilities Safe?
In short, yes, Glary Utilities is safe. It won't introduce anything dangerous like malware to your computer.
However, this is a very powerful tool with a ton of features. It's important that you pay close attention to what you're doing to make sure you don't accidentally delete anything.
One thing to mention is that Glary Utilities has a Restore Center (similar to Avast Cleanup) where you can undo the following changes:
- Uninstalling programs
- Enabling/disabling startup programs
- Clearing browser data
- Cleaning disks
- 1-Click Maintenance scans
- Repairing registry
- Fixing shortcuts
- Removing Malware
If you're careful with what you're doing and use the Restore Center when needed, you should be 100% safe.
Alternatives
There are many PC cleaners out there, such as:
If you're looking for an alternative that also has a free version, check out CCleaner. It does some things better like the disk analyzer and duplicate file finder.
However, if you actually want to speed up your computer, you should use Iolo System Mechanic. The main thing that makes it different from other PC cleaners is that it dynamically re-allocates system resources to programs that are actually being used.
Conclusion
Glary Utilities is a monster PC cleaning tool, with a ton of advanced features. The pro version also offers useful additions like scheduled maintenance, and scheduled privacy data cleaning.
However, the user interface and user experience could definitely be improved. It feels chaotic, and I had trouble finding tools often. Also, like most other PC cleaners, it most likely won't speed up your computer.
Overall, I recommend picking up Glary Utilities Pro if it's on sale, or the free version if you're a hardcore user. Otherwise, my #1 choice for PC cleaning tools is still Iolo System Mechanic. It has a comparable feature set, the interface is a lot easier to deal with, and it's much more effective at increasing the performance of your computer. Check out my full review of it here.
What if a tool promised all-in-one cleaning tools for your PC, would you use it? Well, as with all the decisions we do in life, we have to be extra careful. Every decision we make in life has a corresponding consequence, although, for a PC cleaning tool, the impact is indirect.
In this article, we aim to examine the features, pros, and cons of one popular all-in-one utility for PC cleaning: Glary Utilities.
About Glary Utilities
Glary Utilities claims to be an all-in-one PC cleaning utility. In one download, you get all useful Windows-related tools. It scans and cleans your PC, removes temporary files, fixes broken files, resolves issues, and gets rid of junk files. But is it really worth it? What else can it do?
What Can Glary Utilities Do?
Like other PC repair tools, Glary Utilities has many features that it would be quite overwhelming to list them below. However, we'll try to cover those that matter in this unbiased Glary Utilities review. Here you go:
1-Click Maintenance
As the name of the feature suggests, it maintains various aspects of your PC in just one click. It fixes broken registry keys and shortcuts, removes spyware, fixes hard disk issues, cleans up temporary files, and even erase browser data.
Windows Registry Maintenance
This tool also allows you to perform some Windows Registry tasks, such as defragmenting drives, repairing and restoring erroneous registry keys, and backing up files.
System Tools
This allows users to do different system-level tasks, including manage startup programs, repair problematic system files, back up Windows, and manage processes and services.
File Management
Glary Utilities has file management features that allow you to perform file management tasks like remove duplicate files, split files, analyze disk space, restore deleted files, and encrypt or decrypt files.
Driver Management
This tool's suite allows you to manage, update, uninstall, restore, and back up drivers, too. This is extremely important to ensure your PC functions properly.
Program Management
Is Glary Utilities Safe To Use
You can also manage your programs with Glary Utilities as it allows you to uninstall or update them.
Is It Safe to Use?
Yes, it is safe, as long as you download the legitimate tool. But as a powerful tool with tons of features, it is also quite scary to use. The improper use of one feature will only cause more problems than fixes. Hence, it is of utmost importance that you understand what each feature does, so you don't worsen the situation.
If you want to boost security and safety, we suggest that you use Glary Utilities along with an anti-malware program. This program can identify and remove the toughest malware entities out there. With it on your PC, you can rest easy that nothing harmless will penetrate your system.
Pros and Cons of Glary Utilities
At this point, there is no obvious advantage and disadvantage that we can mention about Glary Utilities. But according to users, its biggest advantage against its competitors is the fact that it effectively improves PC performance. Its downside is that it does not really improve the browsing experience.
Verdict
Glary Utilities is a great PC cleaning tool that offers a multitude of handy features. If you are the type of person who pays more importance to features and functions, then this tool is a must-try. But if you are not that tech-savvy, you might not enjoy this tool because the user interface is a bit chaotic.
Don't worry if you don't find this tool interesting or beneficial. There are other existing alternatives out there. A quick search on Google will provide you with a list of options.
Have you installed Glary Utilities, too? Let us know what features you like. Comment below!
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
