PCKeeper

PCKeeper
PCKeeper logo
Developer(s) Kromtech Alliance
Initial release May 8, 2013
Stable release PCKeeper 2.2 / September 2014
Development status Active
Operating system Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Platform IA-32 and x64
Available in English, German, French, Japanese [1]
License Proprietary commercial software
Website pckeeper.com

PCKeeper is an optimization and protection software package for the Windows OS owned by Kromtech Alliance, which has its MacKeeper and PCKeeper division headquarters in Latvia and a development team in Ukraine. It includes 2 separate products for Windows: PCKeeper Live and PCKeeper Antivirus.[1]

PCKeeper was originally developed by Zeobit LLC which was founded in 2009 by Slava Kolomiychuk. PCKeeper was released in September 2010. Kromtech Alliance acquired PCKeeper and MacKeeper from Zeobit in May 2013.[2]

PCKeeper Live

PCKeeper Live offers 13 different PC services in 4 categories: Human Assistance (Find & Fix, Geek on Demand, Live Support), Security (Anti-Theft, Data Hider, Shredder, Files Recovery), Cleaning (Disk Cleaner, Disk Explorer, Duplicates Finder, Uninstaller) and Optimization (Context Menu Manager, Startup Manager).[3][4]

Program Features

At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas PCKeeper introduced its Find & Fix feature.[5][6] A Find&Fix feature is a personalized approach to cleaning and optimization issues of a user's personal computer, implying the user-to-expert cooperation. It scans the user’s PC for system information and generates a report for errors, bugs, security breaches etc. Afterwards, this report is forwarded to Microsoft-certified Experts and analyzed individually, according to the system conditions and types of issues. Within a single day the Experts team sends a personal fix solution to the user, which can be applied with one click. Each solution is followed up by the message containing the information about the changes made.[7][8]| Geek on Demand provides the user with real IT specialists who give detailed responses to any tech-related questions within 24 hours. Live Support helps users to solve their tech-related issues right away (via 24/7 chat, email or toll-free numbers).[9]

PCKeeper Live includes an offline Anti-Theft feature that can help to retrieve a stolen laptop. Once activated, Anti-Theft launches a background process to gather the information about the laptop’s location. It also starts taking snapshots of a thief through the laptop’s built-in webcam (if available) to create an evidence for law enforcement representatives. Shredder safely deletes private files from PC, using four shredding algorithms, whose complexity is progressing. Gutmann method, one of the algorithms, rewrites the file 35 times, making it completely unrecoverable. At the same time, Files Recovery restores accidentally deleted files, if the Shredder wasn't applied. If several users share the same computer, they can use Data Hider to make their private files or folders completely invisible to other users.[9]

Duplicates Finder shows the user all identical files on the computer and frees up hard drive space by removing unwanted copies. Disk Explorer is a file manager, which provides access to any files on a hard drive and sorts them by the type, size and other categories. Disk Cleaner helps to get rid of junk and other unnecessary files, which slow down the system. Uninstaller lets the user delete any program in a correct way.[9]

Startup Manager lets the user reduce boot time, disabling the launch of unnecessary programs at PC startup. Context Menu Manager tunes the "right-click" menu to the user's needs and makes it less bulky, removing unwanted menu items.[9]

Popup Ads

PCKeeper is sometimes advertised with pop up ads. To remove the popup adds, users may need to remove browser extensions, enable popup blockers and edit their host file in addition to uninstalling PCKeeper.[10]

Exaggerated Warning Messages

Two class action lawsuits have been filed against Kromtech for the Mac OS version of PCKeeper, MacKeeper. The first lawsuit, filed in Illinois, alleges that "Contrary to ZeoBIT's marketing and in-software representations, however, neither the free trial nor the full registered versions of MacKeeper perform any credible diagnostic testing of a user's Mac. Instead, ZeoBIT intentionally designed MacKeeper to invariably and ominously report that the consumer's Mac needs repair and is at-risk due to harmful errors, privacy threats, and other problems, regardless of the computer's actual condition."[11] The second complaint, filed by Holly Yencha of Pennsylvania, alleges that the free starter version of MacKeeper identifies harmless programs as "critical" problems. The complaint claims that "under MacKeeper’s reporting algorithm, even brand new computers are in 'critical' condition and require repair by purchasing the full version." [12]

Two reviewers of PCKeeper have noted that PC Keeper also exaggerates warnings: Dedicated 2 to Viruses said "We have reviewed PCKeeper itself and we strongly recommend removing it. Its scan does not show enough easy accessible details about items detection. It detects errors on clean Windows installations and shows exaggerated warnings about their severity."[13] Ba Tech reported that "Once PCKeeper is started, it will do a fake scan on your computer that will state that there are numerous infections or problems present. It will then prompt you to remove these so-called infections or problems, but will not allow you to do so unless you first purchase the program. Please understand, that PCKeeper is scripted to show you these fake scan results regardless of the computer you are on and how clean it is. Therefore, do not be concerned by any of the scan results as they are only being shown to scare you into thinking that you have a serious problem"[14]

Reviews

PCKeeper Live is rated "Good" (3.5 out of 5) by the PCMag editor,[15] stating "improves PC performance", and "great for novice users" , "The utility won't clean your PC as well as Iolo System Mechanic, but considering its accessibility and wallet friendliness, it's one to check out" and "Kromtech PCKeeper Live's human specialists and unique price plans make this tune-up utility worthy of consideration, but rival applications offer better PC improvement".

Techradar.pro rates its 3 out of 5 stars and that noted, that "Overall, PCKeeper is a light-weight tool that won't annoy you with pop-up windows", "When you consider the fact most of PCKeeper Live's optimization features are easily found on most free tools, and that some were simply not useful at all, the price for the Kromtech solution seems unreasonably high." and "Kromtech's 24/7 support is what elevates PCKeeper Live from an overpriced utility program to a tool that even a non-geek can use to optimize his/her computer."[16]

PCKeeper Antivirus

PCKeeper Antivirus integrates the Avira’s Secure Anti-Virus API (SAVAPI), the official interface for Avira’s anti-malware scanning engine. PCKeeper Antivirus does not block malware-hosting URL's or phishing URL's.[17] It scored a 99.2% total detection rate and was listed among the top antivirus software packages by AV Comparatives.[18] According to Virus Bulletin, PCKeeper Antivirus PRO has scored 96.1% in RAP tests and set a stability level at Stable. PCKeeper Antivirus got a VB100 award.[19] PCKeeper Antivirus (version 1.x) received 2 OPSWAT Gold Certifications in the Antispyware and Antivirus categories.[20]

Lab Testing Results

PCKeeper version date name of test award results comments
2.1.96 August 2013 VB100 Single Product Test VB100 Award[21] Fair Not tested in response tests. Stability rated as "Fair".[21] Only submitted for 2 of 12 tests. [17]
2.138 May 2013 On-Demand File Detection Test 99.4%[22] 7 false positives (few).[22] Scored 2.5 out of 6 for protection, and 2.5 out of 6 for performance [17]
April 10, 2014[23] March/April 2014 AV-TEST Institute

Best Antivirus for Windows Home User

 Protection: 2.5 (out of 6.0)

Performance 2.5 (out of 6.0)

Usability (out of 6.0)[24]

 Comparison to other products can be seen at the AV-TEST Institute page: Best Antivirus for Windows Home User

Reviews

PCMag rated PCKeeper Antivirus Good (3 out of 5), noting that PCKeeper Antivirus has a "Streamlined, attractive interface. Easy to use for non-techies. Good score in our hands-on malware blocking testing". However, it scored poorly in independent lab testing and the chat based supprt was "soured by the fact that they served me misinformation." PC Mag concluded "you'd be better off with Panda Free Antivirus 2015, an Editors' Choice for free antivirus. It slightly edged PCKeeper in my own tests and swept the field in lab tests, with high marks across the board. For the same price as PCKeeper, you could have Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015 or Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015), both of which we named Editors' Choice for paid antivirus. Any of these is a better choice." [17]

Social campaigns

In May 2013 PCKeeper let its customers decide how much to pay for the software, launching a Pay what you want campaign.[25]

Kromtech Partnerships

Kromtech is a partner with the following organizations:

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About PCKeeper. Official website".
  2. ↑ "Kromtech Press Release". Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "A complete pack of PC maintenance and optimization tools (Softonic)". Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  4. ↑ "A Review of PCKeeper – A Cleaning Program for Windows". Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  5. ↑ "Yahoo Tech Best of CES".
  6. ↑ "PCKeeper keeps your computer up and running (BSN)".
  7. ↑ "CNET Kromtech Alliance description".
  8. ↑ "PC Keeper Press Release - Revolutionary New Software for PC Security and Optimization (TMCNET)".http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2012/11/22/6742944.htm|
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "PCKeeper Live Media Kit".
  10. ↑ "Oshkoshcvb.org - Get rid of PCKeeper pop-up ads with manual removal method".
  11. ↑ "Class Says 'MacKeeper' Software Is Junkware". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Pennsylvania woman sues company that promises computer security". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Majauskas, Giedrius (2014-12-29). "What is PC Keeper". Dedicated 2 Viruses. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
  14. ↑ "How To Safely Remove PCKeeper - PCKeeper Removal Guide". BA Tech.
  15. ↑ "Kromtech PCKeeper Live by PCMag".
  16. ↑ "PCKeeper Live review by Techradar".
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "Kromtech PCKeeper Antivirus by PCMag".
  18. ↑ "Single product test. AV comparatives".
  19. ↑ "Virus Bulletin 2014".
  20. ↑ "OPSWAT list of Gold certifications".
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "VB 100 Antivirus Test - VB100 Single Product Test (May 2013)".
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "On-Demand File Detection Test - (May 2013) - Anti-Malware Test Lab". AV Comparatives.
  23. ↑ Test results indicate version 1.0 of PCKeeper Antivirus was tested. This appears to be a typographical error as the test also has a screen shot of the current (April 2014) version of PCKeeper Antivirus with a signature update date of April 10, 2014.
  24. ↑ "AV-Test Product Review and Certification". AV Test.
  25. ↑ "Pay what you want campaign launch".
  26. ↑ "Microsoft Gold Application Development Partnership".
  27. ↑ "Intel Premier Elite Partnership".
  28. ↑ "Google partnership".

External links