PC Pitstop PC Matic utility software

Computer maintenance programs such as PC Matic often contain lots of separate tools, but they don't always work well together. Even though PC Matic combines five of PC Pitstop's separate products it doesn't feel like a collection.

Oddly, you can't buy the software direct from PC Pitstop's website – instead users must download the free trial scan software. This lets you see how the program works before parting with your cash, but it is unusual. Even more unusually, and disappointingly, the program will not even start without an internet connection.

Apart from these oddities, installation was straightforward. Log in to your PC Pitstop account and the screen shows details of all PCs with PC Matic installed (it works on up to five PCs for one year). This shows when each PC was last scanned, and users can schedule scans remotely, which is handy if you have lots of PCs in the home.

Besides attempting to clean out junk from the computer, PC Matic is also an anti-virus scanner. By default, it only checks when you run a manual scan, so it can be used even if other anti-virus programs are installed.

The optional Super Shield component turns it into a more standard security virus program that monitors files in the background, but if this is enabled you won't be able to use other anti-virus software. Super Shield uses the internet to gather information about programs known to be ‘good', and blocks any that are not on the list (this can be overridden easily if you're sure).

PC Matic checks most of the settings we would normally recommend experienced users to check manually, such as fragmentation, display configuration and temporary internet files. It checks and optimises the PC's internet settings.

On the whole, we found its suggested fixes to be fairly sensible. As ever with this type of program, it will clean cookies and redundant registry keys but it doesn't make a fuss of these.

PC Pitstop PC Matic worked quite well and was unfussy, but its requirement for a permanent internet connection to run is rather silly for a product of this type.