ARO scans your PC for unnecessary registry and junk files, and runs a
baseline security scan to ensure your antivirus, antispyware, and
firewall are configured properly. ARO 2013 also verifies that updates
for key PC components, such as your Windows operating system, Adobe,
Java and other commonly used applications are turned on.
ARO cleans junk and clutter from your PC and Internet browser, freeing
up valuable disk space. Also removes remnants of malware files left
behind in the registry. ARO repairs registry entries and removes
corrupted registry files.
Aro 2013 promises to
speed up your PC by performing an all-around cleanup. It will scour
through your machine looking for junk files, broken or missing Registry
keys, and security vulnerabilities. The look and feel of the original
Aro is there, but be warned that this is a different beast than its
predecessor.
To start off with some good changes, installing and removal is a
breeze, a huge improvement over the 2012 version that we very much
appreciated. The bad news is, Aro 2013 now limits its free trial to
fixing only the first 50 errors (previously 100). This is important
because Aro 2013 does not joke around when it say it will find every
junk file. The scan will take you through everything from browser temp
folders (IE, FF, and Chrome), the Recycle Bin, to old error logs,
shortcuts, cached files, and temp system icons. The findings it returns
may be a bit shocking. On a clean image of our test machine running
Windows 7, Aro reported more than 1,500 junk files (leftover
installation files). On a regular-use PC, it reported a whopping 4,000
files.
We appreciate the thoroughness here, but felt it was unnecessary for
everything to be marked as an error. It would be nice to have a clear
distinction on what files are critical and should be removed right away
or things that are remnants of an old uninstall that could very well be
left alone with minimal impact. An option to organize and remove by
threat level (or size) would be nice.
The Registry cleaner runs with the same fervent focus on search and
destroy. Most of the errors reported were from ACTIVEX and COM entries,
that although not detrimental, removing them would have a minimal impact
on system performance. Serious problems were caught, however; Aro did
find some error with shortcuts of applications that we are still
currently using. On the clean image, 277 Registry errors; the
regular-use PC report returned 1,092 errors. With so many problems, we
wondered how the PC could have booted up in the first place.
The Security scanner is a nice feature, but for some reason Aro did
not view our Avast Free AV as adequate protection. Corporate-level
McAfee did the trick instead. Update notifier is a good feature if
you're looking for complete security. We just didn't feel like updating
Flash for the fourth time this month.
That being said, 50 free fixes in the scores of hundreds (if not
thousands) of errors amounts to very little. If you're using the trial,
forget about the cleaner and use it as a scanner. The registered version
is where Aro really shines. After cleaning out all the errors and
performing the Registry optimizer (defragmenting), our regular use
machine did feel spiffier in bootup time and programs launch. With the
restoration feature, you'd also get a little extra security in case
anything critical was accidentally removed.
You can set a schedule on when and how often Aro runs without
supervision as well as exclude things from the scan (Web browser
folders, Recycle Bin, etc.). The one annoyance is that you still can't
opt out of autostart with Windows. Aro is a bit of a nag if you have
unsolved error upon boot.
Aro 2013 is a good improvement over its predecessor, but it still has
some ways to go. As a trial product it can seem to be on the stingy
side and most likely will not win over the freeware crowd. But as a paid
software, Aro is a good program for those serious about speeding up
their machine and perfect for the OCD types who are keen on keeping
their PC pristine and optimized.