Keep our PCs clean and free from unwanted or unnecessary files and make sure we enjoy an optimal web browsing experience are the two main objectives of jv16 PowerTools. This program also includes a powerful uninstaller that removes not only any software tool installed on our computer but also the many left-over files that most of them tend to leave behind.
These are the three areas in which jv16 PowerTools is an expert, and these are the only options that you will find it its main interface. There are links to the Settings window and to the Backups section, where the program stores the restore points it automatically creates every time it fixes an issue.
When it comes to checking your Internet connection and the various settings that deal with your Internet browsing experience, it will take the program but a few seconds to have a complete overview of how your PC is performing in this area. It even performs a quick set of benchmarks to let you know how it is really doing compared to other similar equipment.
As for the System Cleaner option, the program comes with a powerful scan engine that searches for all known issues regarding all kinds of unnecessary files in no time. After this thorough scan, you are presented with a graphical representation of your system health, where you can see at a glance all registry errors, cookies and other temporary files, unneeded files and folders, empty folders, etc. If you want to know more about any of these issues (either globally or individually), the program will take you to each of them so that you can check for yourself if they should be removed or stay where they are.
The uninstaller that comes with the program does not differ much from the one included with your Windows OS, at least in terms of how they both look and work. However, jv16 PowerTools promises to remove not only the program itself but also all traces and left-over files that most software tools love leaving behind for reasons beyond me.
In terms of performance, I cannot find any objective reason not to use this tool. In terms of functionality, though, I found it a bit limited when compared to the myriad of other system maintenance and optimization tools available in the market for a similar fee and even for no fee at all. You can make use of its 14-day trial to decide if jv16 PowerTools covers all your requirements or not.
v5.0 [Oct 28, 2019]
- Bug fix: The previous version fixed the problem about Firefox bookmarks being modified or removed during System Cleaner. The original bug was rare, only occurring in some systems. The last version fixed it for many users but not perfectly. This build now fixes it for good.
- Bug fix: The program may fail to start on some systems. If this happens, you will only see the initial splash screen and nothing else ever shows up.
- Bug fix: The Initial Setup can take a very long time to run on some systems.
- Bug fix: Tools menu > Maintenance > Flush Cache does not trigger the Initial Setup to run again, even if it says it would.
- Bug fix: If you don't have a browser installed, for example Firefox, the System Cleaner will still search for its cookies and history data. This makes the scan a few seconds slower than what it should be.
- Bug fix: System Cleaner can incorrectly say no items found even if some were found.
- Bug fix: On small screens the splash screen's bottom texts can overlap the version number text.
- Bug fix: System Cleaner can ask for permission to close web browsers even if you have selected not to run any browser related cleaning modules.
- Bug fix: System Cleaner can search for temporary files even if the temporary file scan module has been disabled from Settings.
- Bug fix: The Ignore List may not work in cases of you want to ignore certain types of registry data, and the System Cleaner will therefore continue to list this data.
- Bug fix: Starting the System Cleaner can show aggressiveness confirmation text in English, even if you are using the program in another language.
- Bug fix: The program can display Stringlist Out Of Bounds error when starting. This is a very rare issue, happening only in some systems.
- Bug fix: Ignoring software with the Software Uninstaller via the Right Click menu does not remove it from the list, it is only not shown the next time even though System Cleaner removes the item from list immediately after item is ignored.
- Bug fix: Internet Optimizer can get stuck in the Starting ... screen.
Improvements:
- Improved the detection and the listing of browser cache data.
- System Cleaner's information message boxes are now shown only if System Cleaner is open and active.
- Made the user interface for the System Cleaner settings clearer.
- Installing a new version of PowerTools over the old one causes in some cases of important (but not critical) cache files never to be created, as the Initial Setup has already ran when the old version was installed. Now, the program will detect if such cache files are missing and perform an Initial Setup again if needed.
- Increased the waiting thresholds of information messages in the application to avoid too many tips or other non essential message boxes to be displayed in too rapid progression.
- All the three main tool text captions are now visible. Before, only the default tool or the currently selected tool caption text was visible, which some users found difficult to use.
- The program will now attempt to detect a running setup of jv16 PowerTools and automatically close itself. This way you are not prompted with an error message of a file in use if you try to update while the program is still running.
- My Account's Apply button is now only visible if needed.
- Aborting a scan can cause the user interface to get not responsive. Therefore, the Aborting scans feature is currently not available until we improve and fix it.
