General Hardware and Software
I participated in the trial for Easy Solve and was not impressed. Neither was anyone else who participated in it.
Stay away from it. It really doesn't do very much. And it doesn't diagnose any problems. All it does is run a scan and lists "problems" it finds.
If you don't subscribe to SIgnature Support all it will do is clear out your cache and tell you to fix things that really don't need to be fixed. You will be told there are things that need to be fixed in order to optiminze your system but no real details are given about WHY it needs to be fixed. Some of the things it wants to "fix" are Windows default settings, which probably have not caused you any problems and are ok to leave as is.
Example: "Set Critical Windows 7 Services" with no information on these services.
Another example for Optimize my Computer: I was told Desktop Shortcuts are disabled. Fixing that added 2 shortcuts which I did not want-Network icon and an icon for my user folder. These only showed up after logging off and then logging back on.
One thing I encountered was being told to clear the cache-AFTER I did an experiment. I cleared my cache. I then ran Easy Solve. I was told the just cleared cache needed to be deleted, so I did some searching and found a history item. When you sign in to Easy Solve it is added to the history. So even if you clear your cache, which includes history before running it, you will ALWAYS be told the cache needs to be cleared. This item is an EASY SOLVE ITEM that gets added to history.
It will want to "help" you if you are not connected to the internet. I also tested this "help".
The only way I could test it was by unplugging the wired connection my computer has to the router. My husband was using his computer in another room which is a wireless connection so I could not unplug the modem.
It told me to Check your Cables. I checked and gee whiz the cable was disconnected from the router, I plugged it back in. There was nothing that told me I was reconnected to the internet.
The next screen was Reset the Modem. There is no need to reset the modem if the problem was a simple of case of cables or power cord being disconnected or loose.
If you reset the modem and that doesn't work you are told to call Comcast.
Obviously if there is a service outage checking cables and resetting the modem won't work.If there is a Comcast network issue and your internet starts crawling slower than a turtle it won't be able to help you..
Easy Solve assumes something is wrong on YOUR end of things when that may not be the case..
After the trial I uninstalled Easy Solve.
I recently reinstalled it when someone else asked about Easy Solve. I wanted to see if anything had changed.
It has not. It still drops items into history so it still tells me it needs to be deleted even though I cleared it before running Easy Solve. It still tells me critical items need to be fixed with no info on WHAT/WHY they should be fixed. It still tells me desktop icons need to be added to my desktop.
On 4-16-2012 I deleted one my secondary Comcast email addresses. The next day I opened up Windows Live Mail. A pop up from Easy Solve appeared on my screen, telling me
I knew what the problem was-I forgot to delete the account from WLM. Being the curious type I ran the scan.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words I present these snips taken after the scan:
Easy Solve either has delusions of grandeur and thinks it can solve all problems or email "problems" are listed in invisible ink. Comcast has once again added to its not-so-stellar branded software history with Easy Solve. There is nothing about email in the results.
I DID NOT USE IT TO FIX ANYTHING.
I have not tried the connection portion since the program has been released. That will have to be done when no one else is using his/her computer.
