PC Matic Home Review. What happened to pc matic wife

PC Matic is also quite good at speeding up the operating system by keeping the registry clean, downloading and installing the latest drivers, and organizing your startup list.

PC Matic vs Norton: Which is Best for Your Business?

Are you looking for the best antivirus software to use in your business? Most of the time, buyers worry about total implementation costs, vendor reliability, features, user reviews, and more. Here I will present a comparison of both programs.

PC Pitstop

PC Pitstop was founded in November 1999 by Dave Methvin and Rob Cheng. Their sole purpose was to develop a better way to diagnose common computer problems. Prior to creating it, Rob Cheng was known as the Senior Vice President of Gateway Computer, which is responsible for Gateway Consumer’s operations around the world, including responsibility for profit and loss.

The company has grown to become the major publisher of security software from the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. PC Pitstop created PC Matic, PC Matic Pro, PC Matic MSP, PC Magnum and Tech Sentry Authentication.

antivirus software reviews comparison for pc

Symantec

Symantec will help organizations and consumers to secure and operate an information-driven world. This company is a leading provider of storage, security and system management solutions that help customers from small businesses to large organizations manage information against risk at every stage. Their main goal is to focus on getting rid of technology, process and information risks regardless of platform, device, location and interaction.

Here are some key points to consider when comparing PC Matic to Norton:

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The actual cost of antivirus software includes the software license, software training cost, subscription fees, required hardware, customization cost, and support and maintenance costs. It is important to know about these costs so that you have an idea of ​​the Total Cost of Ownership. Take a look at the total cost of PC Matic versus standard Norton for an understanding of calculation properties.

PC Matic starts at $ 50 a year. This is much less than the cost of other antivirus software. The price of Norton Security starts at $ 20 for each license. This is much less than the cost of the PC Matic.

Overall, PC Matic’s customer support is really good. There is no live chat or phone support, but the live chat bot is helpful with basic questions and email support is quick to answer with detailed answers. In addition, there is a forum where you can chat with other PC Matic users and solve potential problems.

PC Matic Home Specs

On-demand malware scanning Yes
On-Access Malware Scanning Yes
Site evaluation No
Malicious URL Blocking No
Protection against phishing No
Behavior-based detection No
Scanning for weak points Yes
Dam No

Would you buy an antivirus tool that is sure to block the execution of any malware, be it a virus, Trojan, ransomware, spyware, or other malware? Would you still buy it when you found out that it also blocks any good program? Sounds crazy, but there is a way to common sense. The app would just need an extensive whitelist of known good programs that it should leave alone. This is what PC Matic Home is all about. Any program that it does not recognize is suspended until the analysis system at the company’s headquarters determines whether it is good or bad. This analysis is expected to occur within 24 hours, but in tests after three days, most of the unknowns remained unknown. And those who choose PC Matic protection,they need to be prepared to be able to block important programs.

How Much Does PC Matic Home Cost?

A $ 50 / year subscription to PC Matic Home gives you five licenses; you can also pay $ 150 to keep these five licenses for life. About a third of the premium antivirus products I monitor cost around $ 40 a year for a single license. This group includes Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Trend Micro, and Webroot.

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There’s one more common price that’s $ 20 higher, but what you get with a $ 60 subscription varies a lot. A Norton subscription for the same amount protects only one computer, while Kaspersky protects three for the same price. Sophos goes all out with 10 remotely managed licenses. And with McAfee AntiVirus Plus you get unlimited licenses. You can install McAfee protection on any Android, iOS, macOS and Windows device you own.

PC Matic’s main window is busier than many others, split into three main horizontal bands. At the bottom, you can see a collection of maintenance statistics such as removed viruses, patched vulnerabilities, and updated drivers. Above you can see three colored dials representing CPU usage, available RAM, and disk activity, as well as buttons for viewing activity history and performance trends. The next panel provides detailed information about the current device along with a toolbar for selecting a view from the Dashboard, SuperShield, Schedule, Reports, and Options.

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Looking for Norton Security alternatives? Lots of people like antivirus software. The challenge is to determine if the tool you want is right for you or not.

Education

Rob Cheng was a very bright kid. He attended the Lyceum of Bowie. He was a very hardworking student and was the best in his class. Mathematics was one of the subjects that attracted a very clever child. After graduating from Bowie Senior High School, Cheng continued his education at Cornell University. There he enrolled in a course in Operational Research and Industrial Engineering. He obtained a degree in this course. He also completed MBA studies at the University of Texas.

Rob Cheng’s private life is little gossip. He doesn’t like to involve people in his private affairs. Although little is known, the family structure that he has is public. He was with Solange Cheng for a very long time. The couple later married. This happy couple is also blessed with two children, one son and the other a daughter. The Cheng family live together in South Carolina.

Little is known about Cheng’s political and religious views. He is an engineer by profession, and technology has always been the passion of this hardworking person.

Is Rob Cheng Gay?

Rob Cheng has been associated with Solange Cheng for a long time. They both dated for several years before getting married. They are also parents of two children, a son and a daughter. Rob Cheng has never seen him associated with anyone of the same sex. He also never showed interest in the same sex. Therefore, it is fairly easy to say that Rob Cheng is not gay.

Right after graduation, Rob Cheng landed in his first job. He interned at Xerox and then worked for the federal government. During the internship, he was given the opportunity to work for Texas Instruments Data Systems Group and gladly accepted the offer. He was promoted after completing MBA studies.

After Texas Instruments, he began working at Gateway. The company was owned by his friend from Texas Instruments, Ted Waitt. He took the position of Marketing Director there. He gained extensive professional experience in the company and was promoted several times. By 1997, he was appointed senior vice president of sales, marketing, and support worldwide.

He left the company two years later, and this resignation was to work in his own company. He worked alongside his former Texas Instruments boss Rick Synder. The company was named PC Pitstop. Cheng used codes from what he had learned during his technical education. He also developed an antivirus program from the company. Today, the company is so large that it has 65 employees, but over 3.5 million users worldwide.

In the app settings, I was able to choose to view my whitelisted apps and schedule a scan. I can also update the software only when I am connected to a Wi-Fi network.

PC Matic scanning process

PC Matic is no ordinary antivirus solution – we’ve already figured that out in this review. For this reason, testing it is a bit difficult. To make sure we achieved accurate results, our team of experts used a tried and true testing method. First of all, we downloaded the software and checked its functions. This allowed us to focus on both the pros and cons. We then put this antivirus solution through a series of “trials”. Security, safety and user experience – we assessed everything. We also researched the results of leading software testing labs to stay objective.

Recently, Virus Bulletin conducted a series of tests for this software and managed to obtain an excellent (100%) detection rating. However, while this product was fantastic in the RAP test, it failed several times in the VB100 test.

But that’s because PC Matic is constantly blocking legitimate programs. In antivirus tests, the antivirus received an excellent score for performance, but rather average scores in the zero-day attack test. At the same time, it blocked over 800 legal programs. By comparison, Webroot SecureAnywhere was the product with a higher level of false positives, and only had 12 of them.

For real-world benchmarks, we used the same malicious sample package as for every other product we tested. Finally, we went through the refund process from the consumer’s point of view.

In our series of tests where we intentionally placed malware samples into the system, PC Matic blocked all of them. For clarification: most of them were blocked because they were not whitelisted. Only 18 percent of these samples were labeled as dangerous by Super Shield. Another 54% were marked as unknown and 11% were marked as good but were still blocked.

We launched the same “packet” of malware samples the next day, and the results were mixed. All unknown and good samples have now been marked as dangerous. This is because every time this product comes across unknown files / applications, it submits them for in-depth analysis. And 24 hours later, all of these unknowns were identified.

Whitelisting: Advanced Malware Protection

Since whitelisting is a new way to detect malware, you are probably wondering how it works. Most antivirus programs on the market blacklists constantly evolving malware codes / algorithms. PC Matic does the opposite: it creates a whitelist of known safe files. So, every time it encounters files in the list, it leaves them alone.

All other files are sent to the company’s research team for analysis and quick testing. As we already mentioned, the team takes a whole day to classify unknown files as safe or unsafe. The most important disadvantage of this method is that you will always have to manually “tell” the antivirus program that certain files, programs and sites should not be blocked.

But whitelists aren’t the only technology used by PC Matic. Hackers are known to use tools like PowerShell to install malware without any .exe files. Fileless Script Block is the company’s exclusive agent that is great at detecting malicious scripts. Finally, RDP control prevents criminals from gaining access to RDP ports.

PC Matic Features in Details

As mentioned at the beginning, PC Matic goes beyond the usual security packages and contributes significantly to system optimization. It is a balanced slash tuning package that focuses on removing unnecessary files, fixing security holes in various applications, and defragmenting local disks.

PC Matic is also quite good at speeding up the operating system by keeping the registry clean, downloading and installing the latest drivers, and organizing your startup list.

The set of tools and features available is indeed impressive, and while some of them are almost exact copies of Windows modules, that doesn’t make them any less useful. All optimization tools are part of Automatic Maintenance, and users are free to choose which features to use and which ones to skip. So let’s take a closer look at everything this product has to offer.

We’ll first look at the security-oriented features and then move on to the optimization tools. A quick note before we proceed: Unlike most antivirus software, PC Matic doesn’t come pre-installed with an anti-malware engine. You will have to download it manually from the official website. Scans are available right from the start, but the antivirus core is a separate download.

PC Matic System Scan

Thanks to PC Matic, scans are slightly different from other products. Instead of running a specific test that focuses on finding and dealing with malware, you run a full scan. It includes complete disk fragmentation, performance tweaks, and, of course, malware detection. First, the software runs a quick diagnostic scan to check for and address problems in the operating system.

Performance, security, maintenance, and stability are at the heart of this scan. In a way, it is a combination of optimization, optimization, defragmentation, and regular antivirus scanning. Junk files, craplets, driver updates, and potentially dangerous files – this is what PC Matic checks your system for. It then conducts a series of benchmarks and creates a detailed report.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to spend a few dollars on a premium antivirus, PC Matic Home Security is a decent option – it comes with both malware protection and device optimization features. PC Matic is also one of the few antivirus programs that offers a lifetime subscription.

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I have used Norton, Kaspersky, McAffe, Trend Micro, Avast and AVG over the years. While I liked a few of these programs (and hated the others), none of them compares to PC Matic. There is nothing more versatile, user-friendly and non-invasive.

After installation, it took less than 5 minutes. I immediately installed the program on my child’s computers. They had so much garbage on them; I couldn’t believe it. PC Matic found everything, cleaned everything and now all our laptops are running at optimal performance.

It was really easy guys. I’m not kidding. I am tech savvy. I work in the high-tech industry, where I operate with advanced detection and acquisition systems. I used to look after my family’s laptops myself. Never again. PC Matic does its job better than I have ever done. I enthusiastically recommend PC Matic. That’s half the price of its lowest competitor, and protection is more comprehensive than any of them.

PC Matic won my business. It’s cheap. It is fast. It is reliable. It is easy to use. It is made in America. I like this. Thank you.

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I just hate coming out of nowhere and calling it out of the box. I especially noticed that you MUST be connected to the internet to open this product interface. Until you do so, you will receive a message to try again. Once you install it, good luck it detects something wrong with your pc, it constantly dazzles the newbie with useless graphics display and TOO MUCH AWW and frivolous details to dazzle you! Not to mention, it calls Internet Explorer 11 even on Windows 10. It doesn’t call http and default browser, so I understand that it does claim to install an ad blocker on your browser after all. I haven’t gotten an ad blocker on Edge and I’m definitely not using IE 11. WOW!
Eventually (the known infected machine) received the green light, good for malware from this product. In particular, the infamous iTunes Debugger hijacker, which slows down indexing machines, and the well-known one, PCMatic just misses it just fine, amidst many other dubious items that PCMatic simply ignored. I wanted to return it immediately after purchase to benefit from the 30-day money-back guarantee. Guess what people? Obviously not through Amazon, but directly from the manufacturer. So go to the page to open a ticket, “Refunds are issued by our automated phone request system” So I named this number and want a phone number associated with my account, well no phone number fields exist in your “account settings.
All that’s left for me to do is submit / cancel with tech support to fix my phone number, well I’m logging in correctly but the form never shows just a blank FORM popup in Edge so let me try a different browser, right? EVIL. Eventually, I was able to submit my ticket and received the form to display with outside of my account support. They sent out a confusing auto reply about no phone support, still seem to have no contact with them. Only time will tell if they will return my product for this disappointing purchase. I’ve never seen an ad blocker installed or available in IE 11 or Edge, so I can’t find this bundled product.

I just hate coming out of nowhere and calling it out of the box. I especially noticed that you MUST be connected to the internet to open this product interface. Until you do so, you will receive a message to try again. Once you install it, good luck it detects something wrong with your pc, it constantly dazzles the newbie with useless graphics display and TOO MUCH AWW and frivolous details to dazzle you! Not to mention, it calls Internet Explorer 11 even on Windows 10. It doesn’t call http and default browser, so I understand that it does claim to install an ad blocker on your browser after all. I haven’t gotten an ad blocker on Edge and I’m definitely not using IE 11. WOW!
Eventually (the known infected machine) received the green light, good for malware from this product. In particular, the infamous iTunes Debugger hijacker, which slows down indexing machines, and the well-known one, PCMatic just misses it just fine, amidst many other dubious items that PCMatic simply ignored. I wanted to return it immediately after purchase to benefit from the 30-day money-back guarantee. Guess what people? Obviously not through Amazon, but directly from the manufacturer. So go to the page to open a ticket, “Refunds are issued by our automated phone request system” So I named this number and want a phone number associated with my account, well no phone number fields exist in your “account settings.
All that’s left for me to do is submit / cancel with tech support to fix my phone number, well I’m logging in correctly but the form never shows just a blank FORM popup in Edge so let me try a different browser, right? EVIL. Eventually, I was able to submit my ticket and received the form to display with outside of my account support. They sent out a confusing auto reply about no phone support, still seem to have no contact with them. Only time will tell if they will return my product for this disappointing purchase. I’ve never seen an ad blocker installed or available in IE 11 or Edge, so I can’t find this bundled product.

After whitelisting a program, I had to restore SuperShield to normal settings (the default is Display Only – Recommended) to prevent ALL blocked programs from being whitelisted in the future – including dangerous ones like malware.

PC Matic Customer Support

PC Matic doesn’t have phone or live chat support, but it does have a live chat bot, email support, a wide range of user tutorials, and a user forum.

The live chat bot on the official website is only useful if you have basic questions about PC Matic, such as how to add PC Matic to a new device or how to renew your PC Matic license.

Editor in Chief

For any advanced questions, please email the PC Matic support team. I submitted a question using the email form on the official website and received an automatic email saying they would contact me as soon as possible. I got a reply in less than half an hour!

I was very impressed with PC Matic’s customer support – the response I got was very detailed and easy to understand and the support representative emailed me if I was able to fix the problem.

Editor in Chief

I also contacted PC Matic’s customer service to request a refund. Although the site says you need to contact the company by phone, I emailed them and they called back again in just 30 minutes, confirming my request and telling them that I can count on a refund within 5-7 days exactly as promised.

PC Matic also has a ton of resources on its site, including:

  • User manuals that explain how PC Matic works.
  • Tutorial videos that show how to use PC Matic.
  • Frequently asked questions for all PC Matic products.
  • Instructions on how to identify and prevent support scams.

I really like the user manuals and instructional videos. They are very helpful when you start working with PC Matic or you have problems configuring and using the software.

PC Matic also has a forum with a fairly active user community. Although some topics have been inactive for months, I found the forum quite helpful. There are tons of tips on the forum to help you get the most out of PC Matic, as well as many active users trying to answer new questions.

Overall, PC Matic’s customer support is really good. There is no live chat or phone support, but the live chat bot is helpful with basic questions and email support is quick to answer with detailed answers. In addition, there is a forum where you can chat with other PC Matic users and solve potential problems.

Final Verdict: Is PC Matic Any Good?

PC Matic is a decent antivirus. Its whitelist based malware scanner worked fine in my tests and its real-time scanner blocked all malware I tried to run.

However, during my tests, PC Matic also blocked a lot of legitimate programs simply because they weren’t whitelisted from PC Matic – and that’s okay. I think it is better to get a few false positives than just one false negative. But I can’t say I’m too happy with the way PC Matic handles unknown programs.

PC Matic also scanned my computer for performance issues and fixed all detected issues quickly. I like that it provides system optimization, but I wish the system scan reports were easier to understand.

The PC Matic mobile app is pretty good, perfect for people who don’t want to bother with advanced options. But I don’t like that the PC Matic mobile app is only available for Android.

There are many excellent customer support resources available on the official PC Matic website, and the customer support team is quick to answer any technical issues. I received a reply to my email in less than half an hour and the reply was really detailed. However, there is no phone line or live chat like there is with other antivirus software like Norton or TotalAV. However, there is an AI-powered live chat bot that comes in handy with basic questions.

Overall, PC Matic isn’t necessarily the best antivirus out there. While the malware detection rate is really good, it doesn’t use advanced malware detection technology such as artificial intelligence or machine learning. It also lacks many of the features found in the best internet security antiviruses. But it’s still a decent option for users who want a virus scanner and system optimization that is easy to install, easy to use, and comes with all the essential features you need to protect yourself from most malware.

PC Matic is one of the few antivirus companies that advertise on TV regularly. Fortunately, the ads have gotten more sophisticated over time. For example, they no longer claim that computer viruses are written by “Boris RipYouOff.”

Performance

In testing in January and February 2021, AV-Test gave PC Matic a score of 87.8 and 98.4 percent, respectively, for zero-day, web, email, and malware attacks based on 258 samples. The organisation’s larger test for widespread malware, with nearly 10,000 samples, scored 100% in both months.

PC Matic has not been part of the AV Comparatives or SE Labs tests in recent months.

The results of the AV-Test are similar to those we saw during the last PC Matic review. Great protection against well-known and common malware, but below industry standards when it comes to newer threats.

In terms of our internal benchmarking performance, the overall PC Matic had no significant performance impact based on the PCMark 10 Extended benchmark. In fact, it seemed to improve performance. Before installing PC Matic, the test computer had an average score of 1664; with PC Matic running (and after standard scanning), the average increased by almost 20 points to 1682.

There was no noticeable difference in all of the other tests, including the large file transfer test, the archiving and unpacking test, and the Handbrake test.

Conclusion

PC Matic is an interesting program compared to other AV packages and takes a bit of getting used to thanks to its unique optimization focus. But at $ 50 for five devices or $ 150 for a lifetime license, it might appeal to those looking for an antivirus suite and optimization tools at a good price.

Editor’s Note: As online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to the text or our final review verdict will be noted at the beginning of this article.

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