To grab PC Manager, head to its dedicated product page or go directly to its Microsoft Store page. After installation, open the program. If you wish, you can set it to start up automatically each time Windows loads. The app then launches to its Home screen.

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PC Manager offers an array of tests and features, but the first item on my agenda was the health check. Running it told me that 2GB of space could be freed, one startup item could be enabled, two default settings could be restored, one app could be removed, and 343 usage traces could be cleaned.

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Selecting each item provided more details and allowed me to trigger each action. I could also cut to the chase by clicking the Optimize button, but I wanted to nose around the different recommendations first.

Choosing the option to free up space brought me to the Space Check panel, which showed me all the folders and files that could be deleted. I could clean them all in one shot or review them and uncheck the ones I did not want removed. In this case, I opted to say goodbye to all of it.

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Next, I looked at the two default settings that PC Manager suggested I enable. One was the startup option for the program itself, which I unchecked. The other advised me to reset the taskbar to its default appearance and disable third-party extensions. Since I typically manage the taskbar through Start11, I was wary of this one. But I let it run anyway to see what would happen. Doing so seemed to remove the Start11 management, but the taskbar still worked normally, so I was fine with this.

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For this one, PC Manager offers to remove usage traces, which are files and other content stored or left behind when you use a particular program. These can include Windows log files and recently accessed items, as well as browser cookies and history. Beyond freeing up space, the goal is to better protect your privacy by deleting items that can be used to trace your activities.

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Another setting under the same umbrella is popup management. The tool suggested that I turn this on to reduce ads and app popups.

Here, I allowed all the suggested actions to run but reminded myself to check my browser afterward to see the effects.

Next up, PC Manager recommended that I uninstall the Dolby Settings app on the basis that it had not been used over the past 30 days. Though I do not fire up this one very often, Dolby Settings is a useful way to manage the audio enhancements in Windows, so I chose to leave it alone.

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Along similar lines, the tool told me that Windows took 40 seconds to boot and advised me to add Google Updater to my startup routine. This program checks for and automatically installs updates for Chrome and other Google products so that you do not have to do it manually. Since my startup routine is relatively free of unnecessary items, I took the advice.

With the main recommendations out of the way, I scrolled down the health check screen to see what other tidbits awaited me. A PC information section identified all the installed hardware, including the CPU, motherboard, memory, graphics card, hard drive, network card, sound card, and display. The network panel showed me the network performance in real time by revealing the speed and latency.

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Back at the PC Manager Home screen, I discovered more features. A startup section lets me view all the apps in my startup routine and enable or disable specific ones. A process management section shows me all the programs and other items currently in memory, allowing me to end one that is frozen or unresponsive. A deep cleanup scans Windows for more apps, files, and other items that can be removed to free up disk space.

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One more setting, called Boost, will free up resources in an attempt to boost the performance of Windows. Running it immediately deleted temp files to reduce clutter. A related Smart Boost option will automatically free up resources if a high amount of memory is being used or the temp files grow to 1GB in size. I ran both to see how performance would be affected.

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Beyond the health check, PC Manager offers a convenient way to access a variety of Windows settings.

At the System Protection panel, you can review your security settings, check Windows Update, change the default apps for key programs, and run a network speed test.

At the Storage management panel, you are able to run a deep clean to remove unneeded files, manage all downloaded files, view large and duplicate files, and directly access the Storage sense feature.

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At the App management panel, you can view all running processes and check your startup apps. Plus, this one offers an option called Deep Uninstall, which promises to not only remove a software program but also delete its leftover files and Registry entries.

Finally, the toolbox provides quick access to various tools, including Notepad, the Calculator, an image search, an audio recorder, the Snipping Tool, a translator, and a currency converter. You can also set up and customize a floating PC Manager toolbar from which you are able to tap into different features.

So after all the testing and tweaking, how did PC Manager fare? I like the tool overall. Combining analysis with actual fixes and quick access to various built-in features makes for a comprehensive and capable app.

However, I wish it explained what some of its recommendations actually do, as they could have unexpected side effects. I also wish it had an Undo or Restore option to reverse its actions. There is a Restore command at the Home screen, but it does not seem to do anything.

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As for the effect on Windows itself, I could not detect any significant improvement in performance. But that may be more cumulative as you periodically run the health check, something I plan to do. Plus, PC Manager would likely prove even more helpful on a system cluttered with junk files, too many startup items, and other detritus clogging up Windows. For that reason, I think using it from time to time can only help.