CA Uses the Cloud to Maintain PCs

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More .

CA on Thursday unveiled PC Tune-Up and PC Tune-Up Plus, a pair of cloud-based computer optimization applications that promise to clean up hard drives, identify and repair performance problems and incorporate antivirus and antispyware protection.

Company officials said PC Tune-Up lets users performance scans for up to three PCs from a single location. The integrated “scan” and “fix” application works with a single click of the mouse, identifying the issues impacting a PC’s speed, stability, security and overall performance.

PC Tune-Up Plus includes those same features as well as the antivirus and antispyware component. Both applications support machines running the Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Media Center Edition with SP2 operating systems.

“PC Tune-Up uses a cloud-based architecture to minimize its impact on the local PC’s performance,” Tom Neary, director of product management for CA’s Internet security unit, said in a statement. “This also gives it the agility to update the product in real time and fix products remotely, enabling all users to immediately benefit without the nuisance of downloading and installing product updates.”

While many consumers are enamored with the prodigious compute power and sleek design of new PCs from the likes of HP and Dell, the applications give everyone a chance to milk another year or two out of their old machines for $39.99 ($49.99 for the security-enhanced PC Tune-Up Plus) for a one-year subscription for up to three PCs in a household.

Customers can also check their own results against a database of more than 100 million other PC scans for a visual comparison of how their particular PC’s performance ranks against millions of machines around the world.

An automated driver update utility scans the PC to see if it is running the latest drivers, identifying those that are outdated and automatically downloading and installing driver updates.

“Having a PC that isn’t operating properly or that runs slowly can be very frustrating,” Neary added. “It is a fast, do-it-yourself tool to keep your PC operating like new, eliminating the headaches that come with a slow or malfunctioning PC.”

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com.