Now you have went from spending less than a hundred bucks to speed up your PC to paying 299.99 a year for 'Premium Service'. Then they tell you you have viruses (which is not always the case, and it is not the virus disabling the computer) and send you to their Premium Support Partners-whoever they be at the time. Suddenly your machine is completely hosed and you call US for support because as far as you know everything was fine till you ran the Update.

If you install the full version to correct the problem, either immediately, or at some in the near future through an update, your computer is DISABLED- they actually would corrupt key registry keys that disabled Windows Update, Windows Firewall, Background Intelligent Transfer Service, and the Base Filtering Engine. This is where the real fun begins, because once you have shown ANY willingness to PAY you are marked and the real program begins. If you use the free product you have stumbled down the rabbit hole as on a brand new computer WITH NO BLOATWARE, a completely fresh image of Windows Vista/7 it finds anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred errors that you must pay to have fixed. I can say from direct experience as a former employee of one of the related companies (support choice) yes, they are a complete scam.

System mechanic scams