I will talk about a software that includes
all of the above mentioned options and many
more. It is a suite of utilities that will
maintain your computer so that it won't run
slow or worse…freeze. The software was
baptized with the name of WinUtilities so
that everyone knows that it contains Windows
tools. The developer is XP-Tools and the
installation file “weighs” only 4.30MB. The
price for acquiring this Windows toolkit is
$39.99.
The software is designed to optimize the
performance of your computer and to remove
the files you no longer need, get rid of
invalid registry entries, cookies, clean
your startup. It will help the user remove
or repair broken shortcuts, backup and
restore your registry etc. Let's see how it
actually works.
The interface is clean and simple. It
contains only the options you need to
maintain your computer. The main menus are
displayed vertically, on the left side of
the application window, and their submenus
will occupy the rest of the application.
When selected, every submenu will pop up a
window containing all the settings.
The main menus are System Cleaners, System
Optimizers, System Control, System Tools,
Registry Tools and File Tools.
System Cleaners contains four submenus
designed to clean the disk of the junk files
like temporary data and invalid entries. Its
purpose is to clean the system of the files
missed by the regular uninstallers,
defragmenters, etc. There are tens of
options in here, so I will not take each and
every one of them and explain it. After
selecting the folders or drives that you
want to scan, go into Options (at the bottom
of the window) and make your settings for
Junk Files, Search Options, add the folders
you don’t want to be scanned, and also take
a look at the Cleaning Options tab (you can
create a restore point before deleting the
junk). Advanced Options will also present
you with 13 settings (clean clipboard,
Internet temp files, recent run history,
search computer registry, etc.).
We are still in the System Cleaner and the
next submenu is the Registry Cleaner. You
have to select the items you want to be
examined (user/common/system settings,
uninstall section, etc.). Things are much
simpler in here as, after making your
choices, the system will proceed directly to
scanning your Windows Registry.
The History Cleaner will allow you to
protect your privacy by removing the
unnecessary Internet files and unwanted
data. I must say that the Wash My Computer
Now option does not sound too appealing,
but, if you take the right decision, the
result will be quite comforting. The Task
Scheduler allows you to configure tasks to
run automatically and you won't have to run
WinUtilities every time. It will perform the
action at the specified time.
In System Optimizers, the submenus are not
as abundant as in the previous section, and
the range of options is not even close.
Thus, in the Memory Optimizer, you can make
the settings only to enable auto
optimization and for the manual
optimization. The other two submenus are to
be used to get rid of left behind shortcuts
and duplicate files.
System Control comes hard from behind with
options like System Control (organize and
manage Windows settings) which comprises
Configuration Files, Environment (with User
variables, system variables, MS-DOS
environment and the Special Folders), OEM
Information (which allows you to customize
the OS registration information displayed in
System Properties), Control Panel and Auto
Shutdown (schedule computer to log off,
stand by, hibernate, or shutdown at a user
specified time).
The BHO (Browser Help Objects) remover will
list all the installed BHOs and will allow
you to remove the ones you do not want to
keep. The Shutdown utility comes in handy
when you want to schedule your computer for
log off, shutdown, hibernate or stand by at
a certain time.
In System Tools, the developer has
incorporated instruments designed to manage
the running processes (Process Manager),
uninstall the applications you no longer
need (Uninstall Manager), provide
comprehensive information on your computer
(System Information tool) or launch the
Windows Tools. The Process Manager is the
most important in my opinion, as it will
offer you info on CPU, Page File and
Physical Memory usage and the Virtual
Address Space. You will also have access to
the running processes and you can kill them
at whim.
The Registry Tools menu covers Registry
Backup/Restore and Search submenus. Thus you
can create backups for your registry, in
case you do something wrong. If you want to
look for a particular element in the
registry, all you have to do is use the
Search option which comes with search
parameters you can configure by yourself
according to your needs.
The last menu in the list is File Tools,
which covers file related options like File
Shredder (that permanently removes the files
on your computer) that allows you to choose
the method by which the files will be
overwritten before deletion (Single Pass, 3
Passes, NSA- seven passes or Guttman – 35
passes). The File Splitter will cut a file
into smaller pieces, so that you can send it
with greater ease. The EXE Protector option
will allow you to protect any Windows .exe
file by applying a password.
The Good
The software is a suite of Windows utilities
that will help you keep your computer in
good shape. The bundle of tools is amazing
and the ease of use makes the software a
“must have” for every computer owner that
cares about his/her machine.
The Bad
All the software needs is a defragmenting
tool, even if Windows has a built-in utility
that does this job.
The developers may consider revising the
spelling in the description of the
utilities.
The interface's skins are three, but I did
not see too much of a difference, except for
the title bar.
The Truth
The software is worth more than a shot. It
does its job with a sense of responsibility
you rarely encounter in other similar
softwares. And the investment will turn out
to be a good one.
 
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