Guest Roy Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Gentlemen I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will these power tools help? TIA
Guest R. McCarty Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools If you are interested in personally maintaining the PC, then a few tools built into XP will work as well as paying for some utility. Keeping a PC healthy isn't difficult or hard. The biggest thing for most users is knowing what needs to be done and how to do it. Mostly it comes down to these primary items: (1.) Windows Updates to obtain patches and Security (2.) Updated device drivers (3.) Program Updates ( Java, Shockwave, QuickTime...) (4.) Chkdsk regularly to verify the volume is free of errors (5.) Defrag ( Yes, it does benefit most users ) (6.) Keeping track of installed apps, remove unwanted ones (7.) Security Scans ( AV, AdAware, Spybot & Win Defender ) (8.) Control Startups and Watchdogs that aren't required. (9.) Occasional on-line scan with alternate security software. - Trend Micro's HouseCall is one. *More Advanced items: -Check System & Application Event logs to make sure no problems are occurring you're unaware of. "Roy" <roybasan@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1190326297.528507.61690@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com... > Gentlemen > I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze > Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in > improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. > Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and > other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will > these power tools help? > TIA >
Guest Malke Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools Roy wrote: > Gentlemen > I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze > Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in > improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. > Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and > other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will > these power tools help? > TIA > No, they are snake oil at best - have malware at worst. Make sure the computer is clean: http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware Do maintenance: http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Maintenance Slow or Sluggish Computer: http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Take Out the Trash Malke -- Elephant Boy Computers http://www.elephantboycomputers.com "Don't Panic!" MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Guest Ron Badour Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools I have yet to see one that I think is valuable or that I cannot live without. -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2007 "Roy" <roybasan@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1190326297.528507.61690@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com... > Gentlemen > I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze > Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in > improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. > Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and > other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will > these power tools help? > TIA >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:11:37 -0000, Roy <roybasan@gmail.com> wrote: > Gentlemen > I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze > Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in > improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. > Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and > other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will > these power tools help? In general, no. Not only will they not help, but they increase the chances of making things worse. I recommend avoiding such programs like the plague. Almost without exception, they are all snake oil. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest WindowsXPert Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 RE: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools "Roy" wrote: > Gentlemen > I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze > Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in > improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. > Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and > other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will > these power tools help? > TIA > There are two points to be made here. The first has been made several times above: the majority of the "optimizers" "cleaners" "enhancers" "speeder-uppers" etc are developed OUTSIDE the MSDN and are therefore probably not suited to the tasks they claim to perform as well as their authors claim. Ironically, however, those which ARE offered by Microsoft's development partners (McAfee and Norton, to name two) just want to take over your system. One of my laptops was "Designed for Windows 2000" so it squeaked through the upgrade to XP alright but wasn't the optimal config. After adding [manufacturer name deleted] 360, it had the sluggishness of a 486DX-II/66 trying to run XP-Pro! What's important to keep in mind is that these 3rd party utilities --good or bad-- all have an overhead of their own. What good is an app. that's getting you back 20% of your system resources if the heap that it runs in adds 25-30% more load onto the system it cflaims to be optimizing? COUNTERPOINT: There are certain businesses Microsoft just cannot be in. One of them is the removal of third-party registry entries. Another is discarding the "dead code" contained in other apps and reducing the quantity of ostebnsibly-useless data they generate. So, where cleaning out the registry, directory maintenance and just plain "good housekeeping habits" are concerned, one may wish to shop outside of Redmond, WA for a non-biased utility that's capable of trimming some of the fat. Also, let's not forget how much of what we now refer to as utilities "bundled with Windows" used to be the products of other companies and was bought/licensed by Microsoft for sale as part of the Windows Operating System
Guest Poprivet Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools This is good, with one exception: Chkdsk can, under certain circumstances (and some malwares) become confused and you end up with a trashed hard drive. Running chkdsk on the system boot drive should always be done last, and then only is something is suspected to be wrong with the drive. Chkdsk will do nothing w/r to malware. Always FIRST run Chkdsk WITHOUT any flags so it won't try to repair anything. It'll do a 3 stage test; then look at the results and see if the /r or /f flags are needed. /f means fix, and /r extends its operation to include the unused portions of the disk, looking for bad blocks. But like I said, chkdsk is NOT something that should be run very often and not as part of a regular cleanup effort. Google will explain it better than I can. So will wikipedia. Pop` http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chkdsk R. McCarty wrote: > If you are interested in personally maintaining the PC, then a few > tools built into XP will work as well as paying for some utility. > Keeping a PC healthy isn't difficult or hard. The biggest thing for > most users is knowing what needs to be done and how to do it. > > Mostly it comes down to these primary items: > (1.) Windows Updates to obtain patches and Security > (2.) Updated device drivers > (3.) Program Updates ( Java, Shockwave, QuickTime...) > (4.) Chkdsk regularly to verify the volume is free of errors > (5.) Defrag ( Yes, it does benefit most users ) > (6.) Keeping track of installed apps, remove unwanted ones > (7.) Security Scans ( AV, AdAware, Spybot & Win Defender ) > (8.) Control Startups and Watchdogs that aren't required. > (9.) Occasional on-line scan with alternate security software. > - Trend Micro's HouseCall is one. > *More Advanced items: > -Check System & Application Event logs to make sure no > problems are occurring you're unaware of. > > > > "Roy" <roybasan@gmail.com> wrote in message > news:1190326297.528507.61690@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com... >> Gentlemen >> I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze >> Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in >> improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. >> Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and >> other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will >> these power tools help? >> TIA
Guest R. McCarty Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 Re: Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools I neglected to add the warning about having a backup before ever using Chkdsk with a /F /R qualifier. Over the years I've personally had at least a handful of PCs that running the full 5-Phase Chkdsk ends up making Windows unbootable or suffer some significant data loss. Still I'd recommend running the read-only on occasion to find out if the volume is "Dirty". It does seem to be a factor in computers running slow or having sluggish response. A computer owner can never have enough backups or images. In fact I won't work on any PC unless there is a recent backup or I take an image of it myself before making any changes. Computers are a text book example of "Going from bad to Worse" when trying to fix something.You can't be a computer technician unless you've worked on a PC all night and seen the sun rise with no solution. "Poprivet" <poprivet@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote in message news:%23Bfn5AH$HHA.4732@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > This is good, with one exception: Chkdsk can, under certain circumstances > (and some malwares) become confused and you end up with a trashed hard > drive. > Running chkdsk on the system boot drive should always be done last, and > then only is something is suspected to be wrong with the drive. Chkdsk > will do nothing w/r to malware. > Always FIRST run Chkdsk WITHOUT any flags so it won't try to repair > anything. It'll do a 3 stage test; then look at the results and see if > the /r or /f flags are needed. /f means fix, and /r extends its operation > to include the unused portions of the disk, looking for bad blocks. > But like I said, chkdsk is NOT something that should be run very often > and not as part of a regular cleanup effort. > > Google will explain it better than I can. So will wikipedia. > > Pop` > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chkdsk > > R. McCarty wrote: >> If you are interested in personally maintaining the PC, then a few >> tools built into XP will work as well as paying for some utility. >> Keeping a PC healthy isn't difficult or hard. The biggest thing for >> most users is knowing what needs to be done and how to do it. >> >> Mostly it comes down to these primary items: >> (1.) Windows Updates to obtain patches and Security >> (2.) Updated device drivers >> (3.) Program Updates ( Java, Shockwave, QuickTime...) >> (4.) Chkdsk regularly to verify the volume is free of errors >> (5.) Defrag ( Yes, it does benefit most users ) >> (6.) Keeping track of installed apps, remove unwanted ones >> (7.) Security Scans ( AV, AdAware, Spybot & Win Defender ) >> (8.) Control Startups and Watchdogs that aren't required. >> (9.) Occasional on-line scan with alternate security software. >> - Trend Micro's HouseCall is one. >> *More Advanced items: >> -Check System & Application Event logs to make sure no >> problems are occurring you're unaware of. >> >> >> >> "Roy" <roybasan@gmail.com> wrote in message >> news:1190326297.528507.61690@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com... >>> Gentlemen >>> I would like to know how good are these tools such as Windoze >>> Optimizers, registry mechanics, and other performance tools in >>> improving the efficiency of the WinXP performance. >>> Generally the PC performance slows down meaning there are errors, and >>> other issues that are bogging the computer. so my question is will >>> these power tools help? >>> TIA > > >
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