Best free maintenance utilities
Three top Windows cleaners boost performance
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By
Scott Spanbauer
Over months or years of normal use, Windows accumulates thousands of orphaned files, useless settings, and other detritus that can noticeably slow down your applications. These performance-enhancing utilities remove this digital refuse to help your system run at its top speed. |
Make your PC run like new ... almost
Perhaps this has happened to you: after years of installing and uninstalling applications, opening e-mail attachments, and putting my broadband connection to the test downloading gigabytes of rich Web content, I found one day that my computer had lost its sparkle.
Opening Web pages took forever. Applications launched with the leisureliness of a teenager who must catch the early bus to high school. My bleeding-edge PC had been reduced to a burbling sludge. If only I could return to those days of minty-fresh, new-computer performance.
Installing yet another application in order to speed things up may seem counterintuitive. I'm not a big fan of nonessential utilities, but I found that all three of the performance enhancers I tested — Business Logic's U.S. $30 WinCleaner One Click Professional Clean, Piriform's free CCleaner, and PC Pitstop's $30 Optimize — are worthwhile.
After using these programs to blow the cobwebs out of my system, its startups perked up a bit and my everyday computing seemed snappier. All three work with both Vista and XP. They clear out junk files that accumulate in temp folders and caches, unwanted applications and services that launch automatically at startup, and unnecessary Registry entries that point to files, folders, and other objects that no longer exist on the PC.
True, you can rectify many of these situations manually using a variety of tools built into various nooks and crannies of Windows itself. But why bother when a free or low-cost tool can do the work for you in just seconds?
One performance issue these programs don't address is disk optimization. Once you've cleared out the cruft, I suggest that you defragment your disk using one of the free utilities I recommended in the June 12 newsletter. The aggravation you avoid could be your own.
#1: BUSINESS LOGIC WINCLEANER ONE CLICK PROFESSIONAL CLEAN 11
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$30 version
94 More info |
WinCleaner One Click costs money, but tightwads should give its 30-day free trial a spin before opting for one of the free Windows-washing alternatives. The program finds and removes more junk files, dead-end Registry entries, broken shortcuts, cookies, and other system clutter than other system-sweeping utilities.
WinCleaner also identifies programs that you may want to prevent from starting automatically with Windows and removes hard-to-uninstall applications. The program offers a handy utility for moving installed applications — Registry entries and all — from one location to another.
On my test system, WinCleaner found almost 2GB of stuff to delete, including more than 500 unnecessary Registry entries. The utility gives you several options for deleting these files and defaults to backing up all but the junk and temp files to another location. This allows you to undo your changes should something go wrong — although in my experience, WinCleaner's aggressive tidying causes no problems.
Figure 1. WinCleaner One Click's scan results show the amount of disk space the cleaning will recover.
Advanced options in the program let you specify its default settings, such as which hard drives to scan (including network drives) and whether to scrub your browsers' cache, history, and typed URLs for privacy (on by default).
The very paranoid can set WinCleaner to destructively overwrite deleted files using either one-pass, two-pass, or the slower but more secure Department of Defense standard method. You can also run each of WinCleaner's cleanup modules independently, which gives you even more control over its scanning and deletion options (such as which browser's files to scan or which specific Registry keys to delete).
#2: PIRIFORM CCLEANER 2.1
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Free version
91 More info |
CCleaner is freeware that apparently earns its keep by allowing the Yahoo Toolbar for Internet Explorer to piggyback onto its installer (an option you can uncheck during installation). The program removes temp files, history, and cookies from IE, Firefox, and Opera. It also tidies up your Registry and deletes temp files created by Windows and other applications.
Like other cleaning utilities, CCleaner lets you uninstall applications or banish them from starting automatically with Windows. Optional settings let you run CCleaner itself at each startup and skip deleting temp files less than 48 hours old (a feature that's enabled by default). This is not a bad idea if your computer crashes and you have CCleaner set to run at startup automatically.
CCleaner is less aggressive than WinCleaner. It found only 338MB of junk files to delete on my test PC, though the program discovered about the same number of Registry issues as WinCleaner. Unlike WinCleaner's one-click interface, however, you have to run each of CCleaner's main scans separately. These include scans for junk files and browser clutter, the Registry, and app startups and uninstalls.
And although it lacks WinCleaner's undo feature, CCleaner does offer to back up your Registry changes to a .reg file just in case any of the changes cause problems.
CCleaner packs a bigger punch than WinCleaner in one area: file deletion. Not only does it do one-pass and DOD-standard overwrites, the program also obliterates your unwanted files by using the stronger National Security Administration (7-pass) and Gutmann (35-pass) techniques. Not bad for a freebie.
#3: PC PITSTOP OPTIMIZE 2
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$30 version
84 More info |
Like CCleaner and WinCleaner, PC Pitstop's optimizer looks for junk files, Registry problems, and unwanted startup applications. But this utility also accelerates your surfing experience by tweaking various browser settings, including packet sizes and the number of simultaneous open connections allowed.
The trial version of the program scans your PC for free, presenting fairly detailed lists of the junk files, Registry entries, and other digital deadwood it intends to prune. However, to complete the operation, you must pony up the $30 purchase price.
Optimize was even less aggressive than CCleaner when I ran it on my test system, finding only about 108MB of junk files to delete. However, the program suggested dozens of browser-acceleration settings, including many arcane configuration settings in Firefox. It also noted three startup programs I could kiss goodbye, and it found more than 1,000 superfluous Registry entries.
You can deselect individual items before optimizing, but unlike the other optimizers I tried, PC Pitstop's Optimize 2 doesn't offer backup or undo options nor does it go to any lengths to thoroughly wipe the files you want to securely erase. Also missing are the ability to erase your browser history and to clear the cache of any browser except Internet Explorer.
Even with these limitations, Optimize does a good job maintaining Windows and is a worthy alternative to WinCleaner and CCleaner.
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UPDATE 2008-09-12: Obviously, these are not the only three Windows cleaners you can choose from. Webroot's $20 Window Washer 6.5 deletes temp files and hides your tracks online, including (cough) "adult content history." For $20 per year, Iolo's System Mechanic 8 also optimizes your Registry, 'Net connections, and more. If you like the fact that CCleaner is free but are looking for a second opinion, ATF Cleaner 3 is another popular free utility that deletes your Windows and browser temp files. At this time, it is not yet compatible with Windows Vista, unfortunately. |
Scott Spanbauer writes frequently for PC World, Business 2.0, CIO, Forbes ASAP, and Fortune Small Business. He has contributed to several books and was technical reviewer of Jim Aspinwall's PC Hacks. He alternates writing the Best Software column with Ian "Gizmo" Richards.
How to make your PC run faster
Subscriber John Josub writes: "Gizmo, here's a little reminder for everyone. I have a dual core 6400 XP pro 2 gig RAM and watch HD movies through it on my big LCD while downloading/uploading and whatever other tasks I desire. Last 2-3 weeks the movies (biggest resource hog) began to freeze occasionally, and then I noticed the processor running near 100%. I racked my brains troubleshooting, thinking that either a virus or programs (CAD) I recently installed affected the PC. Scans upon scans, registry cleanups, disk defrag and no improvement whatsoever. Then I noticed some dust around the casing's perforation and decided to VACUUM my PC. Specifically, I popped the processor cover out and the copper cooler was full of dust, yet the PC was relatively clean. If it happened to me despite my wife's meticulous cleaning, then it happens to most. Perhaps a little reminder before others fry their processors; I almost did. Now the PC flies again." Good advice John, but you need to do this carefully. This guide will show you how.
http://www.theguruguys.com/news/vacuum-your-pc
Free helpdesk utility allows bulk password resets
David Wiseman, the author of this password control app, writes "Gizmo, here's a free tool [1] I wrote that allows helpdesk staff to change Active Directory User Passwords. Additionally, a Bulk Password Control utility and Bulk Modify utility are also included for system admin users. Bulk Password Control allows you to reset passwords for many user accounts and Bulk Modify allows you to update various Active Directory user attributes. Bulk Modify updates are fully logged and the program supports a rollback feature to undo bulk updates." Now I don't have the setup to test utilities like this, but I can see how useful it could be. There are other nifty freebies for sysadmins at his site that are also worth checking out.
[1] http://www.wisesoft.co.uk/Products/PasswordControl/default.aspx
A free utility that really does make your PC run faster
I'm skeptical about products that claim to make your PC run faster. I've tried many of these over the years and for the most part they either didn't work or they messed up my PC so badly that any speed improvement was not worth the problems created.
But things have changed: following an enthusiastic recommendation by regular contributor "Torrente", I've at last found a product I can recommend. In fact it works so well I'm using it myself.
The program is called Actual Booster 3.1. It works by simply boosting the priority of whatever program is running in the foreground window, that is, the currently active window. Only that program is affected; it does not change the priority of any background program or process.
What that means is that whatever program you are currently using gets a bigger slice of your computers processing power and so will run faster. If you are currently using Word then Word will run faster. If you switch to an Outlook window then Outlook will run faster but Word will slow down. But it doesn't matter if Word slows down because you are not using it!
It's a simple and elegant idea. But it's more than that; it actually works.
On my laptop I have experienced a real improvement in speed. Furthermore, in the five days I have used Actual Booster I haven't had any serious problem other than an occasionally slow or erratic mouse cursor. This is easily solved by hitting Crtl Alt F12 which terminates Actual Booster immediately. This is a useful trick to remember should you encounter problems on your PC.
I found that the degree of speed improvement depends on the program; the more processor intense the program the greater the possibility for improvement. Most Windows operations were snappier while TextPipe pro, the program I use for processing long text documents was really accelerated. Others programs such as Notepad didn't really run noticeably faster.
By default the program in the active Window is given a Windows priority of "high", the second highest setting. This can be changed to a higher or lower priority, but the default value of "high" is a sensible choice. I can certainly envisage problems if this was changed to "real time", the highest priority available in Windows, so don't be tempted to use this setting.
When I saw that Actual Booster was from a Russian software company called Loonies software I must admit I was a bit concerned. However, after a lot of testing I'm happy to say that the product is 100% clean and can be recommended with confidence.
Like a lot of Russian software, it's intellectually elegant and highly functional, but has a rather basic user interface. The program is just 64KB in size and uses only 2MB of your memory space when running. Just the kind of product I like.
Speed Booster does work.
No, it's not problem-free, but the problems are relatively few and easily manageable. I've decided to keep it on my PC but only use it when I need a speed boost. This is easily managed as the program can be easily enabled/disabled from the tray icon.
Actual Booster 3.1, Freeware, Windows 95 -> Vista, 64KB.
http://www.loonies.narod.ru/actlbstr.htm
http://www.tucows.com/preview/428031 <= alternate download link
How to clean up your right-click context menu
I recently received this email from subscriber Gregory Wood "Gizmo I finally found a utility called Mmm [1] that allowed me to clean up my context menus, many of which were bloated with software I had uninstalled long ago. Now my Explorer is sleek again! I never thought this was possible." Thanks Gregory. There are several of these context menu editing utilities. The one you mention is exceptionally easy to use because it allows you to initiate an edit from the Context Menu itself. Unfortunately it's only for Windows XP. Users of other Windows versions may want check out ShellExView [2] from NirSoft that works with all versions of Windows from 98 onwards. It's not quite as easy to use as Mmm, but then again it doesn't require installation and is much less intrusive.
[1] http://www.hace.us-inc.com/mmm.shtml
[2] http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html
Free utilities that make your PC run faster
Every week I get letter from subscribers asking me whether they should buy a particular PC Tune up utility or subscribe to a particular commercial tune up service that claims to make their PC run faster.
In each case my advice is the same: save you money. You can easily tune up your PC using free utilities and in many cases get a better result than using expensive commercial products.
There are two freeware tune up options: the first is to use a specialist tune up utility that will do the job for you with a single click. The second option is to use a number of different freeware utilities each addressing one particular area of cleanup and tuning.
The first approach is easier the second is more comprehensive. Let's look at the products I recommend for each approach.
For one click cleaning the stand-out product is Advanced WindowsCare Personal [1] from IObit. The Personal version is a feature reduced version of their $29.95 Professional product. Features missing in the Personal version include automated scheduling, commercial use licensing, tech support and some advanced tuning tweaks. However the Personal version does include almost everything else including adware / spyware cleaning and immunization, removal of useless temporary files from your hard drives, Windows registry cleaning, startup program analysis, erasing private browsing history plus a number of system and security tweaks.
It's an impressive package for a freebie and this combined with one click operation, makes Advanced WindowsCare Personal an easy top recommendation for non technical users. It really only lacks in one area: it doesn't defragment your hard drive. However IObit, the makers of Advanced WindowsCare offer on their website an excellent free defrag program called SmartDefrag [2]. If you use this in conjunction with Advanced WindowsCare you will have a remarkably complete tune-up package for ZIP.
More technically inclined users will however find the lack of fine control in Advanced WindowsCare frustrating. Such users are more likely to be attracted to using several specialist packages each offering more settings and better user control. This approach is less convenient that a one click package that "does it all" but ultimately it's more customizable to the individual users needs and more powerful in the individual cleaning functions offered.
It's also less dangerous. A one click approach encourages haste and discourages careful consideration of what is being done. Advanced WindowsCare handles this by taking a system checkpoint before the start of cleaning which allows the user to bale out if something goes wrong. I suspect something would go wrong sooner or later. Using multiple programs encourages you to stop and think and that is not a bad thing.
There are several different tune up utility combinations that can be used. Many of you in fact will already be using some of these utilities but for those who aren't, here's my basic "freeware clean up kit" suggestion:
Spyware / Adware Cleaning: AVG Anti-Spyware [3]
Disk and Privacy Cleaning: CCleaner [4]
Registry Cleaner: EasyCleaner [5]
Defragmenter: Diskeeper V7 [6]
If you want some alternatives check out my "46 Best Freeware Utilities" list [7] and the subscribers-only "Extended List of Freebies" [8] for more details.
I recommend you run the utilities in the order they appear in the list above. Do check the settings for each program before you run them, particularly CCleaner whose default settings are a little aggressive. Remember that cleaning your PC always involves a small element of risk so backup and/or create a Restore Point before you start.
If you find you have spyware that can't be removed by AVG I suggest you download HijackThis from here [9] and follow the instructions also on the page how to paste the output to the Tom Coyote web forums. These folks should be able to help you permanently get rid of the problem. It won't cost you a cent either.
So how often should you tune up your PC? For most users I recommend that you run a spyware scan weekly and the other cleaning operations monthly. After each monthly Windows update is an excellent time to run a clean up. If you install and uninstall a lot of products you may however want to increase this frequency to weekly.
If you have never tuned up your PC you should see a real improvement in speed and responsiveness the first time you run these programs. However on subsequent runs the improvement may be much less noticeable.
[1] http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/index.html
[2] http://www.iobit.com/SmartDefrag/index.html
[3] http://www.ewido.net/en/
[4] http://www.ccleaner.com/
[5] http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
[6] http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207
[7] http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
[8] http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm
[9] http://ww.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
New improved version of HxD Hex editor/disk editor
Last month I gave a strong recommendation for HxD, the free Hex editor that also includes a raw disk editor and memory editor. One feature I mentioned that was missing was binary file comparison. Not any more; the program author Dario Valenzo has just let me know that the latest beta version now has this capability. Nice work Dario. It's great to see a software author so responsive to suggestion. Nice change for me too. Often, when I say anything negative about a product, the usual response of the author is to attack me personally rather than address the problem. Ah, such is life.
http://www.mh-nexus.de/hxd/
Free utilities that make your PC run faster
Every week I get letter from subscribers asking me whether they should buy a particular PC Tune up utility or subscribe to a particular commercial tune up service that claims to make their PC run faster.
In each case my advice is the same: save you money. You can easily tune up your PC using free utilities and in many cases get a better result than using expensive commercial products.
There are two freeware tune up options: the first is to use a specialist tune up utility that will do the job for you with a single click. The second option is to use a number of different freeware utilities each addressing one particular area of cleanup and tuning.
The first approach is easier the second is more comprehensive. Let's look at the products I recommend for each approach.
For one click cleaning the stand-out product is Advanced WindowsCare Personal [1] from IObit. The Personal version is a feature reduced version of their $29.95 Professional product. Features missing in the Personal version include automated scheduling, commercial use licensing, tech support and some advanced tuning tweaks. However the Personal version does include almost everything else including adware / spyware cleaning and immunization, removal of useless temporary files from your hard drives, Windows registry cleaning, startup program analysis, erasing private browsing history plus a number of system and security tweaks.
It's an impressive package for a freebie and this combined with one click operation, makes Advanced WindowsCare Personal an easy top recommendation for non technical users. It really only lacks in one area: it doesn't defragment your hard drive. However IObit, the makers of Advanced WindowsCare offer on their website an excellent free defrag program called SmartDefrag [2]. If you use this in conjunction with Advanced WindowsCare you will have a remarkably complete tune-up package for ZIP.
More technically inclined users will however find the lack of fine control in Advanced WindowsCare frustrating. Such users are more likely to be attracted to using several specialist packages each offering more settings and better user control. This approach is less convenient that a one click package that "does it all" but ultimately it's more customizable to the individual users needs and more powerful in the individual cleaning functions offered.
It's also less dangerous. A one click approach encourages haste and discourages careful consideration of what is being done. Advanced WindowsCare handles this by taking a system checkpoint before the start of cleaning which allows the user to bale out if something goes wrong. I suspect something would go wrong sooner or later. Using multiple programs encourages you to stop and think and that is not a bad thing.
There are several different tune up utility combinations that can be used. Many of you in fact will already be using some of these utilities but for those who aren't, here's my basic "freeware clean up kit" suggestion:
Spyware / Adware Cleaning: AVG Anti-Spyware [3]
Disk and Privacy Cleaning: CCleaner [4]
Registry Cleaner: EasyCleaner [5]
Defragmenter: Diskeeper V7 [6]
If you want some alternatives check out my "46 Best Freeware Utilities" list [7] and the subscribers-only "Extended List of Freebies" [8] for more details.
I recommend you run the utilities in the order they appear in the list above. Do check the settings for each program before you run them, particularly CCleaner whose default settings are a little aggressive. Remember that cleaning your PC always involves a small element of risk so backup and/or create a Restore Point before you start.
If you find you have spyware that can't be removed by AVG I suggest you download HijackThis from here [9] and follow the instructions also on the page how to paste the output to the Tom Coyote web forums. These folks should be able to help you permanently get rid of the problem. It won't cost you a cent either.
So how often should you tune up your PC? For most users I recommend that you run a spyware scan weekly and the other cleaning operations monthly. After each monthly Windows update is an excellent time to run a clean up. If you install and uninstall a lot of products you may however want to increase this frequency to weekly.
If you have never tuned up your PC you should see a real improvement in speed and responsiveness the first time you run these programs. However on subsequent runs the improvement may be much less noticeable.
[1] http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/index.html
[2] http://www.iobit.com/SmartDefrag/index.html
[3] http://www.ewido.net/en/
[4] http://www.ccleaner.com/
[5] http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
[6] http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207
[7] http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
[8] http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm
[9] http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
Windows command line reference site
Simply the best of site of its kind I've seen. Everyone who visits this site will learn something useful, I certainly did. A gem.
http://commandwindows.com/
New version of CCleaner released
The latest V1.27 release of this top rated file cleaning program adds Windows Hotfix uninstaller deletion along with cleaning for AVG, TUGZip and AntiVir and the Google Toolbar. Also new is a secure file deletion option. CCleaner is now my first choice for removing unwanted files and from my hard drive but I do have some reservations. First, I still think its default settings are a little too aggressive, so check them before you use it for the first time. Second, I wouldn't use this program to clean up your registry; this is too critical a task to leave to a general purpose cleaner. Instead, use a dedicated registry cleaner like EasyCleaner or JV16. Third, the latest version will install the Yahoo Toolbar by default so remember to uncheck it during the install process. Finally, CCleaner still isn't as good at finding temp files as Empty Temp Folders so I suggest you use both programs. Why not, they are both free.
[1] http://www.ccleaner.com/ Freeware, All Windows versions, 1.25MB
[2] http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp/ Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 667KB
Get JV16 PowerTools 2006 for free
JV16 started life as a free registry cleaner but has been expanded over the years to become a complete commercial system utility suite comprising of a registry editor, registry monitor, a file cleaner, duplicate file finder and more. The latest 2006 version is now in late beta testing but is available for public download on a 30 day trial basis. It contains full working versions of 23 separate tools though the centerpiece remains the excellent registry cleaner. At $29.95 the final version will be very competitively priced, but you may be able to get it for free if you participate in the beta program. You can do this by subscribing to the beta tester's newsletter [1]. It's up to the company whether they accept you as a beta tester but it's well worth a try. Remember this is only a beta version so don't carry out any critical operations such as registry cleaning until the final version is released. All versions of Windows, 1.09MB
[1] http://www.macecraft.com/newsletter/