System Utility Program?

[Craig]

I might get more than I bargained for by asking this, but I am looking for a
new piece of software to do the cleaning functions on my OS (XP). I have
used System Suite for years now and have liked it, I hate Norton so I won't
go that way, but I want something that does everything from defrag to
registry cleaning. Any suggestions? I am currently leaning towards the
newer version of System Suite (version 5) or System Mechanic 5 Professional.

Any comments are welcome. Thanks,

Craig

 

[optikl]

I might get more than I bargained for by asking this, but I am looking for a
new piece of software to do the cleaning functions on my OS (XP). I have
used System Suite for years now and have liked it, I hate Norton so I won't
go that way, but I want something that does everything from defrag to
registry cleaning. Any suggestions? I am currently leaning towards the
newer version of System Suite (version 5) or System Mechanic 5 Professional.

Any comments are welcome. Thanks,

Craig

I've used those products (licensed versions) and would strongly
recommend looking at stand-alone apps, instead. Suites tend to be
mediocre, on average, even though a particular module might be better.

For defrag, I'd recommend PerfectDisk. For registry maintenance, I'd
recommend RegSupreme Pro. For file cleaning, Crap Cleaner is excellent.
For anti-virus, there are numerous, very good choices (F-Secure, NOD32,
PCCillin, SAV CE, KAV). Personal Firewalls I would recommend are Outpost
Pro, BlackIce, Zone Alarm or EZ Trust, IF you think you really need
application protection and control, otherwise the a router with NAT or
something like SoftPerfect or CHX-I packet filter is just fine.

 

[Craig]

Thanks for the input. I agree with the separate apps for separate purposes
thinking for the most part, I just really haven't heard of much one way or
another on apps for defrag, space recovery, drive testing/fixing and
registry cleaning. I just switched from Norton and ZoneAlarms for virus and
firewall to PC-Cillin and am extremely happy so far. I also use a Netgear
router, so the firewall thing isn't that give of an issue on the software
side, but I do like the piece of mind that I have with the basic firewall
and spyware protection PC-Cillin offers.

Thanks for the program names and advice, I appreciate it!

Craig

 

[Guest]

I might get more than I bargained for by asking this, but I am looking for a
new piece of software to do the cleaning functions on my OS (XP). I have
used System Suite for years now and have liked it, I hate Norton so I won't
go that way, but I want something that does everything from defrag to
registry cleaning. Any suggestions? I am currently leaning towards the
newer version of System Suite (version 5) or System Mechanic 5 Professional.

I would answer none of the above and would stick to the built-in utilities
(which are more than good enough for just about everyone), except that I
would consider either PerfectDisk or Diskeeper (in that order) instead of the
built-in defragger -- and even then that's a very close call. Avoid registry
cleaners. They are mostly snake oil. Instead, learn how to check Event
Viewer regularly (I do it every day) and fix any particular errors that it
finds.

In sum, try running and maintaining XP the way it was designed to be run and
maintained, instead of trying to mess with it through these third party
system utilities that are mostly placebos and snake oil. You will like the
results.

Ken

 

[Kelly]

I agree as well, with exception to PD or DK (defrag isn't really needed
within XP).

--
All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Guest]

I agree as well, with exception to PD or DK (defrag isn't really needed
within XP).

Defragging should make a very small difference in performance, but (as I
understand it) only if code has to be loaded into RAM from the hard drive.
Even here, any performance gain is measured in seconds, or even tenths of
fractions, but at least it is noticeable (albeit barely) at least for some
files. [Note: the performance gain, if any, between using PD or DK and the
built-in defragger is even smaller and may very well be too small to measure
or notice, but that's a separate point.] And you only realize the gain if
the code isn't already in RAM in the first place (e.g. in the system cache).

Once the computer has been on and operating for awhile and the programs and
files you normally use have been loaded into RAM at least once, your machine
is going to operate well regardless of the fragmentation level of the drive
-- provided, of course, that the computer has adequate RAM in the first place.

The moral of the story here is that if you really want to improve
performance in XP, get more RAM and don't interfere with the way XP uses it.
I'm going to guess that about 99 percent of all performance gains are due to
XP's managemet of RAM (especially the system cache and 1 percent (if that
high) is due to other factors. These percentages essentially reflect how
much faster RAM is than the hard drive.

Ken