Windows Optimizers and other Third party performance tools

[Roy]

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

 

[R. McCarty]

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.

 

[Malke]

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

 

[Ron Badour]

I have yet to see one that I think is valuable or that I cannot live
without.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

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.

 

[Guest]

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
(tm)

 

[Poprivet]

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]

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.