Keeping your PC running smoothly can be an arduous task. Software makers tend to hide the very things that slow computer performance, especially the registry and the startups list. Then there are temporary files that might be necessary, or cookies, or browsing history.
In an ideal world, we should not have to deal with these issues. But because all software makers have their own notions of what we want, computers will inevitably become sluggish without telling you why.
So you have to get tools to fix them. Here are three that can hold your hand and allow you to act like the computer engineer you aren't.
Wincleaner
Business Logic Corp.
$29.95
Wincleaner, from Toronto-based Business Logic Corp., is one of the best all-purpose clean-up kits for the faint of heart. Just released in version 11, this $29.95 program combines the best features of many other maintenance programs, yet it lacks the public profile it deserves.
Primarily a registry cleaner, Wincleaner has been vastly improved so that it no longer requires several passes to weed out unnecessary entries. A registry optimizer defragments, reorganizes and condenses the registry. Some Windows experts will say that such a function does not do much to enhance the running of the computer, but registry cleaning and optimization do have a measurable effect on older machines and make newer machines load Windows more quickly.
Wincleaner includes a secure data eraser, for those who have something to hide, and an always useful file and folder undelete function, for those who working in the other direction. A file and folder defragmenter optimizes a hard disk faster than tools that address the entire disk, and a Disk Alert uses the S.M.A.R.T. technology built into recent disks to warn of possible hardware failures.
The startup optimizer is one of the best features here. Most programs designed to stop unwanted programs from loading in the background leave it up to the user to decide which to delete; Wincleaner has a database of 6,500 applications that it considers troublesome, unnecessary, or downright dangerous. Of course, you have to trust Business Logic's selections first (hard-core geeks won't like that).
Oddly, this startup cleaner conflicts with Wincleaner's own memory optimizer, which also loads at startup to optimize memory. There's a philosophical clash here.
Wincleaner also includes an anti-virus program and an anti-spyware module, which is a puzzling addition, considering overwhelming competition. Still, these modules appear to be serviceable without being overloaded with other features favoured by other security companies.
What the program desperately needs, however, is a user-interface re-design. Business Logic used to market Wincleaner in a box that resembled a certain laundry soap product, but dropped that some years ago when the soap-maker started complaining about trademark violation. The software itself hasn't changed its design much since then, and it's looking a little antique.
Selkie Rescue
Tugboat Enterprises
$99.99
Selkie Rescue, from Tugboat Enterprises, of Powell River, B.C., is a disaster-recovery package designed to help retrieve data from a drive that Windows cannot access, or where Windows itself has become corrupted. It is rarely needed, but when it is, it is heaven sent.
Selkie, named after the mythological shape-shifting Orkney Island figures, is a geek tool dressed up for a party. At $99.99, it's a little expensive, but money is no object when all your files are at stake. And it's an essential tool for anyone with two or more networked computers, or one computer with a USB-connected drive.
It either collects files for you from a damaged Windows installation for you to copy to a good drive, or uses the network to create a shared folder, which is then automatically populated with recoverable data from the failed disk. In extreme cases, it loads by booting from the Selkie CD disc, which brings everything to the DOS operating system that runs underneath Windows on a PC, so Selkie can read the disk when Windows can't. The user then recovers the rescued files, photos and music from the shared folder, where they are in the same directory structure they were lost from.
This is a very simple way of recovering data for the non-technical mind, and even includes the ever-comforting phrase "Don't panic!" when it starts. That's because it's a non-destructive tool — if you're still not sure you have all the files, you can use it again.
There's no installation; keep this on your shelf and use it when you need it, or take it to a friend's computer where you will gain new respect for your magical powers.
Formerly called Lifeboat Data Rescue, Selkie, now in version 3.1 with a version 3.5 due soon, is missing one important feature: A partition-recovery tool. Without a partition — destroyed by accident or lack of attention — even Selkie can't read the data. It's a feature I wish Tugboat would put in a future version.
The Ultimate Utility
The Ultimate Utility
$35
The Ultimate Utility, a tune-up tool that has a small but highly enthusiastic fan base, comes from a company called Answers That Work, based in London, England. Nicknamed TUT, it's a configuration and tune-up utility that has been created with much imagination and a large dollop of attitude.
It covers a lot of scary technical stuff, but its best feature is that it makes everything comprehensible with its often sassy and plain-spoken advice. It makes tuning a computer an educational process, sounding like a particularly chatty engineer standing beside you who is genuinely concerned for your machine.
TUT (now in version 4.45) rummages about inside your machine in search of all the running processes, flagging suspicious or unnecessary programs, colour-coding them to indicate which programs you might wish to keep and which to stop or even delete.
It is very clear about what it does: There are two results windows, one that gives a brief description of what a certain task does, and another offering colour-coded advice on what to do about it, which the user is free to accept or reject. Like all powerful tools, it must be used carefully, but the improvements in your computer's operation make learning it worth your while.
In one case, for instance, it found a service called Messenger, which most of us would leave alone, thinking it is part of the instant-messaging service. It isn't, TUT reports, and says, "Disable immediately if you are a home user. The original raison d'etre for this service no longer exists. … More important, this service is often used from the outside by hackers, and from inside by spyware and other malware."
And when you decide to delete a service installed by software — even software you thought you had removed long ago — it will ask you four times whether you're sure you want to do this, including: "Okay. This is your last warning …"
It also offers a hardware inventory, which is useful when you need a new driver for a component whose manufacturer you've forgotten, a one-touch housekeeping function to clean out Net-surfing cookies, histories and temporary files, as well as the very safe and useful utilities called PING, TRACE and WHOIS.
It doesn't change your startups folder, but offers advice and has a feature that e-mails your software inventory to Answers That Work, alerting them to the kind of programs they might have missed.
And that's where TUT's only major failing lies: Its list of software recommendations could be longer and updated more frequently than it is. It cannot, for instance, recognize any Corel products, some Logitech programs, or SiSoftware (maker of Sandra, one of the best system analysis tools on the market).
A well-maintained computer is a happy computer, and these three programs not only teach you a lot of technical wizardry, but make it easy to do things you've never thought you could do before.
