These programs no matter how good they are may sometimes cause harm to your computer. With the steps below however you can avoid most problems very easily.
Tune-up utilities are just as necessary as getting a car serviced. They keep your computer running fast and error-free. There are a variety of tasks tune-up programs can do, such as cleaning temp files, incorrect registry entries, even ensuring your privacy.
There are two scenarios that stand out where these type of programs will shine. The first example being an older computer that has been running for a longer time and needs all the resources it can get. The second is computers who run resource intensive programs, such as cutting edge computer games or video processing.
All-in-one tune-up suites are more convenient than using several individual products, but the downsides are if you are unfamiliar with all the different tools you may use some above your knowledge level.Something to keep in mind as well is some stand-alone freeware are more effective than the all in one options.
Before you start with tune-up programs there is a couple things you should always do. Most of these apply as a general rule of thumb of working with computers but I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
Tune-up utilities are just as necessary as getting a car serviced. They keep your computer running fast and error-free. There are a variety of tasks tune-up programs can do, such as cleaning temp files, incorrect registry entries, even ensuring your privacy.
There are two scenarios that stand out where these type of programs will shine. The first example being an older computer that has been running for a longer time and needs all the resources it can get. The second is computers who run resource intensive programs, such as cutting edge computer games or video processing.
All-in-one tune-up suites are more convenient than using several individual products, but the downsides are if you are unfamiliar with all the different tools you may use some above your knowledge level.Something to keep in mind as well is some stand-alone freeware are more effective than the all in one options.
Before you start with tune-up programs there is a couple things you should always do. Most of these apply as a general rule of thumb of working with computers but I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
- First please make sure you have a recent restore point with Windows. Case in point as I was reviewing one of these programs it disrupted my internet connection. Having a restore point before the changes were made it took no more than five minutes to fix it.
- Have a recent back up of your critical data
- Check the options menu of your selected software. For example I am currently looking through Comodo's System Cleaner and they have an option to create a restore point before you clean the registry which is not selected by default. A good piece of software does a lot of the thinking for us if we allow it to.
- Load a rescue disk onto a USB flash drive or CD/DVD
Free PC Tune-Up Itulity :
Ashampoo WinOptimizer 2010 : A couple of major updates here. The current top choice is Ashampoo WinOptimizer 2010, available for free from V3 Software Store (otherwise paid). Do note that you will need to register for the serial. Just about everything from the previous iterations of WinOptimizer continue here, only better and more faster. WinOptimizer has a very sleek interface, with one-click cleaning for disk, privacy and registry cleaning tasks. It also has a nice option of a full scan, which gives recommendations for disabling unnecessary services, tweaking system settings, as well as the one-click cleaning features. I also like "Did you know?" tips, some of which I found quite useful. However, WinOptimizer is the only product that requires registration. Also, no further updates are provided. However, this is the best choice if you want something simple that can clean your computer with a few clicks, with no ads.
WinOptimizer offers a very basic disk and privacy cleaner; in particular, it does not clean the history of most programs. The disk defragmenter is very fast, but seems to be a bit too quick to offer good file placement. The file erasing utility is very comprehensive, with wiping options up to Gutmann and the ability to rename the files and folders before it is erased. The registry cleaner also seems very basic, detecting very little items. (Of course, registry cleaning is not simply a case of the more the better, but the result was far less than even some very conservative registry cleaners). It also has a tweaking utility with over 450 tweaks, and it's the best I've seen out of these products. WinOptimizer also has a detailed process manager, a startup manager, a system information utility, a benchmarking utility and various other tools.
WinOptimizer offers a very basic disk and privacy cleaner; in particular, it does not clean the history of most programs. The disk defragmenter is very fast, but seems to be a bit too quick to offer good file placement. The file erasing utility is very comprehensive, with wiping options up to Gutmann and the ability to rename the files and folders before it is erased. The registry cleaner also seems very basic, detecting very little items. (Of course, registry cleaning is not simply a case of the more the better, but the result was far less than even some very conservative registry cleaners). It also has a tweaking utility with over 450 tweaks, and it's the best I've seen out of these products. WinOptimizer also has a detailed process manager, a startup manager, a system information utility, a benchmarking utility and various other tools.
Another good option is Glary Utilities. It has one-click cleaning for some tasks. One important feature that Glary does not have is disk defragmentation. This is quite a powerful product, but many of its tools require user interaction.
Glary Utilities free offers a very basic disk cleaner, but it is made up by a reasonable privacy cleaner and various tools which can remove broken shortcuts, duplicate files and empty folders. Unfortunately, I could not find an option to overwrite files in the privacy cleaner. The disk-space analysis feature is outstanding, offering the most detailed information out of these products. However, I was unable to find out what encryption algorithm Glary uses for its encryption/decryption utility, so I would not rely on it for sensitive data. Glary also contains a file and free space eraser and recovery of deleted files. The registry cleaner works very well and it also contains a registry defragmenter. The startup manager is the only product to contain a startup delayer, however, the security ratings from both the startup and process manager do not seem to be very accurate, but it could be useful for experienced users. Glary also includes a few other tools.
Glary Utilities free offers a very basic disk cleaner, but it is made up by a reasonable privacy cleaner and various tools which can remove broken shortcuts, duplicate files and empty folders. Unfortunately, I could not find an option to overwrite files in the privacy cleaner. The disk-space analysis feature is outstanding, offering the most detailed information out of these products. However, I was unable to find out what encryption algorithm Glary uses for its encryption/decryption utility, so I would not rely on it for sensitive data. Glary also contains a file and free space eraser and recovery of deleted files. The registry cleaner works very well and it also contains a registry defragmenter. The startup manager is the only product to contain a startup delayer, however, the security ratings from both the startup and process manager do not seem to be very accurate, but it could be useful for experienced users. Glary also includes a few other tools.
is a new offering by Comodo, the makers of the popular free firewall. System Cleaner is the only product to have scheduling options for some its features. However, it does not offer one-click cleaning. Also, System Cleaner does not have a disk defragmenter. Comodo System Cleaner is best suited for experienced users because of its potentially dangerous features.
The disk and privacy cleaner is very thorough, but could be dangerous in the hands of a beginner. System Cleaner has a wide variety of file utilities, with encryption/decryption, a rename tool and calculation of checksums, to name a few. The registry cleaning is very aggressive, maybe too aggressive in my opinion. Other features include a minimal disk-space analysis feature, a detailed process manager, a startup manager, a rather basic tweaking utility and system information and benchmarking.
Regardless of which tune-up utility you use, I suggest you read Gizmo's Best Free Disk De-fragmenter and run one of those defragmenters regularly. The reason for this is that I believe none of the disk defragmenters provided by these suites are that effective or have scheduling/real-time options. If you use a disk defragmenter in conjunction with one of these tune-up utilities, you'll have a remarkably complete tune-up package.
Remember that cleaning your PC always involves a small element of risk, so backup your data, create a System Restore Point and have an image backup handy before you start.
I recommend that you run the tune-up programs monthly. After each monthly Windows update is an excellent time to run a clean up. If you install and uninstall many products, you may want to increase this frequency to weekly or even daily.
If you have never tuned up your PC, then 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.
CCleaner
CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.
The disk and privacy cleaner is very thorough, but could be dangerous in the hands of a beginner. System Cleaner has a wide variety of file utilities, with encryption/decryption, a rename tool and calculation of checksums, to name a few. The registry cleaning is very aggressive, maybe too aggressive in my opinion. Other features include a minimal disk-space analysis feature, a detailed process manager, a startup manager, a rather basic tweaking utility and system information and benchmarking.
Regardless of which tune-up utility you use, I suggest you read Gizmo's Best Free Disk De-fragmenter and run one of those defragmenters regularly. The reason for this is that I believe none of the disk defragmenters provided by these suites are that effective or have scheduling/real-time options. If you use a disk defragmenter in conjunction with one of these tune-up utilities, you'll have a remarkably complete tune-up package.
Remember that cleaning your PC always involves a small element of risk, so backup your data, create a System Restore Point and have an image backup handy before you start.
I recommend that you run the tune-up programs monthly. After each monthly Windows update is an excellent time to run a clean up. If you install and uninstall many products, you may want to increase this frequency to weekly or even daily.
If you have never tuned up your PC, then 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.
CCleaner
CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.
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