RAM It Up

good
key review info
application features
  • Increase The Speed of Your Computer;
  • (5 more, see all...)

Usually, when the computer is started a lot of processes are activated. Some of them belong to the system and others are set by the user to start with Windows. What few users know is that part of the processes using the RAM power are not putting it to good use and only keep it blocked. These are the processes you do not use frequently.

This leads to a blocking of the RAM on your computer and the machine running slow when it comes to launching new processes, or you need more power for different activities. There is a category of softwares that are capable of freeing up the misplaced RAM or endeavor in reallocating your computer resources. These are the RAM cleaners and the effect of their action should be immediate.

RAM Cleaner is one solution for freeing up unused RAM, prevent system crashes and increase the performance of your computer. This solution doesn't come cheap and there is a $29.95 price on its tag. The developer however will allow users a testing period of 15 days. The trial period is more then enough to test all the options available. Despite the fact of being a trial the evaluation version contains some restrictions like locked "Prioritize Windows System Functions" option.

The interface is very small and contains five menus that will help you free up the desired amount of RAM, monitor the resources usage on your computer (both RAM and CPU) learn information about your CPU, view the running processes and set their priorities. The last menu available is the configuration of the application.

The first window of RAM Cleaner is informational and displays a chart of the memory and CPU use. This screen is the performance monitor and shows a history. In case there are some problems with your computer, there will be a message displayed in the left hand corner of the window. The recommended actions are however available only in the registered version of the application. I kept looking for an options to allow me to adjust the reading time of the resources' usage, but there isn't any.

Memory Manager (the tab named RAM) is very easy to use and this is the core of the software as all the other "services" provided by RAM Cleaner can be found in Windows as well (try Task Manager for all the other matters). The user has a slide bar that sets the amount of RAM to be freed during the optimization. From what I saw, using this option is safe enough and freed the necessary RAM without causing any problems. The additional info in the window shows the percentage of available physical memory and the percentage of page file usage.

CPU window displays some details about the computer processor. Thus you can learn the manufacturer of the device, its power and additional information on model, if it supports MMX or 3D Now (a multimedia extension created by AMD). Lower in the window there is displayed the CPU usage percentage. This information too can be learned by taking a look at Task Manager's Performance tab.

Processes tab would be valuable if it contained more then a mere listing and the set of options available in Task Manager as well. Despite the fact that the window displays all the active processes, it is not resizable and this comes as a downfall as most users would rather take a comprehensive look at all the processes that are currently running. The options available are refreshing the list, ending a process and setting the priority. Be careful with setting it to Realtime as you may encounter some problems and it is not recommended. Setting it to High should do the trick considerably.

The options for configuring the application are the last ones available and comprise enabling the software to start with Windows, minimizing it to system tray when closed, showing the cleaning process, set the shortcut key for cleaning the memory, and setting the time interval for automatically cleaning the memory and the limit to be reached in order to start the cleaning. The last two options combined with setting the program to start with Windows allow the user to set it and forget about it as the application will automatically clean the memory at the defined time interval.

The Good

The job it does is pretty good. Also, handling it is easy enough for novices to handle. The total amount of free memory will be displayed in the title bar of the application. This way you can check the effects of the cleaning.

The Bad

Besides the memory freeing options there is almost nothing you cannot do or learn in Task Manager.

Making the application window resizable would greatly improve the viewing of the running process. I wish there was the option of learning to which developer or program a certain process belongs to.

The Truth

Considering the aforesaid baddies there is only one conclusion I can draw: the price is way too much.

Be careful with freeing up too much memory because you may experience some slow activity (the RAM needs to be reallocated to the system processes or other items that have insufficient RAM to use).

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 3
features 3
ease of use 5
pricing / value 2


final rating 3
Editor's review
good
 
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