14 DAY TRIAL // Tweaking...such a wonderful music for my ears...but this time it's going to be a little different. Today's program is not doing everything for you, but acts only as a guide on your path towards absolute system optimization.
SafeTweak XP Resource is a free resource for optimizing Windows XP that comes as a library containing hundreds of tweaks and the instructions for applying them. This program reached version 2.5 and is light as a feather, its installation kit archive having only 276kb in size. Of course that the setup process can't get you into trouble so now we have to jump to the program's interface and features.
The interface is easy to use and you only get one main window with tabs. The area where all the action takes place is called Browse and hosts the six tweaks categories.
In each category you will find an index page and more settings pages. Let's check out the most important ones!
The Control Panel category has 13 pages, most of them available only online. Each of these pages has five settings, so you will get no less than 65 tweaks. They allow you to fine tune all Control Panel elements, like the Add/Remove Programs, Windows Components Wizard and many more.
But how do you use them? First, you have to read carefully the description of the setting you want to change. Then, you open your favorite registry editor and make the required changes.
The information you need in order to do/undo a setting can be found in the sections with the same names from the setting's area. For each setting available you can see a partial related screenshot and find additional details in the information area.
The second category is called Desktop and its purpose is obvious. Changes like disabling the Windows Desktop, Disallow Display Properties, Hide Log Off menu in Start Menu and others can be found here.
Moving on, we find the Explorer category. Following the descending trend, here we have 10 settings pages, while in the previous one there were 12. Using the tweaks present here, you can Clear Run history, Remove arrow from shortcut icon, place 'Copy Disk' in drive and folder context menu and much more.
The Internet category has the same number of tweaks available as the previous one, 50. Here you can customize the Internet Explorer's look and feel, apart from changing all the Internet options that you can think of.
The System and Windows Programs are less feature-rich than the previous categories, having only five pages, the first one, and three pages, the other. Things you can do start with disabling Command Prompt and Registry Editor and finish with clearing history for programs such as Ms. Hearts, Media Player or Word Pad.
This is it - my exploration part finishes here and yours is just about to begin...good luck!
The Good
SafeTweak XP Resource is a program easy to use that has a lot of tweaking options available and, even more, it's free!
The Bad
Some people may find it hard to edit their registry manually, and the settings pages available only online can be a little drawback.
The Truth
If you don't find it hard to open a registry editor and get dirty to get everything out of your computer, then go ahead and grab this little application! SafeTweak XP Resouce is a must have for power users and a great tool for the rest of use, so don't be shy and try it.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
