14 DAY TRIAL // As most of you know, almost everything you do stays on your computer's hard disk. This is what temporary folders are for, along with other areas of your computer. Processes are an important part of your system and if certain items are not activated you will no longer be able to use your computer properly.
It'll begin to get slower and slower until, eventually, it seizes to work properly. Registry entries are getting thicker and thicker and the cookies are a temptation to hackers. Cookies usually store passwords, accounts, as well as other important data. They are used by web browsers for a smooth navigation on the Internet.
AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner is a AlphaWipe.com product that costs $29.95. Its purpose is to clean your computer of all the tracks from different applications you have installed on your computer. The interface is as clean as it can be and all the options are in plain view. The Outset, the first option in the left will display all the pending tasks. This is where you can erase all the history on your disk. The first time you are using the software you should take a good look of what's in there before hurrying to click Start Erasing as there may be some settings that may slow you down in your future work.
Clean up is where you set what the application should get rid of. For a better management the program is geared up with a process explorer and a startup manager. The tracks left behind after your browsing can be deleted in a jiffy. I have to warn you that AlphaWipe is based on plugins and the latest of them can be downloaded from the producer's website.
The current version has support for the most popular applications, like IE, Opera, Firefox, Google/Yahoo/MSN toolbar, MSN messenger, WinZip, Outlook, Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, etc.
So, in Browser Tracks you can enable the AutoComplete forms data, BHOs, browser cookies, visited sites history, location bar history etc. These are just a few of the options available for Internet Explorer and as you drag down the slider you will find that the options package for Mozilla Firefox, MSN, Opera, Google and Yahoo! keep dimming. In Yahoo! For instance you can only erase the messenger logs and the toolbar history.
Windows Tracks tab shelters Explorer related options (erasing the "Open With" history, recent documents history, "Start>Run" history or the workgroup shares history). Temporary Files will empty the Recycle Bin and all the temporary files left behind by different applications after the installation or uninstall. Windows section will get rid of the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) cache, Bag MRU (Maximum Receive Unit) and the MUI cache.
Depending on the applications you have installed on your computer and the plugins added to AlphaWipe, you will be able to delete the histories and file lists of these applications. Process explorer does not need too many words as it allows the user to kill unimportant, memory eating processes that are running on your computer. In fact, the double paned window displays both the executable and the corresponding DLLs. The process ID and the manufacturer are additional data that accompany each item.
Startup Manager lets you disable certain commands from activating at the startup of the system. IE Modules, together with Process Explorer and Startup Manager will offer the chance to see the properties of each of the displayed files. This way you will know the manufacturer and what that item does.
AlphaWipe can be scheduled to start at a user defined time and day and the user can add files and folders to erase. For an easier adding of the files the software supports drag and drop option. It does not matter if you have deleted by mistake certain items as a rollback can be performed and all the items will be restored. This is due to the Back option. Suffice to go into the Quarantine and choose the file to restore.
The Set Up tab deals with general settings of the application, log settings, the erasing mode (secure erasing, number of passes etc.) and startup and shutdown configuration (you can set the program to perform a cleaning either at Windows startup or at shutdown).
The Good
The software is very flexible due to its plugin working method and the ease of use is just amazing. Generally, this type of applications requires a certain skill level, but AlphaWipe can also be handled by a beginner.
The Bad
Plugins for certain softwares may not be released yet, although the most popular have been thought of.
The Truth
Easy to use, very nice drawn interface, great options and features, these are some traits of AlphaWipe.
Try it for the 15 runs available in the trial version and see for yourselves what it can do.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
