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Optimize Performance
This module sports four tools designed to make your system snappier by keeping its files defragmented, slimming down the number of items loading at startup, managing the list of running processes and tweaking the default Internet connection in order to get faster downloads. For each of the tasks mentioned, Ashampoo WinOptimizer provides a separate application that is easy to use and handle.
Defrag 3, StartUp Tuner, Process Manager and Internet Tuner are the names of the four apps “responsible” for bettering your system and they are presented in the exact same manner as in Clean Up System module. Given the nature of these applications, there is no one-click optimization option to start them all and proceed to meliorate system performance.
Defrag 3
The first application in the module is a defragmentation tool built to make all the files on the disk contiguous and thus accomplish faster read/write operations. Defrag 3 included in Ashampoo WinOptimizer lists all the drives available to the system and before proceeding to the actual defragmentation process, it allows you to scan them, supplying details on the fragmentation level.
In the lower part of the screen, you will notice the buttons that start the drive assessment and the defragmentation process. The application makes available both the automatic defragmentation and the manual one split into three methods (fast, normal and intelligent defrag).
Automation of Defrag 3 can be both online (Pro-Active Defrag) and offline (Boot-Time Defrag) for the system files. Enabling Pro-Active defragmentation ensures that all the files on the selected drives are permanently taken care of as the process remains active in the background and becomes active only when a drive reaches a user-defined level of idleness. This means that it starts working at a moment when you do not use any files on the specific drive. Thus, your activity on the computer is not impeded in any way.
On the other hand, Boot-Time Defrag is set for gathering system files together, so the procedure has to take place before Windows starts up, as the files are not in use. Activating it will take the OS a little longer to boot into operational status but, on the long term, system files will be accessed much faster. Should you need to skip system files defragmentation, Defrag 3 allows you to set a 4-second delay for canceling the procedure.
As for the manual defragmentation, the three methods are levels that you can choose to complete the operation faster but less efficiently or in more time but with improved performance.
Fast Defrag is exactly what it hints at: a quick process with no miraculous optimization. Normal Defrag is more thorough in its activity as it is designed to move files to a better position on disk. Choosing Intelligent defragmentation takes the longest, but the results are visible, as files are moved to a better position for faster drive access while often fragmented ones are placed at the end of the used space on the selected drive.
As great as all this sounds, there are shortcomings to Defrag 3 that cannot be overlooked. Analyzing only one drive cannot be done, as once you hit the “Analyze Fragmentation” button, the app will start assessing all the drives in the list, no matter what. Also, there is no canceling option, although given the fast pace of the activity, it would not be absolutely necessary.
Still on the downside, Defrag 3 is not one of the best choices if you have little free space on a drive, as it will not be able to optimize it too much. During our testing even with 25% of free space, it still prompted a warning message at the end of the defragmentation process saying that some of the files could not be dealt with because either there was insufficient space on the drive or some files could not be processed because they were locked. And this even if the largest file was not bigger than the amount of free space.
Another glitch in the software is the way it refreshes the statistics on the listed drives. In order to get the most recent information on the listed drives (percentage of free space available), you will have to close Defrag 3 and start it again from the Optimize Performance module. A refresh button or automatic refresh would be great to implement.
On the bright side, given the proper amount of space, Defrag 3 will do a great job. Facing it with a 44% fragmented partition, it reduced it to 3% in only one session. The application needed 29% of free space, which is quite a lot, and very little time to complete the operation (about 3 minutes for a 2GB drive with 1.4GB of fragmented files).
For maintaining, on a fairly free drive, the app does a great job, but it will choke should free space be scanty. The Pro-Active Defrag and Boot-Time Defrag are great to apply and forget about manual defragmentation. One works online and takes care of the files once the drive indicated by the user reaches a certain idleness level, while the other defrags system files at boot time.
StartUp Tuner
Often, programs are set to launch automatically at system startup without the user being notified on the matter. The more startup items, the more it will take the system to boot into operational state. So, keeping only what you really need in this list could make the difference to faster boot times. But StartUp Tuner deals with more than this, as it will also display the list of installed programs and the full list of services loading with your system.
The application is split into five sections covering Autostart entries, services, software installed on the computer, IE Plugins and Backups for restoring any change you've made.
Autostart entries list shows all the apps set to start automatically with the operating system, together with their location on disk and startup command. StartUp Tuner even lets you edit the command lines for each entry if you know what you are doing. And even if you don't have strong knowledge on the matter, you can make the changes safely, as backups are created automatically and you can revert any modification to its original state.
If neither the entry name, nor the path on disk gives you any clue on the application referred to, in the lower part of the screen, you will find a brief description that may shed some light. What is more important in StartUp Tuner is that you can add any program to the list with the utmost ease and set it to run for all the users of the computer or only for the current one.
Moving on to Services list, you will notice that not all of them are presented. That's because the application only shows those common services loading with Windows. Some of them may not be useful for most users. In fact, StartUp Tuner makes available statistics on this fact letting you know whether the great majority of users need the selected service or not (select a service and take a look at the box under the list for more information on the utility of the entry).
StartUp Tuner comes with a very useful option for the services, and that is the possibility to let it optimize on its own the list by disabling or enabling the services. You can manually configure each and every entry and should you revert to the default configuration, you're a click away from achieving this by pressing the “All to default” button.
The Software section of the program provides a list of programs installed on the system permitting you to edit entry names, command lines and delete obsolete entries. However, this is reserved to advanced users as system errors can occur at the slightest mistake. On the other hand, deleting entries can be extremely useful if errors pop up when trying to remove a program or if the program has been eliminated from the system and its entry still appears in the installed programs list.
BHOs (Browser Helper Objects) are an extra functionality generally available to add to your web browser, but in some cases, malware can also add IE plugins that can affect the security of the entire system. StartUp Tuner lists all the IE plugins and lets you remove them at will. You should be careful, however, because in case you delete the wrong plugin, you may have to re-install the program associated with it.
Backups section is the last present in StartUp Tuner and it stores all the modifications you make to almost all the entries listed in the program. It records alterations to Software, IE Plugins and Autostart entries. All backups are displayed according to their creation date and you will also be given a brief description of what it contains and its size on disk. The actions available are a removal of a selected backup or restoring it.
StartUp Tuner makes for a pretty comprehensive startup manager because it is not limited to the list of processes loading with Windows but also covers services and IE plugins. For some of the users, it may be a bit difficult to handle but the guiding and descriptions in each of the windows combined with the help file can be a good start to untwine their use.
Process Manager
All running processes can be easily handled from Windows' Task Manager, but a bit more information is always helpful in some cases. StartUp Tuner provides the list of all the processes and something on the side about each entry in the list. Besides the box at the bottom of the list that shows the full path of the file on disk and should display a bit of info, you will also benefit from details on the CPU and RAM load in real time, technical information on the selected process, have a list of loaded modules and a peek at the visible windows of the process.
Load window shows two graphs for CPU and RAM usage, as well as concrete details on RAM employment by your system. Thus, you will have the total amount of RAM, how much of it is in use and how much there is free (it will not show the cached amount for Vista) and the total value of the paged memory, used and free.
Details on processes continue in the “File” window, which provides technical info such as running PID (process ID number), RAM usage, modules it loaded, windows, icons, handles, whether it is a service or not and number of threads. This is for the tech user that needs a bit more than the average one. And for further tech stuff, follow the “Loaded Modules” section to see all DLLs loaded.
But there are some glitches that even if not too impeding, are definitely worth mentioning. First off, none of the processes will benefit from the slightest piece of information, not even WinOptimizer's process.
Also, not all processes present in Task Manager were available in Process Manager. The one missing was taskeng.exe. Appropriate help is not available for this program and users with solid knowledge will better appreciate the Process Manager's extended information.
Internet Tuner
Maximum performance of Internet connection is something every user needs at one point or another. The Internet Tuner utility included in Ashampoo WinOptimizer lends a hand in configuring your connection to make it speed up. This instrument may have visible results on dial-up connections (analog or ISDN) and cable modems. In other words, it may have an effect on low-speed connections.
If you are an experienced user, you can try a manual customization of the following parameters: MTU (maximum transmission unit), RWIN (receive window), HTTP and TTL. Or you can trust Internet Tuner and let it optimize the connection according to a preset configuration. Everything can be reverted to Windows defaults, so there is no worry.
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CleanUp System, Privacy and Security, Tune System Settings, Diagnosis and Information, File Tools, General Conclusions
