14 DAY TRIAL // No matter the day of the week, if you can find the time for it, a little bit of cleaning can't do any harm, and I am not talking about dust here, I don't even want to think about it, because cleaning my operating system and optimizing it is something much pleasant than wiping the dust off my things...
The system tweaking suite I have for you today is called Systerac XP Tools and its latest version is 4.0. Unfortunately, this is not a free program, so after the 14 days trial period ends, you'll have to pay 34.95$ to register or remove it from the computer. The setup package has 10.3MB in size and installing it was as easy as usual, so no problems here!
At this point, we should check this program's interface, and if you think about what this program is, you should already know the answer. Statistically speaking, most commercial system tweakers look great, although some of them don't work that great, and Systerac XP Tools makes no exception to the looks part, but if it is worth the price or not, that's what we are about to find out next...
You can use the nice blue main window of this program to access all its features, and there are four areas here that need our attention - Clean, Fix & Repair, Optimize and Other Tools. Let's take them down one by one and check their tools...
The Clean area contains a Disk Cleaner, a Privacy tool and an Uninstaller. Each of these tools does its job well, and the Privacy tool includes a scheduler that can help you use a "fire and forget" tactic to clean your tracks and sensitive data. At this point, I noticed a little/big problem that you're going to face too all the way inside this program - the really annoying nag screen that appears each time you open a tool and requires some seconds of waiting before being able to use that certain tool.
The Fix & Repair area is richer, having five tools - Disk Doctor, Registry Doctor, Registry Backup, Registry Compactor and Problem Solver. I must say that the Disk Doctor was really fast, but I don't know what to say about its efficiency, because my file system doesn't have any errors, the registry tools have obvious purposes and they are as easy to use as all the tools available here, and the Problem Solver made me remember about Symantec's WinDoctor, so if you know that tool, you know this one too. If you don't, then let me tell you that the Problem Solver can fix all the configuration problems from your computer, and the funny fact is that it also found some problems that I don't have for sure, so attention is advised!
The Optimize area is the one that made this program look really bad in my eyes, and the reason is that two of the five tools present here refused to work. The Memory Optimizer and Internet Booster are these tools, and this unfortunate event leaves us only three toys available here - Disk Defrag, Tweaker and Accelerator. The defragmenter proved quite slow, but very easy to use and having an excellent design, the Tweaker is an outstanding Windows customization and tweaking tool set, and the Accelerator can optimize your registry, file system, disk cache and general system behavior in order to provide maximum performance.
These being said, the only area remaining is the one entitled Other Tools, and there are five tools to be found here - Startup and Startup Shield, Hardware Information, Shredder and Styler. The first two ones handle your startup items management and the protection of your startup configuration from unwanted changes, the shredder provides data destruction that follows the DoD standards, while the Styler takes care of your Window's looks, and I know there's no need to tell you about the remaining tool's purpose...
This was Systerac XP Tools, but don't hurry towards the exit, because there are still some conclusions for you and, of course, a lot of screenshots!
The Good
Systerac XP Tools is a tweaking suite that looks great, is very easy to use and has most of the tools needed to keep your system running smoothly and secure.
The Bad
I have seen better programs for this one's price, but this is not a real problem. Having two useless tools inside the package is, unfortunately, a really big problem. The nag screens are also too much for me to handle...
The Truth
I wouldn't use this application as long as it has problems, but maybe it was just my computer, and if you take out those two problem-tools, you still have enough toys to play with...so if you find the time, prepare for a two weeks journey with Systerac XP Tools!
