14 DAY TRIAL // I guess it's time for another system tweaking suite, don't you agree? There's not much to say now, because the topic is very hot, and I have a lot to say about this program, so I'll get straight to the point...
Name: WinXP Manager. Age: version 4.98.4. Job: system tweaking and cleaning. Shape: 15 days trial version, delivered as a 5.27MB setup package. Details: prepare to find out what this is all about...
I saw it, I got it, installed it, and here goes the first impression: "wow!". Another excellent suite at an excellent price like Elite Utilities? This surely looks good, there are a lot of features that wait to be explored, and should be very easy to use for everyone able to understand English...
Before the features, I have to tell you some things about the interface, although there's not much to say. Why? WinXP Manager has a clean, shiny interface that's extremely easy to use, with excellent icons and partially skinable(you can change only the color theme of the main menu). The main menu located to the left of the program's window is the hangar housing the program's tools, and this is where I'll spend the rest of my time inside WinXP Manager.
The first thing to do before starting to optimize, clean and personalize your Windows operating system is getting some information about it. The first menu, entitled Information, is the one in charge of this task.
There are four information tools inside the first menu. Let's check'em out!
The System Information opens an external window that gives you an overview of your computer's hardware and software. The funniest part about this is that I found out an amazing thing - my system has 8192MB of RAM! The truth is completely different, but if the program says...
Next, we have a well done Process Manager that can change priority of running processes or kill them, but also show detailed information about them and query the Internet about an unknown item.
The last two tools from the Information menu are for the beginners and people who don't want to waste time browsing through tons of individual options. The Optimization Wizard is a ten step tool for system optimization, and the 1-Click Cleaner helps you destroy the junk files and clean registry garbage with a single click.
Moving on to the power tools, we have six menus dedicated to this purpose, and a lot of features hidden behind them. I'll take them down one by one and point out the most useful features, leaving the rest of them up to you.
What we have next is the Optimizer, with five tools - Speed System, Service Manager, Multimedia, Startup Manager and System Repair.
The Speed System has four components that take care of your system's setting affecting running speed (turning off Indexing Service, disable Dr. Watson, unload DLLs from memory and more), RAM and Disk Cache, Startup Speed and Shutdown Speed.
One of the small problems that I noticed with this program is that some tools open into the main window, like the Speed System, for example, while others such as the Service Manager use external windows to show themselves. This shouldn't be much of a problem, but affects the interface's consistency, since you get different looks for tools belonging to the same suite.
The Service Manager's name says it all. If you have seen the Process Manager already, then you won't be surprised by this one - it has the same looks and the same purpose, the only difference is that it works with system services instead of processes and threads.
Multimedia is a keyword that brought the computer into a lot of houses recently, especially in countries with a growing economy where the IT and Mobile markets go through a spectacular growth themselves, clearly surpassing many other fields. The Multimedia tool has three components that handle multimedia devices, DirectDraw and Direct3D setting, and Media Player settings.
The Startup Manager and the System Repair are the last tools to be found inside the Optimizer menu. The first one doesn't need any comment, while the latter can repair hardware, system and file association issues.
Every time you think you're lost, don't worry! Just place your mouse pointer over the alien item, and you'll get the basic information you need about it.
Next area we have to talk about is called Cleaner and has eight tools, starting with a nicely done disk information one called Disk Analyzer. Unnecessary Files, Smart Uninstaller, Registry Cleaner or Desktop Cleaner are the names of the components that you can find here.
As usual, I advise you to be careful when performing cleaning operations that include deletion of certain system files, because some may have problems with this, while others not.
The fourth area that can be found inside WinXP Manager is called Customization, and I found that the first tool here doesn't work, since when I click the Customize System button nothing happens, and the Add Context Menu component gives me an "unhandled exception" error each time I access it.
The Icon Manager is an excellent component of the Customization area that lets you change your system's icons and repair icon related errors, while the Wallpaper Changer should have an obvious purpose...
There are still three menus ahead - Security, Network and Miscellaneous Utilities. I'll speed it up a little now, pointing out only the best features that I've found in each one of them, since I am sure that the screenshots and what I told you so far should already be enough to make you try WinXP Manager.
The Security area has a lot of useful features, including access restriction to Control Panel or some of its applets only and, of course, custom programs, a file shredder and encryptor, a tracks removal tool and many more. You don't have parental control filtering for Web sites, but you can disallow access to the browser for your kids, or ban unwanted sites using the hosts file in the next area.
The Network menu has three tools taking care of your network settings, with excellent network acceleration and tweaking features, Outlook Express backup and tweaking options or the outstanding IE Manager. I feel generous now, so I'll leave this treasure for you to dig out, I can tell you it is worth the sweat.
The Miscellaneous Utilities is like a universal store where you can find almost anything that has been missed so far. The Windows Utilities opens an external window containing three tabs filled with tools built into your operating system, like Dr. Watson, Magnifier, NetMeeting, Remote Desktop Connection, Indexing Service and many, many more.
I have to repeat myself, there's a lot more than meets the eye with this program. All I can do now is go to the conclusions and hope you'll like this application and find it useful as much as I did.
The Good
This software package called WinXP Manager has a great interface, an excellent amount of useful features and should be easy enough to use for every computer user, beginner or expert. Although this is not a free program, it has a good price, and you can test it for two weeks before deciding if this is a good buy or not.
The Bad
The same problem that I had with previous programs like this appeared here too, unfortunately. I noticed an "unpolished" look and feel of the program's interface, and even more than that, I found that the Help system doesn't offer much more beyond those useful tool tips, since the help file included with the program doesn't offer much extra information.
The Truth
WinXP Manager is a great program, despite its minor drawbacks. It gathers in the same place almost every tool that you may ever need for maintaining and optimizing your system, and the trial version can be studied for 15 days without any other limitations. Don't wait for the producer to change its mind about this, grab this toy now and get to work!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
