14 DAY TRIAL // XP may seem like the big bad wolf for some of the users. There are so many things to learn about it and the options are spread all over the place. Well, there are some utilities on the market that help you make the necessary settings and configure XP all by yourself.
XP-Utilities is one of these applications that provide you all the settings in one place and you no longer have to look or bump into them while working on Windows XP. The version available for a so-called trial is a demo and the full version of the product costs $19.95. As you may know, a demo version of a product is subject to some restrictions and you won't be able to properly test the application.
XP-Utilities has most of the options locked and the only thing you can do is play a milder Russian Roulette with it and see which of the options work. I assure you from the beginning that the least important of them are working.
The developer informs all the users that this program is aimed for the use of novices so I advise the more skilled of you to stay away from it as there is nothing that could interest you. The version analyzed is RC1, so don't rush over to buy it as the developer still has one thing or two to straighten up.
The interface is very simple and the only thing I could notice when I first started the application is the agglomeration of icons. There is no clear distinction between the menus of the program and the sub menus available, only a thin border separating the two. There aren't too many menus included in the program, Main Menu and System Links being the only ones made available in this version.
Out of the two, only Main menu is actually the contribution of the developer because System links only provides access to some of the XP's options and settings locations.
In order to make neophyte's life easier, Made Of Stone Inc provides 23 utilities for making XP run smoother and faster than ever. The list includes the most popular settings a novice could need. You will easily be able to check on the installed softwares, free the RAM locked by some processes, set up Internet Explorer, Windows Firewall or the network.
For having full control of what loads with Windows, Auto Runs sub-menu will give you on a platter all the processes, including those in the startup folder and those in the registry. The only thing is that the demo state of the program prevents you from viewing the keys in Run Once and the Unused Autorun entries. The registry keys can be backed up from this menu and new start up items can be added.
A backup manager is at your disposal so that you will never lose the important data again. From here on, you can set a System Restore Point and activate the Backup and Restore Wizard. Tweaking of the Start Menu and the Desktop is available under Desktop Settings. None of the options in here are activated except the renaming of the Start Menu which also appears to be under the same demo lock as there was no effect upon enforcing the changes.
Disk Drives option will provide quite valuable information about your disk(s) and volumes. S.M.A.R.T. information is revealed and you can learn about the temperature of the disk(s). In the right side bar there are the quick links to XP's disk utilities (Defragmentor, Management and Cleanup). The drive options present in the lower right hand corner of the window include CD drive options (disabling autorun and burning) and HDD options (disabling low disk space notice and enabling HDD optimization of the HDD when idle).
The Memory Booster seemed unlocked so I decided to give it a try. I made all the settings (set the amount of RAM to be freed) and pressed the optimization button. Unfortunately, the options are under the same demo influence and nothing was achieved.
Process Listing, Track Eraser, Service Manager, Registry Tweaks, Device Drivers, they are all locked and the only thing you can do is peruse all these nifty options and stare at them. Space Explorer is indeed working but all it does is display the files and folders you have stored on a particular volume of your hard drive. Double clicking on one folder will open it and you can view its contents. The baddie here is that you cannot go up one folder and in order to access another directory, a new scan is required.
System Links is simply a list of shortcuts to XP's most important utilities: firewall, add new hardware wizard, auto update, computer management, date and time configuration, disk management, display properties, mouse configuration, power configuration, these are a few of the 25 links available.
XP-Utilities Settings menu is also subject to restrictions and only applying a password and setting up a hotkey can be achieved in here. Other options include hiding the application when it is started, launch the application with Windows and creating a restore point every time XP-Utilities is activated.
All in all, the application cannot be evaluated because of the myriad of demo restrictions imposed by the developer. There are some interesting functions in Registry Tweaks I would have liked to see at work (clear page file at system shutdown, disable user tracking and disable Windows hotkeys) but all the tweaks are locked.
The Good
The application is definitely aimed for beginners as everything is out in the open and the settings for Windows XP are not too deep.
The Bad
Clearly differentiating the two menus of the software and their sub menus is definitely a necessity.
There is no help file or at least it is down for the moment because my web browser (Internet Explorer) "refused" to open the page.
The demo restrictions make it totally useless and the user cannot evaluate it at all. I think paying for an application without putting it to the test is absolutely out of the question so in this case, the price is way too much.
The Truth
I don't know about you, but generally, I test an application before I purchase it. This one isn't even "testable". Look at the pictures by yourselves (it is free) and peruse the options. And if you decide you have to have it I suggest to take a look at the software's forum and see some opinions (if there are any).
A word of advice for the developer: give the user a chance to test the program; I think this is called fair-play.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
