Appendix PC Performance Resources
Throughout this book I’ve presented dozens of tools—software utilities and websites—you can use to speed up your computer system. Well, there are lots more of these tools available. For your convenience and edification, then, I list some of the most popular and effective speedup tools here—use them to improve various aspects of your PC’s performance.
These applications contain multiple utilities you can use to fine-tune various parts of your system.
Advanced SystemCare (www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html), free
Fix-It Utilities Professional (www.avanquest.com), $49.95
Glary Utilities (www.glarysoft.com), free
My Faster PC (www.myfasterpc.com), $39.95
Norton SystemWorks (www.symantec.com/norton/), $49.99
PC Booster (www.inklineglobal.com/products/pcb/), $59.95
System Mechanic (www.iolo.com/system-mechanic/standard/), $49.95/year
TuneUp Utilities (www.tune-up.com), $49.95
WinSettings Pro (www.filestream.com/winpro/), $69.95
WinUtilities (www.xp-tools.com/winutilities/), $49.99
How fast is your PC, really? Use these benchmarking utilities to measure your system’s performance—and find out what needs speeding up.
HDTach (www.simplisoftware.com), free
Maxon CineBench (www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench_e.html), free
OpenSourceMark (sourceforge.net/projects/opensourcemark/), free
PassMark PerformanceTest (www.passmark.com), $24.00
PCMark05 (www.futuremark.com), $19.95
PCMark Vantage (www.futuremark.com), $6.95
SiSoftware Sandra Pro Home (www.sisoftware.net), $49.99
Use these utilities to manage those programs and utilities that start automatically when your Windows launches—and to delete unwanted “bundleware” from new computers.
Autoruns (technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx), free
PC Decrapifier (www.pcdecrapifier.com), free
Security Task Manager (www.neuber.com/taskmanager/), $29
WinPatrol (www.winpatrol.com), free
Need to clean up all those unused and duplicate files on your computer’s hard disk? These file cleaning tools are for you—they’ll find the files you don’t use and get rid of them.
CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com), free
Duplicate File Cleaner (www.duplicatefilecleaner.com), free
Easy Duplicate File Finder (www.easyduplicatefinder.com), free
Ever tried to delete a Norton or McAfee product—and found remnants of that program still clogging your PC? These products are notoriously hard to delete, hence the introduction of program-specific removal tools by the companies themselves.
McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool (download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe), free
Norton Removal Tool (ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe), free
When a cluttered Windows Registry is slowing you down, use these utilities to clean up duplicate and unused entries.
Auslogics Registry Defrag (www.auslogics.com/registry-defrag/), free
CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com), free
EasyCleaner (personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm), free
Registry First Aid (www.rosecitysoftware.com/reg1aid/), $27.95
Registry Healer (www.zoneutils.com/regheal/), $19.95
Registry Mechanic (www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/), $29.95
RegSeeker (www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm), free
Uniblue RegistryBooster (www.liutilities.com/products/registrybooster/), $29.95
WinCleaner (www.wincleaner.com), $29.95
Wise Registry Cleaner (www.wisecleaner.com), free
Want to make your hard disk go faster? Then consider these hard disk optimization tools, which defragment, find errors, and fix problems with any hard drive.
Diskeeper (www.diskeeper.com), $29.95
PC Tools Disk Suite (www.pctools.com/disk-suite/), $39.95
PerfectDisk (www.raxco.com), $39.99
These programs create a mirror image of your hard disk—perfect for backups, or for transferring data and programs from an old hard disk to a new one.
Acronis True Image (www.acronis.com), $49.99
BootIt Next Generation (www.terrabyteunlimited.com), $34.95
Drive Copy (www.paragon-software.com/home/dc-personal/), $29.95
Norton Ghost (www.symantec.com/norton/ghost), $69.99
Need to speed up a pokey Internet connection or make your web browser run faster? These tools are for you!
Download Accelerator Plus (www.speedbit.com), free
Expired Cookies Cleaner (www.astatix.com/tools/expired-cookies-cleaner.php), free
FlashGet (www.flashget.com), free
HackCleaner (hackcleaner.en.softonic.com), free
IE7 Pro (www.ie7pro.com), free
Want to know which startup programs are legit and which aren’t? Then check out these free websites that list all the various programs and processes you’re likely to find.
AnswersThatWork Task List Programs (www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm)
Application Database (www.greatis.com/appdata/)
Bleepingcomputer.com Startup List (www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/)
Sysinfo.org Startup Applications List (www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php)
TechSpot Startup List (www.techspot.com/startup/)
When you want to know the actual speed of your Internet connection, check out these speed test sites, all free for the using.
Bandwidth Place Speed Test (www.bandwidthplace.com/)
CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test (reviews.cnet.com/internet-speed-test/)
DSL Reports Speed Test (www.dslreports.com/speedtest)
MSN Internet Speed Test (tech.msn.com/speedtest.aspx)
MySpeed (myspeed.visualware.com/)
Use these free services to speed up URL lookup in your web browser.