So, we have all seen those appealing advertisements
offering up to 400% increase in our Internet
speeds, or registry and system cleaners that
promise that your PC will go back to the start-up
speed when you first bought it. We all believe
those advertisements, don’t we? Of course not!
For this reason, I was very sceptical when I was
invited to evaluate SpeedUpMyPC. The first thing I
did was to make an Acronis back-up of my C-drive.
ABOUT
SpeedUpMyPC is a utility which runs quietly in the
system Tray Bar. It monitors system resources,
optimizes Internet connections, and helps to prevent
Windows crashes.
Additionally, SpeedUpMyPC can:
-
Acquire and optimize lost RAM (System Memory).
-
Reassign and normalize CPU resources for greater
stability.
-
Optimize/customize system start-up load time.
-
Optimize Internet and Browser settings.
INSTALLATION
Installation was a doddle, and I was pleasantly
surprised by the very user-friendly front page of
this program. I made a mental note of the blue
Optimization Level meter which told me that my PC
was running at a low level (despite the fact that I
use Ccleaner and Tune-Up 1 Click Maintenance
utitilies), and pressed the Start Scan button.
OVERVIEW
Automatically, my system was analysed in four main
areas – Memory, Internet, Privacy Files and Junk
Files. There is a further area concerning the
CPU, but more of that a little later. A couple of
minutes later, I was able to confirm the
recommended actions, again by a single button, and
my blue Optimization Level meter now had swung over
to a High level. Wow! Was it as easy as this?
Well, yes and no. The primary stages of making my
PC more efficient had certainly been done, but
there is a lot more to play with if you have the
confidence and the courage to continue.
At the top of the Overview page (the first level of
the program), there are four tabs – Overview,
Optimization, Clean Up and Settings. Now was the
time to look further into what this SpeedUpMyPC can
do for me.
OPTIMIZATION
The next tab, Optimization, is sub-divided into
Memory, CPU, Disk, Internet and Startup. Each
of these areas provides a clear understanding of
what is going on under the hood, and you either
have the option of leaving the settings on automatic
(Uniblue’s recommendations) or putting your own
values in. The four sub-headings on the left
include a real-time graphical representation,
either for one minute or one hour, and the
opportunity to make any changes you wish. If you
don’t understand what you are doing, I would
suggest that you leave the default settings as they
are. Looking at them anyway:
CPU
The CPU sub-heading is a good example of this. If
you elect to look at the Application Booster, you
are presented with percentage values that each of
your running applications is using. If you want to
assign more resources to specific applications for
maximum performance, this is the place to do it.
If you don’t understand it, leave it well alone.
DISK
The Disk Optimization is not a user variable – it is
simply a graphical representation of the efficiency
of your drives is.
INTERNET
Similarly, the Internet button allows you to
optimize your current bandwidth usage. It is here
that you tell the program whether you are on
dial-up, IDSN, DSL or Cable. Then trust the
program – let it do the optimizations for you.
STARTUP
Finally, we have the Startup. Each of the
programs and utilities that start up when you fire
up your PC appear here, and you have the option of
deselecting them. Windows, of course, offers you
exactly the same choice by using Windows Key + R and
entering msconfig – but this is a nicer way of doing
it.
CLEANUP
The third tab at the top is entitled Clean Up, and
here are another four sub-headings of File Clean
UP, Privacy, File Shredder and Uninstall.
FILE CLEAN UP
The File Clean Up rids your computer of junk files
and program fragments that collect over time and
clutter your system, reducing its performance. I
find this one particularly helpful as SpeedUpMyPC is
far more thorough than anything else I have used
before.
PRIVACY
The Privacy Protector cleans out many areas of
unwanted files such as Visited Internet History,
Cookies, Typed URLs, Temporary files and so on. It
removes some of the more difficult to delete items
with ease.
FILE SHREDDER
The File Shredder does exactly what you think it
might do. You are probably aware that just because
you uninstall or delete a file, the data is still
on your hard-drive until it is overwritten. It is
a relatively easy thing for an unscrupulous person
to retrieve those files, even though you think they
have gone forever. The File Shredder really does
get rid of those files that you would hate for
somebody else to see.
UNINSTALL MANAGER
The Uninstall Manager really does get rid of 100% of
an unwanted programs or applications, unlike the
Windows utility which often leaves useless remnants
that clutter up your system.
FINALLY
So, the question is should you spend your
hard-earned cash on this program? Many of the
utilities that SpeedUpMyPC is included in your
Windows Operating system, but some do not do the
job as well. Other utilities are available in
other third party applications, but they are not as
user-friendly as SpeedUpMyPC.
If you want an easy-to-use one-stop program to do
all of these tasks, then this is the utility that
you need. Uniblue is a name that you can trust and
depend upon. It is not a free program, but it is
worth the expenditure for peace of mind.
Does my PC show a remarkable increase in downloading
speeds? I’m afraid not – but the program never
promised me it would. Is my PC more efficient than
it was before? Yes, I believe it is – my start-up
time is back to 1 minute and 30 seconds which is
pretty good for Vista Ultimate.
Will I continue to use this program? You can bet
your bottom dollar I will! I know you will feel
the same once you have tried it.
Follow this article with the fully
functional trial version of this software
available here, just click on the "Scan Now"
option to download
Tony Allison.
Tony is a
moderator at the
www.probz.com forum.
Click here to see his member profile
