In the last post I covered on the topics of applications useful for laptop and laptop care. In this post i'll be covering on some useful apps that could be used for both laptop and desktop tuning purposes. The following are some of the most useful tuning tools available in the market and are proven to be resourceful and are capable of of boosting your windows from zero to hundred in the least time.
Tune Up Utilities : The All Rounder :
Tune Up Utilities is a complete suite that covers all types of tuning utilities and offers a useful feature for restoring your system settings called the "Rescue Center". It offers tools for both beginners and advanced users. If you don't wish to carry out individual maintenance tasks manually, it takes only a single click with the 1-click maintenance feature. although tuneup utilities performs maintenance tasks automatically every week, you can schedule the task manually as per your convenience. The changes made to the registry can be tracked easily. If tuning also meas upgrading the look and feel of windows for you, it can be done using the tuneup styler which offers numerous options for the customizing the appearence of the visual elements including the icons and boot and login screens.
For :
- Easy-to-Use.
- Registry Editor with bookmark.
- Integrated data recovery tool.
- De-fragmenting tool.
Against :
- Expensive.
CCleaner :
The best tool for recovering disk space is CCleaner, which is free of cost. The tool removes temporary files as well as unwanted data in a quick and reliable manner. It can clean up components such as temporary internet files, browser history, clipboard, recent documents, run history, memory dumps, and so on. It also repairs the registry and smoothly uninstalls the applications that are not needed any more. However, CCleaner does a thorough job with basic settings. Thus before cleaning, its advisable to exclude cookies that are required for logging on to the frequently visited websites. Before you initiate the clean up process, click analyze button in order to find out how much storage space will be freed up.
For :
- Free.
- Also takes less known programs into consideration.
- It also cleans the prefetch folder, which is used for faster windows start-up.
RSW : Fine tune the Registry :
It makes sense to make the registry lighter by eliminating invalid items or entries that are no longer required, and that's exactly what the Registry System Wizard (RSW) does. It does not actually have anything to with tuning windows, but it does make a difference indirectly. On starting RSW, it displays a whole lot of windows tweaks suggested by WinFAQ on their website. You first have to select the version of your windows and then change the parameters you wish to. A detailed description of the selected tweaks is shown in the information window. Using RSW you can view and edit registry keys, modify the registry over the network, backup and restore the registry and search the registry using keywords. The only drawback with this software is that it doesn't have an english user interface. So you will have to translate the description from German to English using online translation tools before trying them out - a bit cumbersome but worth trying out.
For :
- Easy to use.
- Network Support.
- Ideal for Beginners.
- Does not remove any invalid entries.
- No English interface.
Rivatuner : Blazing Frame Rates :
GPUs can also be overclocked but it can be risky. Therefore Nvidia and ATI have hidden the overclocking options deep in their drivers. However you can access the settings for core and memory speed using Rivatuner. The software offers two modes for overclocking your GPU. The list of settings under the power user tab is meant for beginners who want to play safe. This mode only makes changes to the registry and the drivers.
To overclock your GPU expand the section called "Rivatuner\NVIDIA\Overclocking\Current device" and choose a preset. You can also tweak the fan speed from the section called "Rivatuner\NVIDIA\Fan\Current device". If your familier with overclocking GPUs click on the "Customize" drop down list in the "Driver Settings" field and select "System Settings". This will bring up the system tweaks dialog box which has settings for adjusting thee core, shader and memory speeds. Check the "Enable driver-level hardware overclocking" box and click on the "Detect now" button in the dialog box that pops up. Select "Performance 3D" from the drop down list and then drag the sliders to adjust the speeds. Start with increasing the core speed by 50 MHz. Apply the settings and use 3DMark or a game benchmark to ensure that the system is stable. If everything goes fine, then increase the core speed in increments of 5MHz until the system becomes unstable during benchmark. At the next reboot, set the core speed to the maximum value at which the system was last runnign without any problems. Use the same method to determine the maximum memory speed. On my computer I managed to get the GeForce 8800GTS running at 570 MHz from 515 MHz.
For :
- Also tweaks undocumented features.
- Suitable for NVIDIA and ATI models.
- Integrated schedular and Registry Editor.
- Risky for Beginners.
SG TCP Optimizer : Supercharge your Internet Connection :
Even tuning the internet connection requires tweaking the registry. Although you can do it manually or using RSW, SG TCP Optimizer is better suited. Moreover, its free and offers intuitive user interface for tuning and optimizing your internet connection. The easiest and fastest method is to use the optimal settings suggested by the software. But if you want to fine tune the connection, you can use the custom settings option to tweak the related TCP/IP parameters such as MTU, RWIN, QoS and so on. There are tools for determining the optimum values for these parameters. Once you have entered the values, test how many packets are lost using the Latency tab. You can also find out the modifications TCP Optimizer makes to the registry by clicking on the Registry tab. After applying the settings and restarted the PC, you can immediately test the settings by using the online speed test.
For :
- Built in Registry Editor.
- Tools for finding the MTU value.
- Integrated Bandwidth calculator.
- Too difficult for beginners.
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