Fuzzy Logic

Generally I take a dim view of free performance optimisation programs and suites because I’m yet to see one that can deliver better performance results than if a skilled technician had optimised the PC.  The only free programs for improving the system that I recommend are those that are designed to clean out temporary files – and that’s the only purpose that I recommend they be used for: cleaning out temporary files.

Much of this has been covered in other guides on this site, but we’ll try and provide a more centralised summary here:

Registry Cleaners and Optimisers:

Registry cleaners don’t offer any significant benefits to system performance.  In fact they can cause more harm than good.  It’s impossible for them to keep up to date with all the registry changes that all programs make to the registry with their updates and new versions. Registry cleaners are often attributed as the cause of glitches or instability.  In terms of optimisation, the size of the registry compared to the rest of your data is miniscule, and the total amount of data space any redundant entries use is significantly smaller than the registry itself, which basically means that that any “optimisation” on the registry is not going to be noticeable.  You can read more information on registry cleaners here (includes references).

Defragmenting Tools:

There are many free defragmenting tools out there that claim to improve on Windows’ own inbuilt Defragmenter.  In my experience, most of these offer no improvement over the Windows Defragmenter or they make things worse.  The truth is that the Windows defragmenter is a cut down version of a well respected professional suite called Executive DisKeeper.  The single biggest feature that the Windows version lacks versus the Pro version is the ability to defragment locked system files (or Boot-Time Defrag).  I’m yet to see a free program do this properly too.  If you want to defragment your hard drive, I recommend buying a paid professional program (eg. Raxco PerfectDisk, Executive DisKeeper Home or Pro or O&O Defrag).  You can read more detailed information regarding defragmentation here.

RAM Assistants:

These are a pet dislike for me.  They use RAM resources to supposedly free up RAM resources.  In a nutshell, there’s no substitute for physical RAM.  If you’re running Windows 7 or Vista, you need at least 2GB of RAM.  Windows XP needs at least 1GB of RAM.  If you play 3D intensive games (eg.  Car Racing, Flight Sims, Shooters, etc), you should double those amounts of RAM.  The best way to free up RAM is to cut down on the number of programs that start up when Windows starts.   If you’re not sure how to do this, contact a technician or alternatively,  have a read of this article.

Startup Optimisers:

The idea of these programs is to disable any programs that aren’t necessary in order to free up processor and RAM resources.  Usually these programs depend on the user to decide what to disable (which kind of defeats their purpose) or they don’t manage startup apps in the most efficient manner, either not disabling resource hungry apps or sometimes disabling important apps.  Usually start-up optimisation tools are incorporated as part of a performance enhancement suite.  One of the other things I often see these suites do is re-enable previously disabled graphics effects.  Disabling graphics effects is another way of improving system performance.  You can read more information about start-up optimisation and graphics tweaks in this article.

Anti-Adware/Anti-Spyware Programs

Don’t get me wrong, I love anything designed to get rid of unwanted and malicious software.  However, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.  Some of these programs offer the ability to proactively monitor the system – also known as “real-time scanning”.  The problem is that if you have more than one program attempting to proactively monitor your system, those programs can clash and cause system instability, performance degradation and data corruption.   For this reason, if you want to have comprehensive security it would be a better idea to invest in a Security Suite such as Avira Premium Security Suite or Kaspersky Internet Security.  The suites typically have far better detection rates than their free counterparts, and as a suite they usually have far less impact on system performance than using multiple programs by different manufacturers.  You can find more detailed information about computer security in this guide.

Tags: adware, antivirus, defrag, defragmentation, maintenance, performance, RAM, registry, security, spyware, startup, Tips