Programs to keep your PC spinning

[Gigantus]

A couple of times I have come across questions that come up due to low specs of the PC. To give these guys (and girls) a helping hand, I have compiled some tools that should come handy.

1. CCleaner
Most likely one of the more known utility programs. It cleans up temp files, empties the recycle bin (the first C stands for crap, I believe?) and does a couple of other things to make room on your hard drive. Comes with a registry checker as well.

2. Smart Defrag
This one lives in the back ground and defrags your hard drive when your CPU is idle. Haven't run a defrag since I got this little beauty.

3. Game Booster
This is the one that closes all those services and background programs that gulp all the processor time and the RAM. Handy to have around, just be careful when you are online.

4. Advanced System Care
Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to helping protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC.

5. Ishan's list
A boatload of other program links on the next page.

6. Attribute Changer

I use it to set all files and folders to the same date before uploading my work.Then I do the same again with updates, that way it's pretty easy to keep track which files have been worked on and which ones are from previous updates or original.
.

[D.B. Cooper]

I've never heard of the Game Booster, I'm using it now, will compare framerates with it later. Thanks!

P.S: This should be in the Basement.

[irishron]

I've never heard of the Game Booster, I'm using it now, will compare framerates with it later. Thanks!

P.S: This should be in the Basement.

You're right technically. It should stay here for the newcomers that never heard of the Basement and odds are will never make it that far down the list.

Thanks go to Gigantus for coming up with them and posting it.

[Gigantus]

I just post it in the Basement as well. CCleaner was there already.

[Awqa Puriq]

Thanks for this, im gonna try this Game Booster, it sounds good.

[Gigantus]

One is glad to be of service

[HolyDevil]

well i'll try out GB, but is there any risk if i play an online game? i alreadyrun Med2 perfectly since i added more 2Gb of ram, too bad battles still "lagg" when giant armies meet...

[Gigantus]

You will have to make sure that your firewall and AV are not shut down. Otherwise your security is compromised.

Edit:
Hooray, my first sticky!!

[Achilla]

I prefer JkDefrag, I use it once a week since I download, add and remove files all week long. Start thing, it defragments files that formerly refused to defrag at all, e.g. pack files of m2tw or .dat files of guild wars, then it changes the order of the files moving executables and files associated with them to foremost part of drive giving them best write/read speed. Handy tool I must say.

As for cleaners SpeedUpMyPC and Registry Booster are both a very good thing. They are paid programs but good enough. The first cleans your pc from junk and can run in your background and optimize your memory and CPU in the background provided you have at the very least a dual core and enough amount of RAM, the latter just does what it's said to do, personally I'm not using that live-optimizing feature till I upgrade (when it happens, god knows propably once I consider ETW worthy of my money - read : not soon ).

That's all I could recommend, I think.

[Tokus*Maximus]

Thanks for the pointers Gigantus. CC cleaner (or crap cleaner as they used to call themselves) is a great wee PC sweeper... I'm checking out your other choice picks.

Tokus

[Nazgûl Killer]

A couple of times I have come across questions that come up due to low specs of the PC. To give these guys (and girls) a helping hand, I have compiled some tools that should come handy.

1. CCleaner
Most likely one of the more known utility programs. It cleans up temp files, empties the recycle bin (the first C stands for crap, I believe?) and does a couple of other things to make room on your hard drive. Comes with a registry checker as well.

2. Smart Defrag
This one lives in the back ground and defrags your hard drive when your CPU is idle. Haven't run a defrag since I got this little beauty.

3. Game Booster
This is the one that closes all those services and background programs that gulp all the processor time and the RAM. Handy to have around, just be careful when you are online.

4. Advanced System Care
Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to helping protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC.

I am extremely reluctant to download any program of said list due to experience-taught caution... But I am very tempted.
I clicked on the links and I haven't found any info there, can you please supply (Detailed) info on what they do and how they do it? I would greatly appreciate this.

[irishron]

I am extremely reluctant to download any program of said list due to experience-taught caution... But I am very tempted.
I clicked on the links and I haven't found any info there, can you please supply (Detailed) info on what they do and how they do it? I would greatly appreciate this.

Self-taught experience should also say do your own investigation and not take our word for it. I don't expect anyone to take our word for it even though I can vouch for three of the four from personal experience. Instead of believing the sies that market these, you can use tool like Google or Yahoo and look for independent reviews of these and like products. Find the info and make your own decision. That is the price of freedom.

[Gigantus]

Thanks Irish.

Long live GOOGLE!

[JuL14n]

I must say thank you, for Advanced System Care.

My computer started to run slow, then slower, slower and slower.
And I started to wonder what's wrong with this screaming box.

And all protection in my other Spyware programs were disabled, I tried to re-enable without
success, I was thinking of running a system scan with S&D but it takes 2½ hour.
So I decided to take the fast scan throught advanced system care and it found 200 000 infections in 40 secounds,
I'm glad that I didn't reboot my computer.

Everything was because of something that made explorer.exe crash and restart.

Well everything solved now thanks to ASC and gigantus who with this thread suggested ASC.

rep+

[Gigantus]

One is glad to be of service

[Groenepuntmuts]

NOD32 detected a virus in the advanced system care download, just a warning, maybe it's me, but watch out.

[Gigantus]

Could be a false positive. Happens sometimes.

[Douchebag]

Ive been using Advanced System Cleaner for about 4-5 months now, and it works great.

[Groenepuntmuts]

Could be a false positive. Happens sometimes.

What's a false positive, and are you sure? because the program sounds great.

EDIT: screenshot, this is the second time I downloaded and installed. so it happened again. click for enlargement.

[irishron]

I have been using it for about six months with no ill effects. I have Zone Alarm for antivirus and it hasn't said anything, yet.