The Trouble-Free PC
With the right utilities, you can heal your ailing machine--or even keep it from getting sick in the first place. We test all-in-one suites and specialized tools to find the best.PC World contributor Michael Desmond is a freelance writer based in Vermont.
When things go wrong with Windows--and they inevitably do--add-on utilities may help where Windows' built-in tools can't. The question is, which ones do you need? Utility suites offer the convenience of multiple tools on one CD. Plus, there are hundreds of specialized utilities that can fill in the gaps or, in the proper combination, substitute for suites altogether.
We tested four all-in-one suites and 18 less-known utilities to find the right mix that will keep your PC productive and secure.
In this article:
All-in-One Utility Suites
If you like to do one-stop shopping, all-in-one suites pack an assortment of tools--data recovery, security, privacy, troubleshooting, and more--onto one CD. Three of the four packages that we tested came with bootable emergency CDs for repairing a PC that won't start. Often these tools are conveniently organized in a single integrated interface.
We looked at four leading packages--Business Logic WinCleaner Complete PC Care, Iolo System Mechanic 5 Professional, Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier, and V Communications SystemSuite 5. To rate these suites, we evaluated their features, ease of use, and ease of installation, and tried to detect any performance improvements. We did not test antivirus, spyware, and firewall tools. For more on those topics, read April's "Spyware Stoppers" feature and February's New Products review "Internet Security Suites Face Off".
Each suite has its strengths. We awarded the Best Buy to Norton SystemWorks for its high-quality tools and ease of use. System Mechanic did the best job of integrating its tools into one easy-to-use interface. Although SystemSuite, a former PC World Best Buy, hasn't been updated in over a year, it comes with useful diagnostic tools. WinCleaner's brightly colored interface was irritating, but the utility has a convenient one-click cleanup routine that you can launch from the CD.
If you're looking to use any of these packages to improve your system's performance, however, you'll probably be disappointed. Over time Windows accumulates hundreds of unnecessary files such as old application installers, temp files, and remnant Windows Registry entries. These files could, in theory, slow down your computer. To help counter this effect and to free up disk space, all four packages that we tested include tools that remove unneeded files and delete and repair Windows Registry entries. While using such programs can recover disk space, you aren't likely to see significant gains in performance.
The PC World Test Center used system monitoring tools to record exactly what the suites cleaned up on our test computer. We discovered that the packages are radically different in the type and number of files they remove. V Communications' SystemSuite and Symantec's Norton SystemWorks were at the most aggressive default settings; SystemWorks deleted more than 12,000 Registry entries, for example. On the other hand, Iolo's System Mechanic and Business Logic's WinCleaner Complete PC Care deleted files and Registry entries more conservatively. Whether a suite cleans up few or many files, however, predicting what effect--good or bad--that such a cleanup will have on your machine is difficult.
All four of the utility packages give you control--to different degrees--over the files they delete. Symantec, for example, allows you to indicate the degree of cleanup with SystemWorks' Norton Cleanup, CleanSweep, and WinDoctor utilities.
It's possible to accidentally clean up a file you need later on, so most of the suites have tools, such as SystemSuite's Undo It, that back up the deleted files and Registry entries so you can restore them later. These backups, however, are stored on your hard drive, limiting the amount of disk space you're clearing.
If your PC has slowed to a crawl or can't boot up, a suite might be a good last resort at reviving it, but keep your expectations low. You're better off picking a suite for its tool set rather than for any performance gains that it might give you.
Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier
Symantec's Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier offers powerful tools like the Ghost disk-imaging utility.
Despite being the priciest suite, Norton SystemWorks Premier 2005 earned our Best Buy award for its ease of use and the quality of its tools.
SystemWorks Premier 2005 adds the powerful Norton Ghost disk-mirroring utility for backup, recovery, and system disk upgrades. Other useful tools are GoBack for restoring your system to a previous healthy state, CheckIt for running system diagnostics, and System Optimizer for gathering Windows configuration controls under a single roof. Most notably, Symantec packages a handy PC recovery boot CD, which now supports the Windows NTFS file system.
But SystemWorks has a few rough edges. It's a bit of a space hog. Its modules can consume copious amounts of memory--a potential issue for machines equipped with minimal RAM. A review of running processes in the Windows Task Manager revealed that SystemWorks' components consumed more than 87MB of system memory. The installation routine is long and requires multiple reboots and program update downloads. And SystemWorks 2005 lacks a startup manager for controlling applications that launch with Windows. $100
Iolo System Mechanic 5 Professional
Iolo's System Mechanic 5 Professional provides the easiest-to-use interface of all the utility suites tested here.
Iolo System Mechanic 5 Professional is the only utility suite we tested that neatly integrates all of its modules--cleanup, fix-up, maintenance, optimization, and data protection--in one window. The package's installation was quick and smooth; and in breadth of features, System Mechanic is second only to Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier. The suite provides superior file-search and recovery tools--even permitting you to resurrect deleted e-mail messages from Eudora, Netscape, Outlook, and Outlook Express. System Mechanic does have one significant omission: It fails to provide system recovery tools on a bootable disc. $70
V Communications SystemSuite 5
V Communications SystemSuite 5 covers the basics of system diagnostics, system optimization, file repair, and file recovery. The former PC World Best Buy winner hasn't been updated since July 2003, however, and its age shows.
SystemSuite 5's interface is visually consistent, but its unintuitive top-level design can make specific functions difficult to find. The installer loads a handful of third-party applications onto your system before installing the main program. Some of the tools are impressive. Modules such as PCDiagnostics and SystemExplorer are useful for reviewing your system's configuration and for performing low-level tests. But the suite's rigid text-based displays are hard to slog through. An application mover module can not only shift installed programs from one folder to another on the PC, but also pack them up for transfer to a different system--a nice touch. SystemSuite's application disc also doubles as a bootable rescue CD with some limited disk and file functions.
V Communications says that the upcoming version of SystemSuite (available soon) will include a new installation routine, better hardware diagnostics, a revised program interface, and a better boot-disc interface. A new Professional version, which will be priced at about $70, will add system backup software and a pop-up blocker to the basic package. $60
Business Logic WinCleaner Complete PC Care
Wincleaner Complete PC Care has good tools, but it lacks some of the system diagnostics included in the other suites. The product also has a garish, unintuitive interface that makes finding and using some features difficult.
On the bright side (literally, it's orange), WinCleaner boasts a quick setup routine and a nicely organized top-level interface that makes it easy to zero in on components--something sorely lacking in other packages. Too bad this level of organization doesn't carry through to all the subcomponents. It's here that the interface falls apart. Many modules open in separate program windows that bear no thematic resemblance to the suite as a whole. There are other wrinkles, too. The WinReg Optimizer guides you into Registry tuning actions without warning you that a system reboot is required. (Business Logic says it is working to fix this.) Also, you should avoid defragmenting very large folders--if you try, WinFile Defragmenter drops suddenly into a lengthy prescan operation without giving you any way to cancel the routine.
The suite provides quick access to its WinSmart tool, useful for moving installed programs, and to a well-crafted startup manager. We also liked being able to launch the OneClick Cleanup routine directly from the CD without having to install the program. Though we weren't sold on the need for file and Registry cleaners, the detailed reporting of WinCleaner's tool is quite impressive. $70
How the Suites Stack Up (chart)
The full-feathered Norton SystemWorks tops our list of all-in-one packages, which is ranked by star rating.
Small Utilities
There are times when one specialized tool can be better than a CD full of general ones. We've handpicked 18 little programs that find lost files, secure data, manage files, tune up your PC, customize Windows Explorer, and more.
File and Data Recovery
Undelete Files for Free
When you accidentally erase your most precious photos or documents, you want to recover those files fast. Usually you can recover a deleted file from Windows' Recycle Bin, but if it's too big or if you held down <Shift> while deleting, it won't be in there. In such cases,Free Undelete offers an efficient solution tuned for the NTFS file system used on most Windows XP systems. Windows deletes files not by erasing the file from your hard disk but by designating areas of the disk occupied by deleted files as available for new files to occupy. Free Undelete searches these areas for recognizable data. If you act quickly after a mistaken deletion, you should see a list of your dearly departed files. Don't delay, though. If Windows writes over your file data, even Free Undelete will be powerless. Free
Disk Image for Data Recovery
You may back up your data religiously, but if your hard drive tanks or becomes irretrievably corrupted, you face the burdensome task of reinstalling and tweaking scores of applications. Acronis TrueImage doesn't just back up your data. This powerful tool takes a snapshot of your hard drive that you can store offline and then use to restore the drive to its earlier state, should disaster strike. TrueImage comes with a capable partitioning program that lets you create, resize, and remove partitions on a hard drive while preserving the files stored on them. You can partition an active disk and perform incremental backups as well. Its informative, streamlined interface and reliable operation enabled us to create multiple partitions and images without a hiccup. $50
The Ultimate Boot Disc
Winternals ERD Commander lets you create a bootable recovery disc more sophisticated than what an all-in-one suite offers.
Even the bootable recovery CD that accompanies Norton SystemWorks is no match for Winternals ERD Commander 2005, a server-grade bootable CD that gives you access to a dead system's files, folders, and Windows XP restore points. It even bundles the Firefox Web browser so you can connect to the Internet to download software and transfer files over a network. The disc's Windows-like environment detects all your system hardware and includes look-alikes of the Registry Editor, the Windows Management Console (including Event Viewer and Disk Manager), and the System Restore tool. A file undelete application helps you recover vital data, while the Locksmith Wizard can restore access to a PC whose administrator password is lost or forgotten. Winternals ERD Commander 2005 provides things that a standard Windows boot disc can't. The product's only downside is its price--but hey, if you're locked out of your PC, it's cheap. $149
Preventive Security
The Paranoid's Palliative
It's hard not to be paranoid when people and software may be tracking your every move. Window Washer erases file histories, browser cookies, cache contents, and other crumbs that applications and Windows itself leave behind. It works better than comparable features in any of the suites we tested. Besides emptying Temp directories and browser caches, the tool will scrub open space on your disk. After we ran the 30-second scrub routine, our test system couldn't remember any deleted items; even an undelete program couldn't resurrect nuked files. The easy-to-use interface presents customization options, from scheduled washings to rigorous disk cleaning that meets Department of Defense specifications. The latest version erases the tracks of the Firefox, Netscape, and Internet Explorer browsers, as well. $30
Managing Password-Protected Information
RoboForm lets you set one master password to protect and remember all of your passwords and your profile information.
RoboForm automates the time-consuming task of entering personal, billing, and authentication information into Web site forms. Build your complete profile once--including Social Security number and credit card numbers, if you choose--and then use RoboForm's browser toolbar to pour relevant data into Web-page fields with a single click. RoboForm protects your master password with 3DES encryption and includes a handy password generator that can produce random strings up to 512 characters long. All you need to remember is the user name and the master password. A portable version runs off of a USB memory key. Free trialware (desktop and portable versions are limited to ten stored log-ins), $30 (Pro version)
Scramble Your Data
Your PC is a treasure trove of confidential information. The best way to shield that data from unauthorized eyes is to encrypt it. BestCrypt simply and effectively applies one of several powerful encryption schemes--including Blowfish, Twofish, and Rijndael--and lets you create one or several encrypted volumes, which you unlock by entering a password in the BestCrypt Control Panel. The program can also secure the contents of a rewritable optical disc or of any other storage media that is assigned a drive letter. BestCrypt can even secure your Windows swap file. $60
Hide in Plain Sight
If you simply want to protect file directories from casual busybodies, a full-fledged encryption program may be overkill. Baxbex Folder Shield 2003 acts as a cloaking device for folders. Just assign a password and check the Enable Protection check box in the Folder Shield program window, and the targeted folders wink out of sight. My attempts using Windows Search and various undelete programs to find directories that were hidden all failed. Keyboard shortcuts to newly hidden folders produced error messages saying the target was likely moved or deleted. One warning: Folder Shield is no match for a savvy snooper who uses a boot disk to start your PC under a different operating system, since that tactic will prevent Folder Shield from doing its thing. $20
System Management
Compare Folders Fast
Beyond Compare can help you better manage the files sloshing around in your gargantuan hard drive. This utility, whose interface looks a bit like Windows Explorer, can simultaneously display the contents of two folders, enabling you to compare and sync local folders as well as folders located on remote network servers or FTP sites. You can even establish watch lists to note changes once they occur--great for ensuring that a remote Web site has the freshest versions of your Web pages, for example. $30
PC Truth Serum
PC Wizard 2005 makes it simple to unearth detailed information about every aspect of your system.
From the make and model of your PC's motherboard to the exact speed and configuration of its system RAM, Windows doesn't conveniently report the critical information you need to troubleshoot conflicts or make upgrade decisions. PC Wizard 2005 can help. Within minutes, we pinpointed the most esoteric details of both a laptop PC and an aged Compaq Presario desktop, from their frontside bus speeds to their CMOS contents. You can easily drill down to whatever information you need, and a benchmark suite lets you quickly compare your PC's performance to that of a series of stock profile systems. Free
All About Your Motherboard
Motherboard Monitor peers into the low-level sensors built into most motherboards to display the board and processor temperatures. You can also monitor the speeds of various cooling fans, if your board keeps track of them. You can customize readouts and display formats, and set automatic alerts to notify you--in the Windows system tray or by e-mail--when temperatures or other characteristics pass thresholds you define. Motherboard Monitor is not for everyone, though. This utility was tricky to set up, and it exhibited some compatibility issues, failing to recognize the motherboards on an old Compaq Presario desktop and on a newer Sager laptop. We think it works best for overclockers and avid gamers, who push the performance limits of their computers. Free
A Friendlier Registry Editor
PC troubleshooters rely on the Registry Editor to tweak the all-important database at the heart of Windows, yet they grit their teeth in frustration at its interminable text searches and stark interface. RegWorks can rekindle a Registry romance. Within the utility's deceptively simple-looking interface is an invaluable undo feature, a much better search engine, a key comparison tool, and a Favorites function for quickly returning to oft-accessed keys or values--all great for troubleshooting. The most valuable part, however, may be the Tweaks section--a veritable gold mine of tricks for automating system tune-up tasks. $15
Tune-Up Tools
Control Your Graphics Board
PowerStrip lets you reach into the guts of your graphics subsystem to overclock your graphics chip, optimize memory timings, and fine-tune refresh rates to within a tenth of a hertz. Powerful gamma and color settings provide control over display output--you can even use hot-keys to bump up gamma output during game play so you can see down dark halls. Choose from preset profiles or laboriously tweak your own settings. PowerStrip can be risky, however. Nudging the memory and chip clock on our system produced bad visual artifacts on screen and ultimately forced a reboot, though it did accelerate performance slightly. If you plan to connect a PC to your home theater system, PowerStrip is terrific for tuning the computer's graphics output to your large-screen TV, matching the TV's resolution, refresh rates, and other characteristics. $30
Change Everything
X-Setup Pro is an inexpensive yet exhaustive package of more than 1700 tweaks for hardware, software, and the Windows OS. Every area of your system is fair game. You can change the displayed name of the My Computer and My Network icons on your desktop. Link the Windows Media Player Media Guide button to a site other than WindowsMedia.com. Or change low-level system settings to harden the Windows network stack against Web-based attacks. The program collects Windows management utilities like the Registry Editor, Task Manager, and Disk Cleanup under a single menu heading to aid in troubleshooting. The sheer number of esoteric options in X-Setup Pro can be overwhelming, but the program warns of tweaks that could land you in real trouble. $8
Explorer Enhancements
Find Folders Fast
The last time Microsoft bothered with a significant redesign of the Windows Explorer interface, the O.J. Simpson trial was in full swing. Whisk Explorer into the 21st century with Direct Folders, a compact utility that helps you jump to frequently used or otherwise important folders by using History and Filter icons arrayed along each Explorer program bar. Every program window also gets a roll-up icon: Click it, and the active window "rolls up" into its application bar, leaving only a thin, horizontal bar on the desktop. We experienced a few interface shortcomings in the Save and Open dialog boxes, and the roll-up feature failed to work with our Office 2003 applications, but those minor glitches don't outweigh the welcome convenience of this little utility. $20
Use Shortcuts to Access Folders
Folder View allows you to access nested folders quickly.
Folder View helps you get to any directory fast--no matter how deeply buried--by adding useful shortcuts to Windows Explorer. Instead of trudging through tedious folder trees, you can click an icon and breeze through a fly-out menu selection of folders such as My Documents or other recently accessed folders. File Open and Save dialog boxes display the most recently accessed folders along the middle edge, while another icon offers one-click access to key locations. The Toolbar feature--which plops folder icons into the space below the Explorer icon bar--can be both clumsy and space consuming. Fortunately, you can turn it off. Free
Other Must-Haves
Seeing Is Believing
VisualRoute 2005 is great for sniffing out the story behind a sluggish network connection. Simple to use, this Java-based graphical trace-routing program puts a pretty face on the dull, text-based output of the old DOS TRACERT utility, which tracks the network path between your PC and the Web site you're trying to reach. Launch the program and type a URL into the Address box, and you'll receive the response times of the long list of servers involved in the connection. This utility could use a more polished map interface and a display of top-level network nodes and backbone networks. It would also be nice if the continent of Australia weren't missing on the global map. $50
Better Clipboard Management
The Windows clipboard is the junk drawer of the Internet generation. ClipCache transforms it into a virtual library for keeping frequently used tidbits such as a digital image of your signature or stock e-mail message closings. Click an item in the compact ClipCache program window and immediately paste it into your applications and documents using the standard Windows paste function (Ctrl-V). ClipCache also lets you set up topical folders for dragging and dropping copied objects and files. The text cleanup function removes indents, special characters, and hard carriage returns to turn munged e-mail threads into clean, pasteable text. $20
Beep This
Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best. A boon for users of Microsoft Word and other text-based applications, Insert Toggle Key prevents you from typing over existing text after accidentally hitting the Insert key. Launch the application, and your PC beeps whenever you press the offending key. Donation requested
Windows Tips
Troubleshooter's Time Machine
Time Machine: Use System Restore in Windows Me or Windows XP to take your computer back to a point before system conflicts cropped up.
System Restore for Windows Me and Windows XP takes a snapshot of your system settings and data files and stashes it on the hard disk for later retrieval. System Restore can whisk your PC back to the moment before disaster struck, though it won't always fix the problem. To use System Restore, click Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore, and then follow the wizard either to load a previous Restore Point profile or to save a new one to the drive manually. No, System Restore won't magically repair hard disks or make a dead Windows installation work, but it can eliminate many application- and driver-borne conflicts.
Setting Limits on Spyware
setting up A restricted user account can help prevent spyware from monkeying with your system.
You can stymie spyware by using a restricted user account, which limits your (and the malware's) ability to alter the system and install applications. To create such an account, click Start,Control Panel and open User Accounts. Click Create a new account, enter a user name, and click Next. Select the Restricted user radio button and click Create Account, and the new account will appear in the User Accounts window under 'or pick an account to change'. Click the new entry and make whatever changes you need to complete the account. Log on to Windows XP with this account for day-to-day Internet surfing and document editing. When you do need to install software, just log out and then log back in as an administrator. Also, confirm that the Guest Account is set to 'Off' (Windows should do this by default).
Diagnostics: Digging Deep
Windows' very own System Information utility can tell you what's going on inside your PC.
Before you buy a system diagnostic tool, check out the System Information utility that comes with Windows XP. Click Start,Programs,Accessories,System Information for a wealth of details about your hardware, software, and system components. You won't get access to everything that the PC Wizard 2005 utility (at right) makes available, but the System History command under the Tools menu displays changes to such system resources as hardware memory addresses and Registry key locations. Use the Net Diagnostics tools in the Tools menu to test and troubleshoot your network connection.
Ramping up Performance
Increase your PC's pep by turning off Windows XP's desktop eye candy--for example, its translucent and animated menu elements. Right-click My Computer, select Properties, click the Advanced tab, and click the Settings button in the Performance area. On the Visual Effects tab of the Performance Options dialog box, click Adjust for best performance, or experiment by unchecking various animation and visual effects settings in the scrolling list box.
Launch Applications Fast
Press 1 to launch Firefox and 2 to run Excel.
Use number keys to launch applications quickly through the Windows XP Start menu. Open Start, click All Programs (Programs in Classic Start menu mode), find one of your oft-used applications, and drag it to the top box of the Start menu. Before you let go of the mouse button, make sure the pointer is between two apps listed in that box (if there are any) so that a black line appears, and if you're using Classic mode, hold down the <Ctrl> key; now release the mouse button to place a shortcut to the program at the top of the Start menu. Let go of the <Ctrl> key, right-click the shortcut, and select Rename to add a number before its name (1 Firefox, 2 Excel, and so on, but don't use the same number twice). As a result of this trick, the next time you click the Start button (or press the <Windows> key) you can press a number key to launch the corresponding application. To remove a shortcut, simply right-click it and select Delete from this list (or Delete in Classic Start menu mode).