Comments on: Review: PC Tune UP – Turn That Tortoise Back Into A Hare In Four Easy Steps. http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/ Everyone can understand technology; sometimes it just takes a little translating. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: mchinskyhttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38764 mchinsky Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:44:57 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38764 Half the battle is removing the crapware that vendors install on day one because they get kickbacks from the vendors. In essence retail computers have subsidized low prices that are paid for by all this crapware. Often I'll reformat the drive and reinstall the OS from scratch. Especially retail machines like HP. That being said, some startup apps are real slow but are really useful. (I love X1 as it blows any other desktop search application away that I've used) However, it and Foldershare love to scan the hardrive. When 2 applications do alot of disk seeking at once, the performance collapses. I wish there were an easy way to say, startup X1 5 minutes after PC startup and foldershare 10 minutes after. I know there are advanced macro applications for this stuff but I wish the OS would give that option. I'm also learning, especially with Vista, that sleep mode is quite reliable and results in amazing fast "boot up" time. Vista is so good at detecting the changed network and external screen environments that there seems to be no downside other than if you leave it in sleep for days it can eat up some battery time (and thus use save to disk instead). Half the battle is removing the crapware that vendors install on day one because they get kickbacks from the vendors. In essence retail computers have subsidized low prices that are paid for by all this crapware.

Often I’ll reformat the drive and reinstall the OS from scratch. Especially retail machines like HP.

That being said, some startup apps are real slow but are really useful. (I love X1 as it blows any other desktop search application away that I’ve used) However, it and Foldershare love to scan the hardrive. When 2 applications do alot of disk seeking at once, the performance collapses. I wish there were an easy way to say, startup X1 5 minutes after PC startup and foldershare 10 minutes after. I know there are advanced macro applications for this stuff but I wish the OS would give that option.

I’m also learning, especially with Vista, that sleep mode is quite reliable and results in amazing fast “boot up” time. Vista is so good at detecting the changed network and external screen environments that there seems to be no downside other than if you leave it in sleep for days it can eat up some battery time (and thus use save to disk instead).

]]> By: Doug Goldringhttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38761 Doug Goldring Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:02:38 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38761 Hey, Kevin. That is fantastic! I am glad to hear my review was so helpful. And that your staff were able to breath new life into the Asus. :) Doug Hey, Kevin. That is fantastic! I am glad to hear my review was so helpful. And that your staff were able to breath new life into the Asus. :)

Doug

]]> By: kevinnugenthttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38760 kevinnugent Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:00:11 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38760 One of my staff has a Asus laptop that was on it's last legs. I gave him an ultimatum after reading this today. Either let me buy this, and run it over your computer or let me put it out of it's misery. I ran the Magic Button over it (very cursory first start) and it made an enormous difference. His Asus is now usable. Well done, Doug, and thank you from him! :) One of my staff has a Asus laptop that was on it’s last legs. I gave him an ultimatum after reading this today. Either let me buy this, and run it over your computer or let me put it out of it’s misery.

I ran the Magic Button over it (very cursory first start) and it made an enormous difference. His Asus is now usable. Well done, Doug, and thank you from him! :)

]]> By: warthoghttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38750 warthog Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:05:43 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38750 Yeah, those startup scabs are usually the first culprit I look for when my machine starts bogging down. Of course, I need help from time to time figuring out what I can delete from the list and what I should leave alone. Glad to hear your tortoise is a hare faster now . . . Yeah, those startup scabs are usually the first culprit I look for when my machine starts bogging down. Of course, I need help from time to time figuring out what I can delete from the list and what I should leave alone. Glad to hear your tortoise is a hare faster now . . .

]]> By: Doug Goldringhttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38748 Doug Goldring Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:46:57 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38748 Warthog, my bad. I thought I had put that in the review. I would say it cut my startup time by at least half, probably more. This occurred for two reasons. First, everything that was loading on startup is now loading much quicker (I had been getting frequent freeze ups before. Second, I was able to disable some processor intensive applications on startup that I did not need or that were giving me errors. So, that combination has resulted, not only in faster startup times, but also smoother operations overall. Doug Warthog, my bad. I thought I had put that in the review. I would say it cut my startup time by at least half, probably more. This occurred for two reasons. First, everything that was loading on startup is now loading much quicker (I had been getting frequent freeze ups before. Second, I was able to disable some processor intensive applications on startup that I did not need or that were giving me errors. So, that combination has resulted, not only in faster startup times, but also smoother operations overall.

Doug

]]> By: warthoghttp://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38747 warthog Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:42:16 +0000 http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/06/review-pc-tune-up-turn-that-tortoise-back-into-a-hare-in-four-easy-steps/#comment-38747 Doug, how long does it take your computer to boot and connect to the internet after running this program?? Doug, how long does it take your computer to boot and connect to the internet after running this program??

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