COVERDISC TWEAKING TOOLKIT ▲

Master your PC with our choice of the latest programs to tweak your system and boost performance and safety Tweaking toolkit Despite the fact that the latest

way you want. If you’re not a Windows expert

versions of Windows are easier, safer

and more convenient to use straight

from the box than ever, there are always

there’s no need to despair because you’ll

find there are plenty of handy utilities that

can help.

some things that can be improved. We all

have minor irritations with the way the

operating system works or things we feel

could be done differently or better. If you

know your way around the operating system

there are many hidden settings and registry

adjustments that can help you to get more

from your system or adjust it to work the

These tools enable you to carry out what

would otherwise be complex changes to

Windows simply by ticking a few boxes or

choosing options from an on-screen menu. This

means it’s easy to reverse the changes you’ve

made too if things go wrong or the effect isn’t

quite as you expected.

So, whether you’re after improved

performance, better security or simply greater

ease of use, the software we’ve included under

the Tweaking Toolkit tab of the DVD can help.

The programs here range from multi-purpose

tools to optimise and tune up Windows to more

specialised programs that target a particular

area of the operating system. From improving

general performance to reducing the chance of

crashes and beefing up access controls, you

should find something over the next six pages

to do the job.

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WinXP Manager

●Boost system performance ●Limit user access

●Clean up unwanted files ●Comprehensive and easy to use

If you want a program that offers a

complete toolkit for Windows XP, then

WinXP Manager is well worth

considering. It has a comprehensive

range of options that cover everything

from providing information about your

system to optimising and cleaning up

your PC.

Once installed, the program presents

a clear, simple screen with a list of

options down the left-hand side. Each of

these options expands into a sub-menu

containing the available tasks.

Beginners should start with the

▲The program has a straightforward interface that makes it easy to access all of its options

▲The Process Manager lets you see which background tasks are running in Windows

www.pc-utilities.co.uk issue 90 34 ▲

Information menu. This not only shows

you details of your hardware and system

processes, but also has an Optimization

Wizard and a 1-Click Cleaner. If you want

to go into more detail on any area then

work your way down the other menus.

Under the Optimizer heading, for

example, you can tweak the speed of

your machine, adjust settings for

multimedia and control which programs

are permitted to start with Windows.

From the Cleaner menu you can

analyse your hard drive to see which

files are taking up the most space, get

rid of unnecessary files, remove

duplicates, clean up the registry and

more. Under the Customization heading

you can get access to a range of

settings for the desktop, taskbar and

Windows Explorer. You can also

customise the context menu as well as

manage your wallpaper and icons.

You can make your system more

secure and help protect your privacy

via the options on the Security menu.

This includes options to disable system

tools such as the registry editor, as well

as enabling you to clean up your

browser history. Under the Misc

Utilities menu you’ll also find an option

to limit the times at which users can

log into the system. If you have a

network you’ll find WinXP Manager can

offer easy access to file-sharing

settings and help boost your connection

speed too. The program costs US$39.95

to register after the trial expires, but

you may find that’s a small price for the

range of options on offer.

Location \tweaking toolkit\xpmanager.exe System XP Licence Shareware: 15-day trial, US$39.95 Contact www.yamicsoft.com
TWEAKING TOOLKIT ▲

COVERDISC

Mz Vista Force

●Access lots of tweaks ●Optimise your Internet settings

●Some options not for the unwary ●Comprehensive help file

Although Vista is the most advanced

version of Windows yet released, there’s

still room for a few well-placed tweaks to

improve things. Like some of the other

programs here, Mz Vista Force is divided

into sections covering performance,

optimisation, startup and more. On each

screen you’ll find a series of boxes to tick

and values to set, though these don’t take

effect until you click the Apply Tweaks

button at the bottom of the window.

As well as Vista settings Mz Vista

▲The startup manager lets you take control of programs that are launched with Windows

Force lets you adjust options for

Internet Explorer and Windows Media

Player. It also gives you easy access to

tools such as Disk Defragmenter, the

registry editor and system backup.

Using the Internet Optimizer options

you can choose to adjust your settings for

different types of connection, ranging

from dial-up to LAN, by simply choosing

from a drop-down menu. There’s a series

of more advanced settings too, though

you should select these with caution

unless you know what you’re doing. The

▲

Most options in Mz Vista Force take the form of simple tick boxes

The program can back up and restore your registry and access Windows System Restore ▲

Performance Tweaks section also has

some options that can cause problems if

used incorrectly. There’s a comprehensive

help file, which explains most of the

options and it’s worth consulting this if

you’re unsure of anything.

The Startup Manager enables you to

disable programs so you can see the

effect before deleting them completely.

The Services Manager works in a similar

way, and when you click on an entry it

shows you a brief description to help

you decide whether it’s needed.

Location \tweaking toolkit\MzVistaForce.exe System Vista Licence Freeware Contact http://mztweak.googlepages.com/

Service Tuner

●Take control of Windows services ●Save the system state

●Restore uninstalled services ●Start up using different presets

Many PC performance problems can be

due to the amount happening in the

background. In particular, Windows and

many installed programs use services in

order to operate. Having a service running

enables tasks to respond faster because

they don’t have to wait for software to

load. This is great for things like virus

scanners, but some programs load

services that you may not actually need.

Service Tuner enables you to take full

control of your Windows services, start

You can display the current state to see which services are running and how they’re started ▲

and stop them, or change their state at

startup. Where it really scores though is

that it enables you to save the system’s

service state and reload it. This enables

you to experiment with changes without

risking messing up your system.

The program also provides a number

of useful preset service states. Using

these you can start the operating system

with, for example, a minimum of services

running. This is especially useful for

troubleshooting if you suspect that one

or more services is causing a problem.

▲Service Tuner enables you to save the current service state before making changes

More information on each service is available from the Customize Service Properties tab ▲

Click the Customize Service Properties

tab to view a list of all installed services.

Click an entry in the list and a description

of what it does appears in the upper right

hand pane. Below this you can see any

other services dependant on it and at the

bottom are controls to start and stop the

service and change its startup status. If

you’ve uninstalled any services, the final

tab enables you to restore them.

If you want to fully understand what

services are in use on your system, this

is the ideal program.

Location \tweaking toolkit\servicetuner.zip System XP/2000/2003 Licence Freeware Contact www.emon.us

issue 90 www.pc-utilities.co.uk 35 ▲