Computers, especially those running on Windows, can easily become corrupt and slow over time. Resulting in unpredictable behavior, sluggishness, incorrect files and software, etc., it gets simply annoying at some point. PC optimization software is there to help carry out usual tasks again and to clean up. PC optimization utilities perform deep scans, find and fix problematic areas. Repair functions may include hard drive defragmentation, registry repairs, RAM and disk space freeing, junk file removal, etc. Some are basic, others are more advanced, while all of them have ‘repair all/fix all’ option. We tested every utility in the same repetitive manner on a 8GB RAM PC on Windows 7 Professional. 9 out of 10 PC optimization apps have a free version or a trial period along with paid annual license to use, while one app is totally free. Whichever way, they’ll help you optimize your slow PCs for faster response, quick task handling and better overall performance.
A tune-up tool by IObit, with features like security diagnosing, protection against browser malware, disk cleaner, CPU and RAM performance monitoring. For experienced users, there are tools for system tune-up by optimizing unnecessary services, speeding up hard drives, and file management utilities. Take your PC performance under control with system state monitors.
A powerful tool to optimize your system from Auslogics. All unnecessary files found are conveniently sorted by subcategories before cleaning. The program has a built-in backup tool that allows you to undo unwanted changes in the system. All tools are divided into three categories: Privacy Tools, Security Tools, Productivity Tools. For Windows 10 users is available the exclusive Win 10 Tweaker feature for OS settings control.
System Mechanic is one of the oldest and most popular PC optimization programs. This is a set of various utilities for quick optimization and fine-tuning of computer speed. The main difference from other utilities is the patented ActiveCare technology which monitors errors that can slow down the PC in real time. The program is available for all versions of Windows, from Windows XP to Windows 10.
A small utility to speed up the PC from a well-known developer of antivirus solutions, the company Avast. Constantly improving own product Avast has created a fairly effective utility of cleaning and optimizing your PC. Tools to remove unnecessary files include when analyzing check most places of accumulation of "garbage" for best results. It can be integrated in antiviruses interface from this company as a tool.
Wise Care 365 is a PC speed up utility with more than 70 millions downloads from all over the world. Together with hardware analysis, it will show you its temperature, as well as even local temperature in a room/office. It also offers tools like disk eraser, password generator, data recovery, backups. It's both free and paid; supports English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish languages, and provides 24/7 technical support for premium customers.
JetClean is a free program that is ideal as a tuneup for inexperienced users. A special built-in tool allows you to create a fully functional portable version. This small program includes effective tools for finding and removing unnecessary files, to speed up and defragment the registry and to improve system performance. Special tools can be used to protect personal files.
I like this app. And, what are you doing with comments? You look like hackers.... 😎
BuhoCleaner is a universal utility which combines a few useful and familiar tools in one place. There are such cleaning tools like App remover, Large files scanning and delete, Duplicates and Startup items scanning and delete. The design of BuhoCleaner is simple and understandable for every user. When starting the app, the Flash Clean tab opens up first.
This program will allow you to speed up the performance of your Mac in just a couple of steps. The built-in duplicate removal assistant supports search in iTunes, iPhoto, iMovies, iWork, and Aperture. A menu of quick selection of cleaning options allows you to safely remove unnecessary system files, logs and other junk files that takes up free space. For those who want to try this program, a free version is available with a bit of reduced functionality.
Scans the PC for all possible problems related to Windows errors, finding corrupt or damaged files, the causes of problematic operation, and the presence of viruses or programs that threaten stable operation. It is free. To access subsequent features you need to purchase a program. Optimize registry - to prevent corruption or malfunction of registry files that could significantly reduce the performance. Repair damage by viruses - Restoro compares system files with the Restoro repository files, replaces infected or damaged files with new ones. To find out more go to full review (link above).
Razer Cortex Game Booster is quite interesting program. As the name suggests, this PC setup tool is designed for gamers and comfortable gameplay. Game Booster launches when you start any game on your PC and closes unnecessary programs to free up resources and RAM. When you finish the game, everything returns to the previous state.
WinUtilities is a program developed by the American company, YL Computing. It is easy to learn, even for a beginner. The program has a built-in one-click fix tool. For more experienced users, a large number of tools are available to optimize the system, including cleaning tools and system status monitoring. Also you can clean and encrypt your private files.
This program has a free and premium version. The functionality of the free version is quite limited and allows you to use tools only for "manual" cleaning and optimization. It also contains a very useful option that provides an assessment of software, based on the vote of the Slimware community. The premium version also includes features that allow you to schedule and automatically perform optimization operations.
Comodo PC TuneUp is a free utility from the well-known developer of anti-virus applications Comodo. The company's experience in protecting information has helped develop and integrate a safe file deleting technology called SafeDelete. The program allows you to clean your PC from erroneous and obsolete registry keys. To clean from unnecessary files available "normal" and "deep" modes that eliminate unnecessary files and temporary system files.
So what's in the box? One-click fix to improve performance and optimize device. Separate real-time optimization module. Troubleshooting, cleaning the disk, finding duplicates, disabling the automatic execution of the program - for extra reliability, plus small utilities like setting up Windows and managing operating modes.
The free version of Avira System SpeedUp has significant limitations, and only allows you to scan for ways to optimize your PC. The full version of the program includes more than 20 different tools. A safe utility is available for working with important files and mobility lovers will enjoy the utility for managing laptop power.
PC optimizers are a special category of software that help improve the speed of user’s device. Using built-in tools, users can conduct regular maintenance of operating system to prevent slowdowns. In addition, these programs help to remove temporary and unnecessary files to increase free disk space. Also, most of optimization software can aid in system settings or elimination of common errors.
Any long-term and intense use of OS accumulates large amounts of unnecessary information, like outdated backups for instance. Windows OS is especially characterized by the accumulation of failed registry entries caused by unfit removal of software, errors in structural components. These factors reduce the speed of the system, which leads to a drop in PC performance. So optimizer tools are one kind of remedy against that.
Well, we have a special review of top 15 tools in this category (click the image).
Windows operating system uses registry as the key logbook of global and small system settings. To understand how the registry works, imagine that you need to pay one paper bill every day, but before paying, you must check all previous bills and always carry them with you. Over time, this procedure will require more and more time - so will accessing a registry entry, with many unnecessary keys.
Many programs keep logs of different detail degree for monitoring and critical errors detection. In process, they produce temporary files that are not always deleted, and further accumulate in the system, occupying space. OS also remembers previously used programs and files to provide quick access just in case. All of it leads to accumulation of vast number of files that are not necessary, but stored on disk. PC optimizers search unnecessary files in known locations, then delete them.
Active monitoring tools, built in optimizers, perform real-time monitoring of the system state. Users can set up conditions and requirements for monitoring and consecutive cleanup. Scheduling option allows to run a checkup and optimization upon specified time periods.
This is an operation of structuring data on a disk. HDD store information in special cells - clusters of small size. Files are recorded in these cells, sometimes resulting in a situation where one file can be dispersed in cells. And if those cells are located at a great distance one from another, it could cause system crash when accessing a file. Defragmentation organizes data in clusters, so that files will no longer be scattered afar.
This is a set of tools for one of aspects of PC optimization:
To perform PC optimization properly there are few suggestions. Use autorun optimizer - as often slowdowns are caused by big number of processes that automatically launch at system startup, disabling unnecessary applications will definitely free up resources. Be careful with registry cleaner - always back up registry entries before cleaning it, because optimizers cannot always distinguish the correct entry from the outdated one.
Do not clean everything automatically, at least when you run this feature for the first time. Always check carefully, which files you allow to remove, or choose to clean by script. There is always a risk of deleting temp files that are needed by OS. Backup changes - most PC optimizers have built-in tools for archiving changes caused by optimization. Before the first cleaning, we recommend setting up backups (or system restore points) to prevent system crashes.
iolo System Mechanic is a time-tested utility, offering a set of utilities for automation, along with new technologies for PC monitoring. IObit Advanced SystemCare - a convenient program for average users, where tools are divided into categories and contain descriptions. Razer Cortex: Game Booster is a program that stands out from competition due to focus on gaming experience and and respective optimization.
According to Google Trends (despite statistics that vary from period to period), users still prefer integrated solutions for system optimization. The second place goes to cleaning of temporary files, an option which, along with defragmentation, are the basic functions of any integrated solution for PC optimization.
We ran each utility on the same PC, in the same environment, repetitively. We didn’t count performance boost in percentage, because it would be inaccurate due to testing 10 apps in a row. In terms of performance, 2 utilities – Advanced SystemCare and Wise Care 365 – found the biggest number of issues, though its relative in a way too. Razer Cortex gave the most considerable RAM boost. But judge for yourself.
Software | Issues found | Junk files | Privacy issues | Registry issues | Disk optimization | RAM boost | Services stopped | |
1 | Advanced SystemCare | 5253 | 551 mb | 6 | 0 | 1826 | 458 mb | 9 |
2 | WinOptimizer | 157 | 509 mb | 2 | 124 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
3 | System Mechanic | 271 | n/a | n/a | 6 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
4 | Wise Care 365 | 4758 | 1.2 Gb | 86 | 418 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
5 | Glary Utilities | 139 | 147 mb | 0 | 43 | 1 | 388 mb | n/a |
6 | Advanced System Optimizer | 289 | n/a | 1036 | 86 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
7 | WinUtilities | n/a | 2 | n/a | 1114 | n/a | 500 mb | n/a |
8 | WinZip System Utilities | 95 | n/a | 886 | 64 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
9 | AVG TuneUp | 53 | 413 mb | n/a | 208 | n/a | n/a | 9 |
10 | Razer Cortex | 42 | 1.9 Gb | n/a | n/a | n/a | 885 mb | 14 |
Step 0: Safety. Always create a backup, before making any critical changes to the system. In Windows, you can do it by using the recovery point creation tool.
Step 1: Drivers. First, install the latest hardware drivers, as game developers typically use the most advanced technologies in graphics. So with outdated drivers you will not be able to enjoy all the visual effects and will have losses in FPS. You can check your drivers relevance via one of driver updater category.
Step 2: Autorun. The autorun list is one of the most misunderstood reasons for slowing down your PC. Each application launched from this list at system startup consumes PC resources, and is not always necessary at the moment. Turning off unnecessary applications will allow you to free up resources for gaming.
Step 3: Cleaning. Clean up the system drive from unnecessary files with help of one of optimizer app to free up space. We also recommend optimizing the registry to speed up the access to it.
Step 4: Run applications. Terminate all applications, except antivirus solutions. We do not recommend disabling antivirus software during the game, especially if it is an online game. Instead, use the Game / No notifications modes.
Step 5: Paging (only for experts). Increasing the paging file will allow to create the necessary memory reserve in case the basic amount of RAM is not enough. This could help to avoid slowdowns during resource-intensive moments in a game.
Step 6: Reboot. After having completed previous steps, restart the system and make sure it works stably. If any errors occur, restore the system to the previous state, using recovery tools. Have a nice game!
It depends on user skills and how intensely the OS is used. You can start with free or basic solutions and see where it gets you.
All modern PC optimization programs, listed in directory and topic above, support Windows 10 (System Mechanic, Advanced Care, Wise Care 365, and others).
Freemium - iolo System Mechanic, ioBit Advanced Care, Ashampoo WinOptimizer. Totally free are Razer Cortex, Advanced System Optimizer, WinUtilities.
We do not recommend changing hardware settings, because this may be grounds for warranty cancellation. The high speed of cooling fans indicates high temperature of heating components, the processor in particular. To cool it, try optimizing PC and reducing overloads. If the issue persists, contact service center and request system unit dust cleaning.
It is safe, but always use tools for archiving beforehand. We also recommend to make a full backup of the system using Backup Software or Disk Imaging software, at least once a month.
This means that files are still in use by OS and therefore not available for deletion. Try to remove them after restarting the PC.
Hard drives are usually divided into clusters, and sometimes when writing/reading these clusters, failures happen that could lead to a system crash. Disk checkers fix clusters, and if they cannot be fixed, remove them from the list of available clusters. We recommend to perform this operation regularly (once a week), before defragmentation, to prevent data loss.
Callie Murillo
4 years agoIt's a cool cleaner, but I recommend manually select default settings after first launch