QuickPCOptimizer Review

There are a lot of programs around that are intended to speed up your computer. QuickPCOptimizer is such a program, so we took a look to see how good it is.

Since Windows based computers tend to get slower over time, a lot of people are struggling to get their PC performance back to the original speed. Of course that is only partially possible, simply because installed programs have an effect on the performance of the computer, but certain aspects of a computer’s operating speed can definitely be improved by maintenance and optimization.

Installation

Downloading and installing the QuickPCOptimizer program is no problem. The downloadable installed is suited for both 32 and 64 bit Windows versions, so we just downloaded and ran the installer from the QuickPCOptimizer website.

An installation wizard takes the user through the installation process, after which the program consumes only 7 MB of disk space.

Main Screen

When you start the program after installation, you will see the user interface as shown below.

The left side shows a number of buttons to access the various program features, while the tabs in the top allow access to registration, configuration, program updates and a local help.

The first thing we check out is the configuration options, as it partially controls how the program operates. After selecting the Configure tab, we see a number of options.

The main options control program execution, where are happy to note that program does not automatically add itself to the programs at Windows start. Standard options look like the right choice, and the Scheduler is something that can be of use to remind ourselves to not forget to execute the program on a regular basis. That is of course after it proves useful!

The next step in operating the program will be to run a scan of the computer and see what issues are found. But before we click the Start Scan button, we click the Scan and Repair button, as it shows the various aspects that the program can check for.

As you can see there are quite a few categories that the program will check. Since registry cleaners have been around for some time, there has been a lot of discussion on both the effectiveness and the things that should be checked.

From practical experience, we know that cleaning and defragging the Windows registry does actually help the performance of a computer. The only thing that we deselect in this case is the Empty Registry Keys option, since there have been mixed experiences with that. A lot of empty registry keys can indeed be removed, but in some cases they are used for a reason, their mere presence has a meaning, even without any actual information inside.

After the Start Scan is clicked, the program starts the optimization check.

Depending on the computer, this process can take up to a few minutes, simply because the registry can grow quite large.

Once complete, the program automatically makes a backup so any changes can easily be undone. Next the user is presented with the results of the scan, which indicate the number of issues found in each of the category as well as the total.

In the scan results, the used can still chose to ignore either individual items or all items per category.

Once a selection of the items to fix is made, the user needs to click the Fix Errors Now! button. This requires a registered copy of the software, so you need to acquire a license at $29.95 first.

When the fix is complete, you will be able to see the backup of the registry in the Backup & Restore screen. If any problems arise after running the fix, you can simply restore the backup from before the fix step.

A further step in optimizing the Windows registry is to run a defrag. When you click the Defragment button, the screen only shows an Analyze button. If the result of that is that no defragmentation is necessary, not further action is required.

Additional Program Features

In addition to the registry optimization, QuickPCOptimizer has a number of other features that allows the user to speed up their computer. Clicking the Optimizer Tools button in the main window shows a list of additional options.

It’s obvious that QuickPCOptimizer is a bit more than just another registry cleaner, so we’ll run by each of these features and describe what it does.

Optimize Your Computer’s Speed – This module has 3 options, optimize the computer configuration, optimize the computer memory and block ActiveX controls. The computer optimization actually enables and disables services and processes in Windows depending on the indication of the type of use of the computer. Optimize memory is merely something that you want to use if you have any problems starting a certain program, since it optimizes the memory of the running computer. It does not have effect the next time the computer is restarted. Blocking ActiveX controls is a security measure, which can be activated to block all known ActiveX controls that can exploit a user’s PC.

Clean Your Personal History – This option allows the user to remove all personal data from various locations on the computer. Locations include various file locations as well as configuration data that stores personal data.

A nice touch here is that files with personal data that are deleted, are not only deleted using the Windows file system delete method (leaving the data on disk, but removing the file entry), but the disk space occupied by the files is overwritten several times to make them unrecoverable.

Uninstall Unwanted Programs – This module allows the user to uninstall programs that are installed on the computer. In addition to the regular uninstall, it will also clean any remaining data in the Windows registry, and remove files that are associated to the program. Especially handy to remove programs that do not have a good uninstall program.

Securely Delete Unwanted Files – This is basically a file shredder. You can select files that you want to delete and for which it should not be possible to restore them anymore. The way to do that is to overwrite the storage space used by the files after deleting them. The number of overwrites can be specified. Handy for USB sticks that you exchange with others.

Manage Internet Explorer Plugins – Plugins are used to enhance or extend a browser’s functionality, but some are a security risk, and they can also harm the browsing performance. So being aware which IE plugins are installed is good, and removing the once you don’t need is even better.

The program allows the used to select the plugin and then either remove them or only unregister them.

Manage Startup Programs – This module allows the user to control the programs that are executed at startup. An important feature to control the Windows startup time. The module shows a list of all programs that are configured on the computer to start during boot.

By default all checkboxes in front of the applications are checked, but clearing the checkboxes allows you to disable the program. As can be seen in the sample, quite a few programs can be disabled during startup, since automatically scheduled program updates for example don’t need to be started at boot. In our case there were 20 startup programs, of which we disabled 12!

Keep in mind that you will not notice all improvements until you reboot your computer.

Conclusion

Always make sure you regularly run the Windows Disk Cleanup program and also run a defragment program to maintain your computer and optimize the hard disk. This will help greatly in keeping your PC run faster. But a program like QuickPCOptimizer can further help you optimize your PC.

Over time programs get installed and uninstalled, which can result in a lot of unnecessary configuration data in the Windows registry. This program can help you get rid of this type of data and optimize the Windows registry by cleaning it and also defragmenting it.

A second main cause of frustration with Windows based computers is the start up time. Mainly due to a lot of programs being started at boot time, this aspect can also be effectively addressed, simply by removing startup programs, or at least disabling them. QuickPCOptimzier has a user-friendly interface to manage the startup programs on your PC and thus decreasing the time required to boot your computer.

So don’t expect miracles, but using a program to speed up your computer can definitely help, and can help allow you to enjoy your PC a little more again (and possibly even longer if you were already thinking of buying a new computer).