PC System Utilities Software

[damien007]

what is the best PC System Utilities Software for windows 7, like for defrag, cleaning registry......

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You will likely get a bunch of opinions.

The most common opinion would probably be to use only Windows built-in tools. They work well.

You'll hear good things about CCleaner, a free download that is very widely recommended. It has multiple components including a general cleaner and a registry cleaner.


Defrag tools are largely personal preference, based on the degree of your obsessiveness rather than measurable differences in performance.

Likewise, registry cleaners are generally frowned on. But if you can't help yourself and just HAVE TO clean the registry, use CCleaner and accept its offer to backup before you run the cleaner.

You probably won't hear many good comments about the packaged retail "all-in-one" utility suites you have to pay for at Best Buy, Newegg, etc.

There's one or two tools that are actively disliked because they are difficult to get rid of and like to "phone home" against your wishes. Can't remember the names of them.

 

[damien007]

thank you for the reply....since my OS was i think f*cked up last time, and one of the pros here it's maybe be because of tuneup, so im asking what will be your recommended utility software, since i'm a newb with this kind of stuffs....
is iobit advance system care ok for windows 7? and for defrag Auslogics Disk Defrag?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You just rang the recognition bell--I think IObit is one of the packages to AVOID as it is hard to remove and insists on phoning home.

Auslogics is a good defragger, but whether it adds to performance is another question. I reckon those who use it don't use it because it improves performance.

 

[damien007]

"I reckon those who use it don't use it because it improves performance."

i don't get this part...

 

[ignatzatsonic]

"I reckon those who use it don't use it because it improves performance."

i don't get this part...

Defragging makes you feel clean. That's a good thing. Like taking a shower. You feel you accomplished something worthwhile.

It's another thing entirely to prove it improves performance unless the fragmentation level is quite high.

If you compare defraggers you'll find that one might say you are 0 percent fragmented and the next tool might say you are 7 percent fragmented. Could you live with the first tool or would you feel compelled to use the second tool because you couldn't stand to be 7 percent fragmented? The more obsessive you are, the more likely you would be to use the second tool--whether that would improve performance or not.

There are thousands of threads about fragmentation scattered all over the Internet for the last 20 plus years. They haven't resolved anything and I don't expect that to change.

Suit yourself on defraggers. Whatever lets you sleep well.

 

[damien007]

oh, ok....thanks for the info.....

 

[Berton]

You just rang the recognition bell--I think IObit is one of the packages to AVOID as it is hard to remove and insists on phoning home.

I have used IOBit Uninstaller 3 and it does not need installing so nothing to uninstall. It was good at forcing an uninstall of a program when nothing else worked. And it is free.
IObit Uninstaller, Uninstall Tool, Advanced Uninstaller - IObit

 

[DavidE]

I wouldn't use/trust IOBit as they were found to be stealing proprietary info.
Read more here: IOBit Steals Malwarebytes' Intellectual Property

 

[damien007]

as per suggestion of maxie (one of the senior members here), i use now malwarebytes

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For cleaning out the registry, temp files, and empty or broken shortcuts, Glary Utilities is hard to beat. It will also scan for programs that have updates available, delete programs without leaving bits behind, and has an easy to use startup menu manger. I prefer it over CCleaner, which can be too aggressive.

For defragging, Windows 7 native defragger works just fine. Glary Utilities has a boot time defragger but, since my boot drive is a SSD (SSDs should never be defragged), I disabled it. I have Win 7's defragger set to defrag my HDDs in the wee hours once a week (my computer runs 24/7); my HDDs never get over 1% fragmentation, usually, not even that much). One can also manually defrag a drive as necessary with Win 7's defragger.

 

[LMiller7]

It is best not to mix use of Windows and third party defrag utilities. Each has it's own concept of the optimum defraged state and they will fight each other. This won't do any real harm except wasted time as one undoes the actions of the other as it imposes it's own order. NTFS is quite resistant to fragmentation. Not that it is resistant to becoming fragmented but that it just doesn't matter much.

Avoid any program that claims to "defragment" or "optimize" memory. These programs are worse than useless and will impair performance.

Registry cleaners generally cause more problems than they solve and should be avoided.

Avoid anything from IOBit.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It is best not to mix use of Windows and third party defrag utilities. Each has it's own concept of the optimum defraged state and they will fight each other. This won't do any real harm except wasted time as one undoes the actions of the other as it imposes it's own order. NTFS is quite resistant to fragmentation. Not that it is resistant to becoming fragmented but that it just doesn't matter much...

An excellent example of why I do not recommend using anything other than Win 7's native defragger. Other reasons is the native defragger does a good job whereas some of the others do not. Defraggler is an example of one that does not. It worked great with XP but, in Win 7, it is slow and can damage a disk.

...Avoid any program that claims to "defragment" or "optimize" memory. These programs are worse than useless and will impair performance.

Registry cleaners generally cause more problems than they solve and should be avoided...

This is one reason why I do not care for CCleaner even though it is popular with Geeks. It tends to be pretty aggressive and can do serious damage unless one knows what they are doing (and, occasionally, even then). At least, it will make a backup of the registry before doing anything to it. I prefer imaging my entire boot drive before doing anything to it rather than depending on a backup of just the registry.

One of the reasons I like Glary Utilities is its registry cleaner limits itself only to entries that no longer point to anything. It's debatable as to how much good registry cleaners can do but, at least, Glary Utilities does no harm (I do recommend turning off boot time defragging if one uses Win 7's defragger and especially if one is using an SSD).