Anyone that has used a PC for any length of time has experienced computer slow-downs, crashes, lack of disk space, and other annoying performance problems. While there are certain steps you should and can take to improve your computer's performance (see our article Computer Maintenance Tips) some computer maintenance operations cannot be performed by other than computer maintenance/cleaning program.
We were asked to evaluate a computer maintenance/speedup product developed by PC Cleaner, Inc,.called PC Cleaner. In addition to being a computer maintenance product, PC Cleaner is also a computer speedup product because it also optimizes your computer's Internet speed and system memory usage.
PC Cleaner performs the following computer maintenance tasks in automatic one-click mode; Windows Registry Cleaner, System Clutter Cleaner, Privacy Guard, ActiveX Cleaner, PC Optimizer, and Malware Cleaner. Let's briefly discuss the functions of each module.
1. Windows Registry Cleaner. When programs install they make text entries to the Windows Registry. Unfortunately when programs uninstall or when Windows crashes, the Registry can contain improper, corrupt, or unneeded entries. As the Registry is used to boot your computer, it is important that this file does not contain errors.
Prior to correcting entries in your Registry, PC Cleaner backs up the Registry file with System Restore, so if any problems occur during the correction of the Registry, you can use System Restore to reboot your computer to its previous working state. This is an important safety feature that some other cleaning programs do not incorporate into their programs.
Prior to correcting entries in your Registry, PC Cleaner backs up the Registry file with System Restore, so if any problems occur during the correction of the Registry, you can use System Restore to reboot your computer to its previous working state. This is an important safety feature that some other cleaning programs do not incorporate into their programs.
2. System Clutter Cleaner. This module cleans junk files from your system which include temp files, internet garbage, duplicate files etc. It is possible to specify what type of junk you want cleaned or your can just let PC Cleaner do it for you.
3. Privacy Guard. Gets rid of internet junk that is saved to your system by your browser including history files, cookies, the browser's cache, and other information that hostile programs can use against you.
4. ActiveX Cleaner. PC Cleaner will identify potentially harmful ActiveX files (ActiveX programs are programs that run in Internet Explorer). Windows ActiveX malware symptoms can include program lock-ups, slow PC performance, system freezes, shut down and startup problems, and installation errors.
5. PC Optimizer. This module attempts to tweak Internet speed, system settings, and system memory usage to make your computer faster. Whether or not you will notice large performance gains from this module depends on how badly your computer needs tuning. However, the plus side is if you run PC Cleaner regularly you should not have speed losses in these areas.
6. Malware Cleaner. A Virus and Spyware Protection Cleaner which scans your complete system for malicious threats including: viruses, spyware,. rogue programs, trojans, adware, rootkit, dialers, worms, parasites and other potentially harmful programs that may be installed on your computer.
In addition to the one-click/automatic cleaning and optimizing modules above, PC Cleaner also includes additional tools, among them a robust program uninstaller, and a startup utility that allows you to limit which programs are allowed to run at startup.
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