This stuff is like TIDE for your PC man!
Written: Dec 12 '01 (Updated Dec 12 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Windows 95/98/Me only: improves performance, takes up 1 Meg HD space, efficient
Cons: Windows XP/2000/NT: does not work as promised, causes problems
The Bottom Line: This is a must have for Windows 95/98/Me users. Avoid this product if you have XP/2000/NT.
|
|
|
| vachipep's Full Review: Enteractive Ultra WinCleaner 2000 Full Version for... |
This review is about Ultra WinCleaner 2002. The only change between the 2000 version and the 2002 version is that the box says this will run on Windows XP. It also runs on every Windows version since Windows 95.
Ultra WinCleaner is a program that deletes stuff from your computer. You see, each time you use your computer, clutter builds up. Deleting stuff can improve system performance
I'm sure you're asking yourself... I can delete stuff myself... why buy some program to do it for me??? Don't fret, I'll get into that in this article.
SPECIAL NOTE: This type of article can be boring for most people. So, I've made it easy for you RUBBER-STAMPERS... Just read part 1 & the Conclusion, then kindly scroll to the bottom and click on the appropriate (mh) button. Sections 2, 3 & 4 are more technical and can be skipped.
1. Is it for me?
Well, you don't need to be a computer geek to use this program. It has a one click feature. It does all the work. Expert users will find that the program is also customizable.
Although the product claims to be made for Windows versions 95 and later, my experience is that it's great for someone running Me, 98 or 95. ...not so great for XP/2000/NT!
I had Windows 98 2nd ed. and I now run Windows XP. I have used it on both.
Under Windows XP, this product deletes stuff that IT SHOULDN'T! I've had to reinstall hardware and software because of this. I'll get into this later.
This product is excellent for someone who is using Windows 95, 98 or Me. For you non-computer-geeks, these three versions of Windows are essentially the same thing. They just have differences in the way they look.
Running Windows 98 2nd ed., my computer became progressively slower (after months of use). I tried deleting stuff on my own. Nothing helped.
About a year after I bought my computer, it was too slow to take... For example, if I clicked on a link, there would be a 1-2 second delay before my computer clicked. Startups were taking 5 MINUTES!
Certain files (called registry files) are altered each time you use your computer. These registry files tell your computer how to act when performing a given task.
Anyway, the problem is that computers are really good about adding instructions to your registry, but they aren't so good about deleting unecessary instructions.
Each time your computer tries to run a task, it must look through thousands (or millions) of instructions to find the one it's looking for.
Some of these instructions may be invalid; then your computer has to figure out what to do. Often it will create another instruction.
Ultra WinCleaner hunts down the unwanted registry instructions and deletes them. This makes your computer lean and mean!
Ultra WinCleaner deletes other stuff too. I'll get into that in a later section.
After I cleaned my computer, with Ultra WinCleaner, my computer ran 200% better... and if this figure is off, it is an underestimate.
2. Why this product and not some other?
I bought it because it was cheap! $32 versus $50 and up for Norton & Mcafee utilities. But this comparison is not fair. Norton and Mcafee do much more than delete stuff.
On a side note, the fact that Norton and Mcafee do a lot is not always a good thing. I bought Norton Utilities for my old Windows 95 machine. It took up a lot of space and it actually made my computer run slower. This is because Norton adds a lot of crapola like videos of Peter Norton telling you how you're making your computer more efficient. It also likes to run little background programs that take up valuable system resources.
Ok, that was my rant on bloatware!
Ultra WinCleaner on the other hand is FAST! You don't need to install it on your hard drive. But, if you do, it only takes up 1 megabyte of hard drive space. It runs fast and it does one thing and does it well... that is, it deletes stuff.
In contrast, Norton CleanSweep takes up a minimum of 13 megabytes!
now we get into the more technical stuff
3. What exactly does it delete?
Like I mentioned before, its greatest value is that it hunts down and deletes unwanted registry files.
Now, if you get this program, don't just run it once. Each time that you delete a registry entry, there may be other registry entries that relied upon the deleted entry. So, all of a sudden those other entries become invalid.
You need to run this program over and over until there are no more invalid registry files.
I would estimate that the first time I ran this, 10,000 invalid registry files turned up. I ran it 20-some times, and each time fewer invalid registry items were detected. Finally all of the invalid registry entries were deleted.
In addition to registry files, it looks for invalid startup information. This is of tremendous value.
Today’s Windows startup files include much more than the old config.sys and autoexec.bat. Back then, you could just open those files with a text editor and manually delete invalid entries.
Nowadays, there are hundreds of startup instructions. Just one or two invalid startup instructions will slow your startup. You'll never know this because Windows Logo screen hides the error messages. I found 2 invalid startup entries. Deleting these cut my startup time from 5 minutes to 1 minute!
Those are the important things, here are some of the less important features...
Ultra WinCleaner deletes internet clutter... temporary internet files. This isn't a huge deal! It was always easy to delete internet clutter.
It also deletes invalid short cuts. Yeah, that is a nice feature. Although shortcuts don't take up hard drive space, it is nice to keep your folders clean from clutter.
It deletes privacy information. For example, if you open a porn video called Edward Penis Hands (don't laugh this is a real video), It will show up (in Windows Media Player) as a recently viewed file. You don't want wifey to find out? Ultra WinCleaner deletes it.
This product also includes an uninstaller for stubborn programs. This is a nice feature.
Have you ever tried to uninstall a program, yet it wouldn't completely uninstall? Well, this program has a little added power over Add/Remove Programs (in your Control Panel). Again, this doesn't do much for performance, but it does clean unwanted clutter.
Have you ever wanted to move a folder, but found that it caused problems?
For example... say your C drive is filling up, and you want to move MS Word to the D drive. In the old days, you would have to uninstall MS Word, and then reinstall it to the D drive.
Ultra WinCleaner can move the folder for you. It searches for any registry files and shortcuts that are affected and changes them to reflect the move. This is a very handy feature and it really works.
4. Problems with Windows XP/2000/NT
In bold, the box says For Windows 2000/XP, and under that it says and Windows NT/Me/98/95. This product worked beautifully for me under Windows 98. However, it is worthless under Windows XP.
I'll try to explain why...
Windows XP is very plug and play oriented. So, when you install some hardware, XP will put that hardware in your device manager. However, when you unplug the hardware, the drivers are left in Windows XP, but the device manager doesn't list the hardware anymore.
So, when you run Ultra WinCleaner, it will see this discrepancy and think that you don't need the registry files (that go to your hardware drivers). So, it deletes these registry files, and guess what? The next time you plug in the hardware, the computer can't figure out what to do... it hangs, freezes or crashes. You may even have to reinstall Windows XP!
Of course, you can use the other features of Ultra WinCleaner in Windows XP... delete internet clutter, delete invalid shortcuts, etc. But, like I mentioned earlier, the real value of this software is that it cleans your registry. This is the one feature that leads to disaster in Windows XP.
5. Conclusion
In Windows 98, 2nd edition, my system performance was improved by running this program. In fact, I say that if you have Windows 98, GET THIS PRODUCT! If you have Windows 95 or Me, you can expect similar results.
However, this product is almost useless with Windows XP. And, since Windows NT/2000 are closely related, I imagine that you will have the same problems. If you fall into this category, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY.
Thank-you for reading.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
vachipep
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Location: Richmond, VA
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 118 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.