Tuneup Utilities 2013 - 1 PC - 814949012167

Let’s be honest. Many would think PC optimization software are a thing of the past best used on slow old computers to regain precious disk space or speed up a second or two in boot time or run the memory booster when the PC runs out of memory and is on the verge of freezing up! Sounds familiar right?

I too have used PC optimization software for the same purposes over the years and somehow even with multi core processors coming to life and MBs of system memory going into many GBs of memory now I still use a PC optimization software in my system. 

Why do I use a system optimization software? I love running the software once in a while to clean up my system of the numerous junk files that pileup in folders you never knew existed and to correct registry errors which are next to impossible to correct manually and most of all to get rid of annoying startup programs which conveniently enable themselves slowing up computer boot time and putting a number of icons in the system notification area (near the clock).  

Which brand did I choose?
Well its easy. I have used a number of the leading software in this category over the years. Most I only use for a few days during a full trial period and discard them if they end up deleting important system files which in turn would crash the computer or pop up system errors.  Also some of these software tend to take up too much of memory and takes a long time to startup which is quite not expected from a system optimization software. Software in this category also tends to be 'too' robust instead of safe and stable. So choosing the correct software helps avoid a lot of problems. 

So I ended up with the most trusted software in this category for me which is TuneUp Utilities. This is identical to AVG PC TuneUp 2013 as well since TuneUp was acquired by AVG in 2011. Prior to this I have owned the previous versions of TuneUp Utilities as well and with the 2013 edition they have taken the best of AVG PC TuneUp including the interface and come up with TuneUp Utilities. 

TuneUp Utilities has been around for 15 years and in terms of bugs I have encountered none and it doesn't interfere with any of the other software installed. So its a safe clean install. The free version can be tried for 15 days and you can buy it for about $30 from CNet. You might find better deals elsewhere if you are lucky. 

Once the software is installed the first thing it will do is to build a profile for your computer based on Internet connection type used and how much of visual effects you would like to enable. It will then prompt you to run your first 1-Click Maintenance. 

1-Click Maintenance - This is by far the most used tool within TuneUp Utilities. It can be manually run or scheduled to run. Within the tool it has options to clean registry, defragment registry, remove broken shortcuts, clean up windows and programs, clean up browser (Internet junk and history), optimize startup and shutdown and defragment the hard disks. You can select all or select only the modules you want to run each time 1-Click Maintenance goes into action. You can change settings anytime. I usually uncheck defragment registry and hard disks since defrag of registry gave me a system error once and hard disk defragmentation takes a while to complete. When you run this tool for the first time you will be surprised to see hundreds of junk to be cleaned or corrected. In subsequent runs it will be much less. I would recommend setting this tool to run automatically once a week when computer is idle. 

Apart from 1-Click Maintenance tool which can be found in the first tab of the TuneUp Utilities 2013 program interface you would also find tools to increase performance (hardware,software, internet settings and visual effects) and fix problems (windows, device drivers, hard disk space etc). 

Also on the first tab of the program interface you will find the back up and rescue option 'System Protection'. Here you configure changes in which modules you want to be backed up. By default, changes from all modules are backed up which is great. You can also configure how many backups to keep and when to delete old backups. If you dont want to mess with these settings leave them alone as the default settings are just fine. 

When you are in TuneUp Rescue Center you can not only undo changes you have made to the system using any of the TuneUp Utilities modules but it also has options to undo other windows changes (software installs, driver updates, windows updates etc) you have done to the computer. 

I'll touch next on some key modules I use. 

Live Optimization - This is a one time setup you can enable. This module will give priority to programs when you open them so that programs start quicker.  Also it boosts priority for running programs when there’s a lot of background processes running in the computer. Keep this enabled and it will run a background process which consumes very little memory and will help keep programs running smoother. 

Disable Startup Programs - I love this small module. It lists all the programs which automatically start with the computer. When you have lots of programs automatically starting your windows boot time takes longer. Apart from my virus guard and quick launch buttons I dont let any other program run at startup. Google and Adobe updater installers are notorious to put their programs in the startup folder all the time! 

Disable Programs - I need to comment on this as TuneUp Utilities is the first and maybe only software having this feature.  TuneUp Utilities can disable programs for you which in turn will reduce the load on your computer system. What does it specifically do? Even when you close programs some related background services continue to run in the computer. With the TuneUp program deactivator you can ensure the background services are also closed when you close a program. When you disable a program it does not mean its uninstalled. It will be in your system and run when you open the program and when you close it TuneUp program deactivator will ensure all related background processes are also closed along with it. 

You can get precious performance boost with the above feature. 

In the Clean up computer tab of the program you will find more options to remove junk from your computer. This is a more robust module to clean the system than the one in 1-Click Maintenance which is a safer process. Use with caution of what you choose to delete. 

One final option which I'll mention is the PC Optimization Mode. It has Economy, Standard and Turbo options. While standard is the default, Economy and Turbo can be customized. Economy if selected will change settings to enable energy efficient savings while consuming fewer resources. Its good to have this option automatically enable when the computer is running on battery power. Display screen turnoff, Hard disk standby mode, switching off optional windows services and reducing visual effects is how the Economy mode will save energy and resources. The Turbo mode switches off a lot of background services to give the computer a performance boost especially suited for gamers where every ounce of computer power is reserved for the energy munching games. 

In total there are over 30 tools for you to play with in TuneUp Utilities 2013. If I have convinced you with the above features that its worthwhile to have this piece of software installed on your system whether your computer is a speed monster or a slow hog then I would have made the software its justice.

Recommend this product? Yes