Internet optimizers and computer optimizers both offer promises that sound tantalizing: optimize a network connection and rid a computer of problems that might be plaguing it. Similar promises, at least on the Internet performance side of things) have been made by high performance network cards and expensive routers, but reviews of such products often show marginal gains Are these software packages worth looking into? The answer to that question is complex, but there are a few good rules of thumb to follow. Before getting into those rules, it is worth taking a look into how internet optimizers and computer optimizers work.
How Internet Optimizers Work
There are many internet optimizers on the market, and they all basically claim to do the same basic thing: make an Internet connection faster and/or more stable. Those with outdated dial-up modems and a modern OS will probably find that a quality internet optimizer might help them…but remember that the word ‘quality’ is the operative word here. Before getting into that can of worms, the question is: how doe internet optimizers work?
The answer is fairly simple: the TCP/IP protocol and stack that are part of every Windows OS (and other OSes) are tweaked to reflect a broad range of connections. This might mean sub-par optimization for very specific connection types and speeds, especially if one is using older connection technologies (such as the aging dial-up systems) with newer operating systems or newer technologies (such as fast fiber optic connections) with older operating systems. Cases where new operating systems are being paired with the latest of broadband connections might not yield massive gains even with the best internet optimizers simply because the TCP/IP algorithms are already calibrated reasonably well.
Some internet optimizers are actually programs that build up a large local cache of commonly used files, which can significantly improve the user experience but are not truly optimizing internet performance in any tangible way. Others might attempt to use different speed tests and try tweaking settings several times in order to find the optimal performance settings. While a great idea on the surface, the problems with using such internet-based performance tests have already been outlined by us in the past.
How Computer Optimizers Work
Computer optimizers work in a way that is not incredibly different than internet optimizers; the average computer optimizer looks through the Windows registry and various settings files and attempts to identify programs that are unnecessarily loading, services that can be switched from load-on-startup to load-on-demand, and rectify basic errors. The problem is that changing the way that programs load at startup can not only result in less bloat, but it can also cause problems with running certain programs that expect services to be on and running when they attempt to use them and not simply waiting to load.
Attempting to solve registry problems is incredibly complex, primarily because every program that uses with Widows registry is free to modify it in a way that it sees fit. This is the beauty of the registry, which leaves most of the registry as something that cannot possible be addressed by a single program. The task would be monumental, akin to asking a single person to fact check an entire encyclopedia set. The registry’s core, the common area of all registries, will tend to occupy only a very small portion of the overall registry. This can be checked for errors, but the sheer number of possibilities that might lead to settings not matching a pre-made profile are too numerous to even contemplate and thus virtually impossible to distill into code.
There are other settings that can be tweaked, such as the page file location and size, but these changes are often best done by hand. These settings are occasionally easier to automate than the monumentally complex task of tweaking the registry, but they tend to yield minimal results in performance on modern computers and operating systems.
Be Wary of Scams and Rubbishware
Be wary of any website offering a free computer optimizer or internet optimizer. Any software worth making is worth selling, and there is a good chance that anything being offered for free comes with more strings attached than one might normally suspect. A quality antivirus solution will usually detect malware of some kind associated with such free programs. The bottom line is that it pays to be exceptionally wary of anything offered for free in the realm of software. Not all free programs are completely worthless, but one does need to be very careful.
Even when scams and malware are not part of the picture, many internet and computer optimizers are not very good at what they do. There are a few exemptions to this, but tweaking OS settings and/or attempting to repair something as complex as the registry are both things that are not necessarily advisable. Modern operating systems are certainly showing a trend of becoming leaner than their bloated predecessors, but they still contain millions of lines of code, and who knows when altering some setting or tweaking some component might not cause unwanted side effects.
The Verdict
High Speed Experts will be taking a more detailed look at a few quality optimizers in the future, but right now our experiences are far from excellent. If you have an OS disk and a reasonable method for making backups, our suggestion would be to backup critical data and perform an OS restore on a freshly formatted drive. This can often result in significant performance increases hat optimization software cannot even hope to match.
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