Thoosje Quick XP Optimizer is a free program that provides 1-click performance enhancement for Windows XP, including faster startup, faster HD access, faster apps, faster intente, and faster overall system performance. It also offers the option to completely undo whatever intervention that it performed on a system.
I occasionally receive emails that say “help, my computer is slow and sluggish, how can I make it faster, do I have a virus?”. To these my standard response is: try to remove unnecessary entries from loading up on startup with a program like Starter, clean up your hard drive with something like CCleaner, install JKdefrag GUI and defrag the HD, and install a good freeware antivirus and antispyware programs and perform a scan (I do not generally recommend a registry cleaner so as not to be responsible if something goes wrong).
However, I also know that it is possible to optimize registry settings to boost performance, and “Thoosje Quick XP Optimizer” is a nice program that offers 1-click registry optimization. Here are more notes on this program:
- How it works: it optimizes Windows XP registry settings (removing limits and “useless checks”) and by removing unnecessary files/clutter from your harddrive. More info here.
- The user interface: is simple and attractive; a checklist where the only required user intervention is to check a box by each desired entry. You can get information on any one of the optimization entries by clicking on the link next to it.
- Optimizations offered: (1) faster shutdown/restart/booting. (2) faster internet, (3) faster hard drive and processor performance, (4) faster application performance, (5) faster Win XP performance, (6) erasing history and surfing traces, (7) preventing a “list of websites” from installing cookies (although there is no info on what these websites may be), (8) cleaning junk files and/or the recycle bin, (9) flushing the DNS cache, and (10) a rudimentary but functional startup folder manager.
- Undoing the intervention: if, after using this, you prefer to go back you can use the “restore” button to undo all changes that the program made.
But does it work?: generally speaking, its hard to know the extent to which the better performance is cosmetic and the extent to which it is real (and, as a third criterion, the extent of the “placebo” effect in the mind of the user after running this).
There are things that you can see immediately: the start menu becomes much more responsive, programs seem to open faster, etc. Although it is technically possible to easily compare startup times and internet speed changes I did not do this (I am, in fact, partial to TCP Optimizer for internet speed optimization and did not use the internet optimization option provided by this program, even as it might be a good one).
The verdict: I like this program for its 1-click simplicity and the option to undo whatever it does. I also like that it just does performance tweaks rather than being an all-out Windows tweaker and overwhelming the user with dozens of options and decisions.
From a purely subjective perspective my computer seems generally faster and more responsive. On the other hand, bear in mind that if your computer is slow there is probably a reason (or reasons) why that is the case, and this program is not designed to “fix” these problems necessarily, even as it might contribute to in a lift in performance.
Version Tested: 2.0
Compatibility: Windows XP.
Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 436K).
From long personal experience – no “optimization” delivers performance gain comparable to uninstalling bunch of eye-candy crap users like so much and doing regular defrag.
Yes those tweaks improve performance… But not to degree noticeable by human being.
I tried it on one computer, and didn’t notice anything spectacular, pro or con, but I’ve already ‘Tweaked’ all of my computers.
I should have run ‘RegShot’ before and after (Yes, I did do a registry backup!), to see which registry keys were changed – The lack of an actual ‘Undo’ file makes me think that all changes are fairly standard registry changes –
- I REALLY don’t like programs when I don’t know what’s happening, or have any control over what’s changed! If I run the ‘Undo’, will I actually revert to ‘Factory Default’ settings, or my own settings, pre-Thoosje?
Still, it may really improve average users’ computers, does no visible harm, and keeping casual users out of their registry is a Good Thing! I’ve had to fix too many friends & coworkers mistakes, over the years.
The list of websites it blocks from cookies is under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\P3P\History and HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains – there are about 3000 unique entries.
However, when I try to “restore” it does not remove these added entries, which is a bug.
Note that it requires .NET.
Ya if these are the tweaks that PowerXP users have gleaned from the web all that is done, But it should be great for the registry challenged.
I like how ya mentioned CCleaner and JKDefrag and Starter at the top,
Ive had those for years and they are the best of their kind. I would add RegSeeker for registry cleaning. Comodo Reg Cleaner has seemed to work so far and it finds different stuff.
DTaskManager and RegScanner and Regshot and MRUBlaster are all on the desktop
Good Tweaking to you!
It reverts to factory settings of XP (mentioned on the MORE INFO link you provided) thanks~!