FixBee is a free compact tool that offers a two-pronged approach to system optimization. Firstly, it will analyze the state of you hard drive’s defragmentation, and offer a fix. Secondly, it offers a disk cleanup, finding and removing unnecessary leftover junk files, all packaged in a rather nice and stylish program interface.
Your computer, just like your car, will get dirty over time. Dust gathers on the outside and even floats on the inside and maybe even some cobwebs will start to show up in there if it’s been years in a dark computer office.
The interior notwithstanding, you have to consider that the operating system on your computer is one more component that, over time, will get ‘dirty’ and needs to be ‘cleaned’ to keep it running in optimum condition. Newer computers have more power and storage, etc.
so it will take longer for the build-up to be noticed but even so, it can still become a problem if left to grow unchecked over a significant period of time.
Older computers, or simply weaker ones, are particularly susceptible to slow-down due to a ‘dirty’ operating system, and despite the fact that it’s a a problem so common that nearly anyone who owns a computer will have to deal with it in one way or another (prevention or correction) eventually, it’s not a problem that is commonly addressed in most basic computer learning environments.
Computer Literacy 101 might tell you how to boot the computer and even teach you some basic troubleshooting skills, but they don’t do much for learning how to deal with this kind of issue. Thankfully, there’s what seems like an endless supply of software solutions out there, and many of them are free or have such low costs as to be negligible. FixBee states that it fixes the following issues:
- Slow startup and shutdown times
- Frequent crashes and errors
- Duplicate or unused files
- Slow program response times
- Poor overall system performance
FixBee has two basic parts, consisting of a Disk Optimizer, and a System Cleanup module as the tabs on the main menu. The Optimizer is essentially a disk defragmenter, which is one of the best ways to to improve data access speeds. The System Cleanup function scans for all those wares and a few other things that can slow down your system over time. You have some options for how to clean the system, as well as what to clean so you can do each drive separately if you desire. It will create a restore point, in case something gets deleted that shouldn’t be, and will also scan and clean temp files as well, which is a feature surprisingly lacking in some similar programs I have used.
The program is very easy to use, and the support pages are adequate for the beginner as well. The only real downside is the toolbar it wants to install (which is ironic considering that I put those toolbars in the category of ‘junkware’ personally but perhaps not everyone feels that way) and that it wants to set your home page to a related search site. Just make sure to do the custom installation and uncheck the boxes instead of typical, if you don’t want to install the ad-driven toolbar and reset your homepage. This is an small annoyance, to many of us, but it can often be viewed as the reasonable price paid for a free bit of software. It’s up to you to determine whether this particular bit of software is worth it. With some programs, I might not use it because of the toolbar, but this one is worth it, from my point of view. It’s entirely optional so only those who don’t pay attention during the installation will wind up getting it without expecting it.
Some folks will prefer to maintain their systems manually, but for those that aren’t up to that challenge or would rather have a more automated solution, FixBee is an adequate choice. I found it to be quite good at finding the things that needed deleting (like leftover files from old freeware I had installed and uninstalled a year ago) and swift at removing them in one click. If it wasn’t for the toolbar and home page request, I would give it 100 out of 100. As it is, I will give it an 80 out of 100 (since it’s an arbitrary scale I just made up). Until next time, my friends.
Note on installation: as mentioned above that default installer will install ‘Searchqu’, a toolbar which you probably do not want. Make sure to to select ‘custom installation’ and uncheck it before installation.
Get FixBee for Windows here.
