Frequently asked questions

What is the optimization wizard?

SpeedOptimizer's optimization wizard is a step-by-step wizard, which guides you in optimizing your PC quickly and easily. The optimization wizard will optimize your desktop settings, Windows Explorer settings, manage the size of your system folders, clean your registry, delete temporary files, optimize your network connection - with a single mouse click!

When should I use the optimization wizard?

You are advised to use the optimization wizard on the first time you use SpeedOptimizer. However, you can start the wizard whenever you wish, to perform a sequence of optimizations via a single mouse-click.

What does "optimize file explorer performance" means?

SpeedOptimizer performs a series of optimizations to enhance your Windows user experience. When optimizing explorer performance, SpeedOptimizer will boost Windows' Start menu access time, and will remove the animation of minimizing/maximizing windows, resulting in a speedy and more efficient user experience.

What does "optimize desktop performance" means?

SpeedOptimizer can remove unnecessary cosmetic effects for better desktop performance. The effects that are disabled are drop shadow, menu animation and tooltip animation.

Can I quickly return to my old Windows settings?

Yes. SpeedOptimizer "remembers" your previous, pre-optimized Windows user interface settings. If you wish to restore them, all you have to do is to click "restore default settings" and all your settings will be restored.

Why should I optimize the sizes of the recycle bin and the temporary internet files folders?

The default size allocated by Windows to the recycle bin and the temporary internet files folders is 10% of the entire hard drive. On today's huge hard drives, allocating the default 10% for these folders does not only waste a huge space, but can also degrade your drive's performance considerably, due to the accumulation of thousands of unneeded files. SpeedOptimizer will examine your hard drives sizes, and will change the size allocated to the recycle bin and the temporary internet files - per each hard drive.

Why would I want SpeedOptimizer to manage my Windows' temporary files folder?

Usually, Windows is offering ways to manage the size of its system folders. However, in the case of the temporary operating system files, Windows is not offering any method to manage the size of the folders that are storing these files. The result is an ever-growing temporary files folder, which can cause file system slowdown and consume precious disk space. SpeedOptimizer offers a unique method of maintaining these temporary files folders, by constantly monitoring them and making sure their size does not exceed 200MB. When deleting old temporary files, SpeedOptimizer makes sure that oldest files are deleted first.

What are the Hard Drive Indexing and Office Indexing Services? Why should I disable them?

These two services were created to speed up searches thru the hard drive and in Office documents. However, in reality they are only slowing down your system and have questionable impact on the search speed. We recommend these indexing services are disabled. Instead, you can choose to install one of the 3rd party Desktop Search engines that are available for free download.

Why do I need to clean the registry?

The registry is a huge database containing information about every aspect of your PC. Applications are using the registry for various reasons, and many entries are written to the registry during normal computer operation. The problem begins when an application does not clean registry entries that are no longer needed (for example, when uninstalling the application). Therefore, over time, the registry is becoming huge and cluttered with invalid entries. These invalid entries can - and should - be cleaned periodically.

How will deleting these invalid entries affect my PC?

Cleaning the registry from the invalid entries on a regular basis ensures smooth operation of your PC, and can significantly decrease the boot time of Windows, as well as removing strange system behavior and error messages that are caused by partially removed applications.

What exactly does the registry cleaner do?

The registry cleaner will first analyze the content of your PC's registry, and will look for inconsistencies and invalid entries, such as references to non-existent applications and shortcuts. The results of this deep-scan will be presented to you in a clear and easy-to-manage list. You will then be able to review the invalid entries if you wish, and then proceed to actual registry cleanup. You can always perform analysis only, and skip the actual registry cleaning.

How can I undo the changes made to my registry?

You can undo SpeedOptimizer's registry cleaning, should you choose to do so, by using the Windows built-in System Restore feature. Before actually deleting any registry entry, SpeedOptimizer is creating a "restore point". All you need to do is to launch Windows' System Restore, choose a restore point you wish to revert to, and start the restore process.

What if I am not using System Restore?

It is strongly recommended you enable System Restore before performing any action that involves configuration changes to your PC as a safety precaution - including registry clean. SpeedOptimizer will display an alert if System Restore is disabled on your computer, however you can choose to ignore this suggestion at your own risk, and go ahead without creating a restore point. In this case, it will not be possible to restore the system's state as it was before performing the registry clean.

When should I perform registry cleanup?

It is advised to perform this cleanup from time to time, based on your PC usage patterns. If you install and uninstall applications on a daily basis, it will be a good idea to clean the registry every few days. However, most users can perform registry cleanup every month or so.

What does this module do?

The file cleaner module offers you a convenient method of cleaning up files that are no longer needed with just a single click.

Why is it important to clean old files on a regular basis?

During normal computer operation, many temporary files are being stored by the file system, which can become clogged and cluttered. These files can be safely removed once in a while, to ensure continuous smooth operation.

What are "system uninstallers"? Is it safe to remove them?

When Windows Update is installing patches and upgrades (such as security-related patches), it creates an uninstall program for each patch installed. After a while, these uninstall programs are no longer relevant, and attempting to uninstall a system patch is very likely to fail - or even worse, cause data loss. SpeedOptimizer can safely remove these old uninstallers, claiming precious disk space and minimizing the risk in attempting to uninstall something that might cause more harm than good to your system.

What is the difference between the "windows system" and the "files cleaner" modules?

The difference is that the files cleaner module is offering an ad-hoc file cleanup, while the windows system module is making sure the temporary folders are being monitored for maintaining a recommended size. Files cleaner will wipe these folders completely clean, while windows system will make sure they do not exceed a certain size.

What are GID files and why should I delete them?

GID files are created by Windows when you access certain types of help files. These files can accumulate and clutter your hard drive, while their contribution is negligible - therefore it is recommended to delete them. GID files will be re-created by Windows if they are needed again any time in the future.

Why should I remove orphan shortcuts and folders from the Windows Start menu?

The Start menu displays shortcuts to the applications that are installed on your computer. These shortcuts can sometimes become irrelevant and needs to be removed (for example - when uninstalling an application that does not remove its Start menu entries properly). Although deleting orphan shortcuts will not likely boost your overall PC performance, Start menu access time will most certainly be improved.

What does this module do?

The startup applications module allows you to easily manage the applications that are being launched every time you boot your PC. SpeedOptimizer will create a list of these startup applications, and by reviewing them you will be able to decide to disable those applications that you do not need. Choosing your startup application wisely will greatly affect the boot time and free memory of your PC!

How does SpeedOptimizer's startup applications module differs from other startup managers?

SpeedOptimizer's startup module not only provides you with a simple and intuitive method of managing your startup applications - it will also tell you, in clear English, exactly what each application is actually doing. No more long lists and futile attempts to guess what each application does... instead of only "DAP.exe", SpeedOptimizer will report "SpeedBit's Download Accelerator Plus agent, monitoring and accelerating your downloads".

Are you familiar with each and every application that exists in the universe!?

No... but we have a pretty big database of startup applications. If one (or more) of your startup applications is not recognized by our database, we encourage you to submit this file's information to us - and we will make sure the database is updated. Submitting information is very simple - SpeedOptimizer will offer you to do so when an unrecognized application has been detected.

Why do I need the networking optimizer?

Standard Windows network settings can be optimized according to your specific hardware and connection configuration. By asking you a few very simple questions, SpeedOptimizer is able to tweak the default network settings to achieve the best combination of settings that matches to your configuration.

How can I tell if my browser/email client/file sharing software are compatible with the network optimizer?

SpeedOptimizer's network optimizer is compatible with virtually all network applications. It operates on the Windows level by optimizing the TCP/IP stack directly. This way, every application that uses the network will be optimized for best performance.

What are "MTU settings"?

MTU (maximum transmission unit) is the largest size packet or frame that can be sent over a packet/frame based networks (such as the internet). MTU is used to determine the size of each packet in a given transmission. If the MTU size is too big, re-transmissions may be required when a packet is processed by a router that can't handle such large packets. When the MTU is too small, relatively more header overhead and more acknowledgements must be sent and handled. SpeedOptimizer checks your configuration and automatically adjusts the appropriate MTU for your computer, resulting in an efficient network connectivity and performance.

Why would I need to schedule an optimization task?

To ensure your PC is at its peak performance, several routine optimization tasks are suggested to be performed from time to time, in the background. With SpeedOptimizer, you can schedule automatic files cleanup easily!. Depending on the volume of data stored on your PC, and your usage patterns, it is advised to schedule a weekly files cleanup.

How does scheduling work?

SpeedOptimizer uses the Windows' internal task scheduler to schedule optimization tasks. The task details depend on the settings that were set on the screen before pressing the "schedule this..." button. So, for example, if you wish to set a scheduled "temporary windows files" cleaning action, make sure this option is checked before clicking "schedule this...".

Scheduling does not seem to work! What could be wrong?

Because Windows is running the task for you automatically, make sure the optimization task is defined correctly. Check that the user account that is defined to run the scheduled task has sufficient privileges, and that the account password is defined properly (if needed). If the Windows user account is not defined properly, the task will fail to run.