System Mechanic can speed up your Internet connection

technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

System Mechanic can speed up your Internet connection

Oct. 4, 2000

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers

   Can you speed up your Internet connection with a couple of clicks?
   I would have scoffed at this a few weeks ago. But after trying a new Windows program that optimizes a PC's connection to the Internet, I'm a believer.
   The program is System Mechanic 3.5 from Iolo Technologies. Speeding up the Internet connection is just one of dozens of features in System Mechanic. It also cleans up the Windows Registry, gets rid of junk files and watches over your privacy by preventing others who share the PC from knowing what Web sites you've visited.
   System Mechanic costs $60. You can try it free for a month or buy it online from www.iolo.com. You can also buy System Mechanic at stores that carry Windows software.
   I found the Internet-speed enhancement very effective. On a PC that I had tweaked myself for what I thought was the best possible connection speed, System Mechanic produced an overall increase of 50 to 60 percent. Even more amazing was the jump in the peak rate (the momentary top speed in that PC's connection). It rose by 400 percent.
   On another PC that used the stock Microsoft settings under Windows 98 SE, System Mechanic boosted the peak rate by 800 percent. Overall speed went up by more than 100 percent.
   Both PCs were connected to Time Warner's Roadrunner high-speed cable system. When I tried System Mechanic's optimization over a dialup Internet connection -- the kind that uses a phone line and a modem -- speeds went up by a much smaller percentage. Windows isn't able, by itself, to maximize connection speed over Road Runner and other high-speed linkups, but it does fairly well on its own over standard dialup connections.
   System Mechanic does its magic by changing the way Windows handles the connection. It alters certain settings that Windows uses to know what to do. These changes remain in effect regardless of whether System Mechanic is running, but you can return to the standard settings at any time.
   In its Internet-related functions, System Mechanic can hide your tracks if you'd rather not let anyone else know which Web sites you've visited. It can also perform a similar function by deleting the "history" list from the Windows "Run": command in the Start Menu, along with a few other cover-your-tracks functions. They all worked well.
   It seemed to do as well as my favorite all-purpose Windows repair program, Fix-It 2000, in the way it cleaned and fixed the Windows Registry. (The company that makes Fix-It 2000 has come out with a revisxed version. I'll try to testi that one soon.) Most Windows problems take up residence in the Registry -- a huge database that Windows constantly updates as you use the computer -- and cleaning the Registry can be impossible without extra help from a utility program.
   A feature I liked a lot is called "Safe Installer." It tracks all the changes made by programs you install so they can be rolled back later if something goes wrong or if you find that the built-in Uninstall facility in Windows doesn't work right. "Safe Installer" runs only when you want it to, so I doesn't get in the way of normal operation.
   System Mechanic also can help you control one of the most annoying "features" of Windows -- the way programs insist on running each time Windows starts up. (You sometimes see their icons in the System Tray, near the clock, but you might not realize that Windows is able to run other programs withpout showing you any evidence that they are running.
   The "Windows StartUp manager" in System Mechanic shows all such programs and lets you check off the ones you want to run. (Tip: The only one you really need is called "Systray." Leave that one alone.)You can re-enable any programs you've unchecked.
   You'll probably be surprised when you see how many programs insinuate themselves into the startup sequence. The winner -- or perhaps I should say "loser" -- among hundreds of Windows PCs I've checked over the last few years was one that had more than 60 programs that started up each time Windows was launched.
   System Mechanic did a good job of finding junk files. But, like all other utilities that have such a feature, it can make mistakes, so be sure to look at the file list it creates before you tell it to get rid of anything.
   You can tell System Mechanic to do some of its cleanup chores on a schedule that you can set using a built-in scheduler. Unforntunately, the System Mechanic scheduler is yet another program that runs when Windows starts up. Iolo should have used the Windows task scheduler instead. Programs that use their own separate scheduling utility can make things worse, not better.
   Overall, that's the only complaint I have about System Mechanic. It's not cheap, but I'll bet your time's not cheap either. Anything that can keep your Windows PC running better (and keep it from crashing at least some of the time) is worth paying for. When you get an Internet speedup as part of the bargain, you're getting more than your money's worth.