Copyright: 1998 by Niki Bugarcici


Contents

Welcome to WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE, a powerful

maintenance tool that checks and cleans up your Windows

configuration, helping to get rid of excess ballast and

keeping your system running smoothly.

For the sake of brevity the program is generally referred to

as "WinOptimizer", "the software" or just "the program" in

this help documentation.

Before you begin, please study the following topics to

familiarize yourself with some of the basic principles that

are important to understand when using WinOptimizer. Just

click on the entry to display the contents of the topic.

What Does WinOptimizer Do?

Why Optimize?

Security

The Windows Registry

The Main Menu

Multiple Operating Systems

IMPORTANT WARNING: If you have more than one operating

system installed on your computer please read and study

Multiple Operating Systems carefully BEFORE using

WinOptimizer!

License Information

Use of this software is subject to the licensing terms and

conditions included in the installation program, which you

agreed to when you installed WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE on your computer.

Copyright (c) 1999 by HILCHNER & LESANI Verlag GmbH, Oldenburg, Germany

E-mail Support: 	support@hilchner.de

E-mail Registration:	registrierung@hilchner.de

Website::	http://www.pts-shop.com

Programming and development: Niki Bugarcici


Main menu
The Main Menu

The main menu is always displayed when you start the program.

The five large oval buttons on the left provide direct access to the

main WinOptimizer functions. The two smaller round buttons at

the bottom of the menu window enable you to quit the program or

display this help documentation.

Click on the topics below for comprehensive information on the main

program functions:

Auto Search

User-Defined Search

DLL Search

Duplicates Search

Options


Introduction
What Does WinOptimizer Do?

WinOptimizer is a powerful tool that enables you to clean up and

speed up your Windows system and recover space on your computer's

drives. If you don't know why these things might be desirable you'll

find more information in this topic: Why Optimize?

Optimizing Windows configurations, and particularly the Windows registry,

is a complex and difficult task. WinOptimizer makes it easy, giving you all

the tools you need to clean up your system and keep it running smoothly.

Warning:

Please remember that deleting system and program files and editing the

Windows registry are potentially risky if you don't know what you're doing.

Inexperienced users should only use the Auto Search function, which uses

a set of safe standard settings. If necessary you can also modify some the

basic settings in the Options section to suit your individual needs.

Experienced users will already be familiar with most of the program functions

and should be able to use the program right away without needing to study

this documentation.


Registry
The Windows Registry

The registry database is the heart of every Windows configuration.

It contains all the information that Windows needs in order to function

properly on your computer. This includes information on your hardware,

software, system components, drivers, settings, user profiles and

much more besides. Almost all Windows applications and programs

also store their settings in the Windows registry.

In addition to automatic installation programs most applications now

also includes a special "uninstaller" for removing the application from

your computer. Unfortunately, many of these uninstallers don't work

particularly well and they often leave an amazing number of obsolete

program entries and references in the Windows registry.

Things get even worse if you simply delete the application yourself

without using the uninstaller, or move its files and folders to another

location. Then even more "orphaned" entries are left in the registry.

("Orphaned entries" are registry entries that refer to files and other

objects that no longer exist on your system.)

As the number of unnecessary and orphaned entries increases your

registry gets bigger and bigger, and this clogs up your system and

slows it down because Windows has to work its way through a much

bigger database.

WARNING: The registry is stored in two files called "USER.DAT" and

"SYSTEM.DAT". Whatever else you do, don't EVER delete these files!

You have been warned!

The contents of the registry are always loaded into your computer's

memory (RAM) and are accessed constantly by Windows. As you

can imagine, this means that having an optimized registry is very

important for a smooth, fast Windows system.

At the same time, it's also important to understand that precisely

because the registry is such a crucial part of Windows, editing it

always involves an element of risk. For a detailed discussion of

the question of security and the registry see Security.


Security

Multiple Operating Systems

IMPORTANT: If you have more than one operating system

installed on your computer please study the section on

Multiple Operating Systems very carefully BEFORE

using WinOptimizer on your system!

Windows Optimization and Security

Optimizing your Windows configuration always improves

performance to a greater or lesser degree - how much

improvement you get depends on how much optimization

is possible on your system.

However, by its very nature Windows optimization also

always involves certain risks, and no optimization program

can completely eliminate all the possible dangers. Even

though it is the exception rather than the rule, it IS sometimes

possible that a Windows optimizer will erroneously delete a

file or registry entry that is actually still needed by an application.

Registry optimization risks

Since the registry is the heart of your Windows configuration

(see The Windows Registry for details), optimizing the

registry is a particularly critical process.

For example, sometimes the program may erroneously believe

that an entry that is still needed is orphaned or unnecessary. In

other cases an application may still need an entry that seems

to be manifestly redundant (for example because it refers to a

file that doesn't exist). Even though the entry itself is redundant,

the application may behave in a completely unexpected way

when the entry is removed from the registry.

In the worst case scenario (which is very rare) it can actually be

impossible to restart Windows after optimizing the registry.

Preventing such errors was our top priority in the development

of WinOptimizer. Unfortunately, however, modern software is so

complex that it simply isn't possible to produce programs that are

guaranteed 100% free of "bugs", and the occasional error is thus

always possible.

Even so, this doesn't mean that you will lose any data.

WinOptimizer is designed so that such "accidents" can always

be reversed with the help of automatic backup files.

This means that even in the very rare cases where the worst comes

to the worst, you can always get your system running again and

restore your original registry files.

See Undoing Registry Changes for detailed instructions

on restoring your registry from the automatic backup files that

WinOptimizer always generates before making any changes.

File and folder deletion risks

File and folder optimization is much less risky than editing

and cleaning up the registry. In the great majority of cases it

is less likely that applications or your Windows system will

malfunction or stop working completely when WinOptimizer

deletes files and folders identified as unnecessary.

Files deleted by WinOptimizer can always be recovered. Rather

than deleting files, WinOptimizer simply moves them to the

Recycle Bin, where they are stored until the bin is actively

emptied by the user.

After optimizing files and folders it is thus always a good idea

to restart Windows and test ALL your important applications

BEFORE emptying the Recycle Bin! If you experience any

unexpected problems, simply open the Recycle Bin and

restore the files and everything will work as before.

Remember, once you have emptied the Recycle Bin you cannot

recover the files that it contained with normal means!

WARNING: Be particularly careful when deleting files with the

DLL Search and Duplicates Search functions! NEVER delete any

of the files and folders that WinOptimizer marks in red in the

results list - this could have very undesirable consequences for

your applications and/or your Windows system!

Another point to watch is that WinOptimizer automatically

identifies some file types as unnecessary simply on the basis

of their filename extensions. This is almost always safe, but

only ALMOST. For example, if you or your applications ignore the

file-naming conventions and use any of these extensions for

important files you could have problems -- for example, the

applications could stop working or you could find that you cannot

locate important data.

Again, if this happens simply locate the files in question in the Recycle

Bin and restore them. (Yet another good reason to check everything

thoroughly before emptying the Recycle Bin!)

This risk is particularly high for older applications written before the

current conventions were established, especially DOS programs.


Why Optimize?

There are several very good reasons for optimizing your Windows system:

1.	Deleting unnecessary files recovers valuable

hard disk space you need for more important

data.

2.	Deleting redundant entries in the registry

(see The Windows Registry) speeds up

your Windows system because a smaller registry

can be accessed faster.

3.	Deleting redundant and unnecessary files enables

Windows to search your drives faster because

fewer files need to be searched and displayed in

the Windows Explorer.

However, please also remember that optimization always involves

an element of risk. See Security for a discussion of the risks

involved and how you can minimize them.


Registry changes
Undoing Registry Changes

WinOptimizer stores all changes made to the Windows registry

in an "undo file". The reasons for doing this are explained in detail

in Security.

Your undo files are stored in the \Backup folder, which is located

in the WinOptimizer program directory. The default location of this

directory is:

C:\Program Files\PTS Software\WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE

You can also access the Backup folder from the Windows Start menu.

Select PTS Software - WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE and then click

on View Backups.

The undo file filenames are generated automatically, using the date

and time when the each file was stored.

For example, the file "We250519991655.reg"

contains all the information needed to undo the registry changes made with

WinOptimizer on Wednesday May 25 1999 at 16:55h.

To undo your changes simply double-click on the appropriate undo file

and then click on "Yes" in the prompt displayed.

You can also undo your changes from the DOS prompt in the unlikely

event that you are unable to restart Windows after modifying the registry.

However, before resorting to this method, see if you can start Windows

in "safe mode" first -- this is almost always possible and it allows you to

restore your registry by clicking on the backup files as described above.

To start Windows in safe mode hold down the F8 key while the system

is booting (in Windows 98 you can also use the Ctrl key), then select

"Safe Mode" from the boot menu displayed.

If this fails then you need access to the DOS command prompt. To do

this start the computer with a boot floppy or select "Command prompt

only" from the boot menu (see above).

You should always have a boot floppy on hand for emergencies - for

example the rescue disk that you made when you installed Windows.

At the command prompt switch to the WinOptimizer program folder,

which is normally:

C:\Program Files\PTS Software\WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE.

To switch to this folder type

CD "C:\Program Files\PTS Software\WinOptimizer 99 DELUXE"

at the command prompt and then press Return. Remember to include the

quotes around the path, otherwise you'll get an error message because

of the spaces in the folder names!

Then type

CD Backup <ENTER>

to switch to WinOptimizer's Backup directory. To undo the registry changes

type the following command at the command prompt:

c:\windows\regedit undofile.reg <ENTER>

where "undofile.reg" is the name of the undo file you want to restore

(e.g. we250519991655.reg) and "c:\windows" is your Windows directory.

If Windows is installed in a different directory you must enter the name of

that directory instead of "c:\windows".


Auto Search

This function uses default settings to search your registry and

drives for orphaned entries and unnecessary files. At the

same time the program also clears out your browser's

Internet cache.

Auto Search is designed primarily for inexperienced users and is

optimized for maximum security. You cannot adjust any of the

default settings and it doesn't use all the options provided by

the User-Defined Search function!

Experienced  users will find that they can get better results with

User-Defined Search, but you should always bear in mind

that this option also involves a higher risk level.

Clicking on the "Start" button starts the search. While the search

is in progress the program displays status information telling you

what is currently taking place and the locations where WinOptimizer

is performing its scans.

NOTHING is deleted during the search, neither files nor entries in

the Windows registry! (For more information on the registry see

The Windows Registry.) You can abort the search at any time

by clicking on the "Stop" button.

When the search is finished the program displays an information

screen with details of the number of unnecessary registry entries,

files and folders detected by WinOptimizer.

Clicking on the "View" buttons displays the lists of redundant registry

entries, files and folders, showing which items are marked for deletion.

You can then modify the selections, choosing which items you wish

to delete. For further details see Editing Search Results.

Clicking on the "Delete" buttons deletes the marked registry entries

(upper button) or the marked files and folders (lower button). You will

be prompted to confirm that you really want to delete the items before

they are actually deleted.

Whenever changes are made to the registry WinOptimizer always first

creates an Undo file which you can use to restore the previous system

status if you experience any problems.

For full details see Undoing Registry Changes

Files and folders are not permanently deleted, they are simply moved

to the Recycle Bin. Before emptying the Recycle Bin it's advisable to

restart Windows and check that everything is working properly without

the files you have deleted!


User
User-Defined Search

This function gives you full control over all of WinOptimizer's

search and cleanup functions. Experienced users will be able

to get better results with these options.

User-Defined Search allows you to set all the options supported

by the program to define a search that matches the precise needs

of your system configuration. There are several pages of options

in a number of different categories. You can switch between the

pages by clicking on the  ">>" und "<<" icons at the bottom of

the main window.

The first page presents the three basic search types that you can

perform with this function. You can perform all of these searches

types simultaneously or just one or two of them.

If you select the "Clean up the Windows registry" option (see

The Windows Registry for some basic background information on

the registry) you must also specify the types of orphaned registry

entries that you want to search for. The settings screen for this is

displayed automatically when you click on the ">>" button.

The registry entry types are presented in a list with check boxes to

the left of each type. Simply check the types you want to search for

and uncheck the types you want to exclude from the search.

See Registry Entry Types for an explanation of the individual

registry entry types.

If you check the "Find useless files" option you must also specify

the types of useless files and folders you want to search for. The

settings screen is displayed automatically when you click on the

">>" button (after the screen for the registry entry types, if this

search option is checked).

The file and folder types are presented in a list with check boxes,

just like the registry entry type list. For a detailed discussion of the

individual types see File Objects.

If you select the "Find temporary Internet files" option the program

will also define all the files stored in your browser's temporary

Internet files cache as useless and include them in the search

results.

These "cache files" are simply copies of the contents of Internet

pages that you have displayed while you were online. They are

saved to speed up access to the pages when you access them

the next time. They can always be safely deleted.

WinOptimizer supports both Microsoft's Internet Explorer and

Netscape Navigator. If you use other browsers we cannot guarantee

that WinOptimizer will detect the Internet cache files correctly.

When you have entered all your options clicking on ">>" again

displays the Start screen. You can then start the user-defined search

by clicking on the "Start" button. While the search is in progress

the program displays status information telling you what is currently

taking place and the locations where WinOptimizer is performing its

scans.

NOTHING is deleted during the search, neither files nor entries in

the Windows registry! (For more information on the registry see

The Windows Registry.) You can abort the search at any time

by clicking on the "Stop" button.

When the search is finished the program displays an information

screen with details of the number of unnecessary registry entries,

files and folders detected by WinOptimizer.

Clicking on the "View" buttons displays the lists of redundant registry

entries, files and folders, showing which items are marked for deletion.

You can then modify the selections, choosing which items you wish

to delete. For further details see Editing Search Results.

Clicking on the "Delete" buttons deletes the marked registry entries

(upper button) or the marked files and folders (lower button). You will

be prompted to confirm that you really want to delete the items before

they are actually deleted.

Whenever changes are made to the registry WinOptimizer always first

creates an Undo file which you can use to restore the previous system

status if you experience any problems.

For full details see Undoing Registry Changes

Files and folders are not permanently deleted, they are simply moved

to the Recycle Bin. Before emptying the Recycle Bin it's advisable to

restart Windows and check that everything is working properly without

the files you have deleted!


DLL Search

This function searches all the drives selected in Options (see

Options) for duplicate DLL files (files with the .dll extension).

DLL files are "libraries" used to store a wide variety of

different program components and functions. They are an

integral part both of Windows itself and of almost all

application programs.

Because of the way programs are installed most computers

have multiple copies of many DLL files stored in different

locations on their hard drives, and you will almost always

find that you also have several different versions of the same

DLL in different place. Generally, you only really need the

latest version of each file, which should ideally be stored

in the Windows system folder.

WinOptimizer only finds DLLs that are stored both in the

Windows folder and at least one other folder. Since you only

need the newest version in the Windows directory you can

(almost) always safely delete all other copies and older versions

of these DLLs.

However, it is also important to understand that a few programs

(particularly older applications) sometimes expect to find a

specific older version of a DLL in one of their own program directories.

Such applications can behave in unexpected ways if they are unable

to find the expected DLL or if they find a newer version instead.

This problem is discussed in more detail below.

The DLL Search start screen contains three options that define the

the criteria used to find and identify unnecessary DLL files. You can

select one, two or all three of these options at the same time.

WARNING: These options are for experienced users only -- don't

make any changes here unless you're sure you know what you're doing!

See DLL Search Settings for more information on the individual

options.

Clicking on the "Start" button starts the search. While the search is in

progress the program displays status information telling you what is

currently taking place and names of the directories that WinOptimizer

is scanning. NOTHING is deleted during the search! You can abort the

search at any time by clicking on the "Stop" button.

When the search is complete the results are displayed in a screen

that classifies identified DLLs in two groups:

The first group (top two buttons) lists DLLs that are older than or

identical to the DLL files in your Windows system folder.

The second group (lower two buttons) lists DLLs that are newer than

the versions in your Windows system folder.

Clicking on "View" displays a detailed list of the identified DLLS with

their names, version numbers and folder locations. After checking

the list you can select or deselect the files for deletion by clicking in

the colored boxes to the left of the file entries. A check in the box

indicates that the file is marked for deletion.

For more details on this see DLL Search Results.

Clicking on the "Delete" button of the first group moves the marked

files to the Recycle Bin. You will be asked to confirm the operation

before the files are actually moved.

After deleting the files (i.e. after moving them to the Recycle Bin)

please RESTART your computer and test all your important

applications. If everything is working properly you can then

empty the Recycle Bin to delete the unnecessary DLL files

permanently.

Clicking on the "Copy" button of the second group copies the

marked files to your Windows system folder, after first moving

the older versions stored there to the Recycle Bin.

Again, after performing the copy operation please RESTART

your computer and test all your important applications to make

sure that everything is working properly. If all the applications

behave normally you can empty the Recycle Bin to delete the

obsolete DLL files permanently.

If you decide you don't want to delete or copy any DLLs just

click the "Menu" button to return to the main menu.


Duplicates
Duplicates Search

This function finds all the files on your system that have the

same filename (duplicates).

WARNING: This function is only recommended for experienced

users!

Although the Duplicates search function can recover a great deal

of hard disk space it's also quite risky. No program can predict

with certainty how applications will behave when you delete

specific files. Only the user can decide which files can really

be deleted safely.

Duplicates are created in many different ways. If you install

or reinstall software frequently it's very easy to lose track of

multiple copies of the same files in different locations. It's also

very easy to copy files to a new folder and then forget to delete

the original copies.

Here too you have a large number of options that enable you to

define your search very precisely. You can switch between the

two options screens with the ">>" and "<<" buttons.

See Duplicates Search Settings for full details on these options.

To start the search switch to the second screen with the ">>"

button (if you are not already there) and click on "Start".

NOTE: No files are deleted during the search!

While the search is in progress the program displays status

information telling you names of the directories that WinOptimizer

is scanning. You can abort the search at any time by clicking on

the "Stop" button.

When the search is complete an information screen displayed showing

the number of duplicates found. Clicking on "View" displays the list of

duplicate files found, in which you can then mark individual files for

deletion by clicking in the check boxes to the left of each filename.

For details on this see Duplicates Search Results.

Clicking on "Delete" moves the marked files to the Recycle Bin after

prompting you for confirmation.

After deleting the files (i.e. after moving them to the Recycle Bin) please

RESTART your computer and test all your important applications to

make sure that everything is working properly. Only empty the Recycle

Bin when you are really sure that you no longer need any of the files

you have deleted!

If you decide that you don't want to delete any files simply click on

"Menu" to return to the main menu.


Options

Options provides access to a variety of basic settings that apply

for all of WinOptimizer's functions.

These settings are organized in several categories, with a

separate screen for each category. You can page through

these screens with the ">>" (next) and "<<" (previous) buttons.

Clicking on "Menu" returns you to the main menu.

The following topics provide detailed information on the individual

settings:

Drives to Search

Drives to Check for Links

Excluded Directories

Excluded Files

Other Options


Settings
DLL Search Settings

Same file size

This setting is deactivated by default and should ONLY be used

by really experienced users.

You will sometimes encounter two DLLs that have different sizes

even though their names and version numbers are identical.

Usually these differences are the result of different "debug" and

"retail" versions of the DLLs, but only experienced users can

safely decide whether this really is the case.

Lower or identical version number

This setting is activated by default. When it is active the program

will find duplicate DLLs with version numbers lower than or identical to

the version stored in the Windows system folder. This setting

has proved to be very safe and should only cause problems in

very rare cases.

Identical file size and version number

This setting is also activated by default. It is the safest option of all,

because it only finds files that are 100% identical to the versions in

the Windows system folder. This guarantees that all the functions

of the two versions are absolutely identical.


DLL Search Results

The program displays a list of all DLLs of which multiple copies

have been found. Each DLL is listed with its filename, folder,

version number, file size and date.

DLLs with the same name are listed together in groups headed

by the filename in bold type.

You can mark or unmark each file by clicking in the colored check

box to the left of its entry. Only the files marked with tick in the check

box will be deleted or copied to the system folder!

The colors of the check boxes have the following meanings:

RED: Never try to delete these DLLs, they are almost certainly needed!

YELLOW: The program can't decide what to do with these files without

additional information. This can be the case when the DLL has no

version number or the file is damaged or corrupt.

You can select files in the list by clicking with the mouse or by moving

the highlight with the cursor keys. Additional information on the highlighted

file (description, function, manufacturer, location, WinOptimizer

recommendations) is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Inexperienced users should pay particular attention to the WinOptimizer

recommendations displayed at the bottom of the screen telling you why

the file is marked or why it shouldn't be deleted.

The functions of the three buttons at the lower right are as follows:

"OK" accepts any changes made in the list and returns you to the previous

screen. This does NOT delete or copy any files -- the marked files are

not deleted or copied until you click the "Delete" or "Copy" buttons in the

main results screen!

"Help" displays this help documentation.

"None" unmarks all the files selected in the list. You may want to use

this function to cancel all the selections made by WinOptimizer so

that you go through the list yourself, making your own choices.


Duplicates
Duplicates Search Settings

Duplicate identification condition:

Two settings are possible for this option, chosen from the list

box on the right:

If you choose "Identical filename and file size" the program will

only find files whose name and size are both identical. This setting

is recommended as the results it produces are much easier to

handle.

If you select "Filename only" the program will treat ALL files with

the same filename as duplicates -- including all copies of

"readme.txt" for example! This can be interesting for experts

but in most cases you will find that it produces a huge list of files

that is very difficult to check.

Ignore files with a size of "0" bytes

This setting tells the program to ignore all duplicates with

a file length of zero byes. Multiple copies of such files

are quite common; they are often needed to show that

a specific application was active in the folder in question

or that the folder belongs to the application.

Only detect these duplicates (otherwise all):

If this option is deactivated WinOptimizer searches for all

duplicates, irrespective of the file type.

When it is activated the program only checks for duplicates

of the types specified in the five categories below. These

types should be self-explanatory.

This option is very useful if you only want to search for certain

types of files. For example, you can find all duplicate image

files by checking only "Multimedia files".

Excluded files

This option enables you to exclude specific files from the

duplicates search -- for example files of which multiple copies

are actually needed by the system (see the discussion of files

with a length of zero bytes above).

This list is separate from and supplementary to the list in

the program options (see Options). When the search is

performed WinOptimizer evaluates both lists, excluding all

the files defined by the two lists for optimum results.

Select "+" to add files to the list. You can enter the filename

directly in the dialog box displayed or click on "..." to select a

filename from the directory. All files with this name will then be

automatically excluded from the search.

Clicking on the "-" button removes the currently highlighted file

from list. Use this feature with care -- in particular, please DON'T

remove any of the default filenames included in the list by

WinOptimizer!


Results
Duplicates Search Results

The results window displays a list of all duplicate files found

by WinOptimizer. Each file is listed with its name, folder,

size and the date and time of the last change

Files with the same name are listed in groups with the filename

in bold type as the header.

You can mark or unmark each file by clicking in the colored check

box to the left of its entry. Only the files whose check boxes are

marked will be deleted when you execute "Delete" later!

Since only the user (i.e. you!) can decide which files can be safely

deleted all the entries in this list have a yellow check box by default

as an extra warning.

The functions of the three buttons at the lower right are as follows:

"OK" accepts any changes made in the list and returns you to the

previous screen. This does NOT delete any files -- the marked files

are not deleted until you click "Delete" in the main results screen!

"Help" displays this help documentation.

"None" unmarks all the files selected in the list. You may want to use

this function if you decide you want to check through the list again

from scratch.


Editing Search Results

When the search is complete WinOptimizer displays a list

of the objects it has found, corresponding to the search criteria.

These objects can be files, folders or entries in the Windows

registry database.

You can mark individual entries by clicking in the small colored

check box displayed to the left of each entry. Marked (selected)

entries are identified by a tick in the check box. Only the marked

entries will be deleted when you execute the "Delete" function!

NOTE: Nothing is deleted or changed when you click on "OK"

to close the results list window. Files and registry entries are

only deleted when you select "Delete" in the main results

window.

The colors of the check boxes have the following meanings:

RED: Never try to delete these entries, they are almost certainly

needed!

GREEN: These entries can be deleted safely.

YELLOW: The program can't decide what to do with these entries

without additional information. For example, the file in question may

be damaged or the program may be unable to identify it accurately.

WinOptimizer also displays additional useful information for almost

all objects shown in the list. This information is provided to help

you decide which objects are really unnecessary and can be deleted.

The nature of the information and the number of entries depends on

the object type:

Files:	File size

Links:	Link reference

Registry entries:	Registry key and other information

For more information on object types and the related information see:

File Objects

Registry Object Types

As you have probably already noticed, the search results are

organized in sections. Each section corresponds to one of the

User-Defined Search options (which are preset in the Auto

Search option). A list of all the sections is displayed in the

narrow window on the left.

Each icon in the list corresponds to a section. The section names

and number of items found are displayed beneath the icons. Clicking

on an icon displays the items found in that section in the main window

on the right.

The functions of the four buttons at the lower right are as follows:

"OK" accepts any changes made in the list and returns you to the

previous screen. Note that this does NOT delete anything -- the

marked entries are only actually deleted when you click on the

"Delete" button in the main results window!

"Help" displays this help documentation.

"None" unmarks all the entries in the section. You may want to use

this function to cancel all the selections made by the program and

go through the list yourself, making your own choices.

"All" is the opposite of "None" -- it marks all the entries in the

selected section. Use with care!


Registry Object Types

The Windows registry is a very large database (see

The Windows Registry for details) containing a huge number

of different entries and keys. Optimizing the registry is

a very complex process, and WinOptimizer thus provides

a correspondingly large number of settings that you can

adjust to fine-tune the registry scan and clean-up process.

Since the registry is such an essential part of Windows data

security is particularly important. At the risk of being repetitive

we'd like to mention once again that WinOptimizer always

saves your original system status in an Undo file before

making any changes to the registry. For details on this

and how to restore your old registry in the event of problems

see Undoing Registry Changes.

It's also very important to remember that all the registry

clean-up options listed below ONLY delete the registry

entries, NOT the files or other objects referenced by the

entries!

Even if you wanted to do this it wouldn't be possible by the

very nature of the process -- since the detected entries are

orphaned they refer to objects that are not present in the

expected locations.

For full details on the individual settings click on the links

below.

Orphaned File Type Entries

Orphaned COM/OLE Objects

Orphaned ACTIVE-X Object Entries

Orphaned Shared DLL Entries

Orphaned Add/Remove Programs Entries

Orphaned Autostart Entries

Orphaned Font Entries

Orphaned System Sounds Entries

Orphaned Help File Entries

Orphaned Application Path Entries

Orphaned Icon Entries

All Other Orphaned Entries


File types
File Objects

The first thing to understand is that the term "file objects" refers

both to individual files and to entire folders.

When you select "Delete" WinOptimizer never actually deletes

any of these objects irrevocably -- it only moves them to the

Recycle Bin. However, when you empty the Recycle Bin the

files are really deleted and cannot be recovered by normal

means.

After every system optimization you should thus ALWAYS

restart Windows and check that all your important applications

are still functioning properly BEFORE emptying the Recycle

Bin! If you encounter any problems you can easily restore the

files from the Recycle Bin.

WinOptimizer allows you to search for all the following redundant

file object types. For more information on the objects just click

on the corresponding links.

Shortcuts to Non-existent Files and Folders

Shortcuts to Non-existent DOS Files

Windows Help Index Files

Contents of Lost Allocation Units

Temporary Installation Files

Temporary Installation Folders

General Backup Files

Temporary Files

Backups


File types
Orphaned File Type Entries

During installation many applications register one or more file

types that can be loaded and/or written by the application. When

a file type is registered like this double-clicking on a file of the

corresponding type automatically opens the application with

the file. For example, double clicking on a *.doc file usually

opens Microsoft Word, loading the file for editing.

If you then delete or move the application without uninstalling

it properly double-clicking on the registered file types results

in an error message because Windows can no longer find the

associated application.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these

orphaned file type registrations so that you can delete them.


COM/OLE objects
Orphaned COM/OLE Object Entries

COM objects (COMmon Interface Objects) are function

libraries that are accessible to all Windows applications.

Orphaned COM objects reference applications or files

that no longer exist.

Sometimes the registry can contain an incorrect path entry

so that it isn't possible to find the referenced file even

though it actually exists. The result is that the application

can no longer access the COM object's functions.

The same basic situation applies for OLE objects (Object

Linking and Embedding). The only difference is that these

objects are used for exchanging data between applications.

OLE objects are also files and if they are missing or stored

in a different folder their registry entries become orphaned

and no longer serve any useful purpose.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer find these

orphaned entries to COM and OLE objects so that you can

delete them.


ActiveX
Orphaned ActiveX Object Entries

Like COM/OLE objects, ActiveX objects are files that are used

to make a series of special functions available to the system.

ActiveX files have the extension OCX (*.OCX). Unlike OLE/COM

objects they can also be accessed and used by applications

like Internet browsers. Since ActiveX objects are files they too

can be moved or deleted, and it is also possible for the registry

entries referencing them to contain incorrect path information.

If any of these situations arises it becomes impossible to find

the ActiveX files, effectively making them useless to the system.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find orphaned

references to ActiveX objects in the registry so that you can

delete them.


DLLs
Orphaned Shared DLL Entries

DLL files are "library files" used to store functions that

every Windows application can access and use. It's

usually possible for any number of applications to access

a DLL file at the same time.

Unlike COM/OLE objects, DLL files can't be used to

exchange data between applications, and they also

can't be used by Internet pages.

As the name indicates, "shared DLLs" are used (shared)

simultaneously by multiple applications -- usually

applications from the same manufacturer. This has the

advantage that updating a single DLL file can provide

improved or enhanced functionality for all the applications

that use the DLL.

Like so many other things, the information about these shared

DLLs is stored in the registry. These registry entries can

frequently still be found in the registry long after the

applications and the DLLs  themselves have been deleted.

If the applications are moved to a different location or

uninstalled incorrectly the registry entries no longer refer

to the actual location of the DLL files and the applications

are unable to find them.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these

"orphaned" entries referring to shared DLL files so that

you can delete them.


Orphaned uninstall entries
Orphaned Add/Remove Programs Entries

Clicking on Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel

displays a dialog box with a list of the applications installed

on your computer. Normally, you can uninstall any of these

applications automatically by double-clicking on its entry in

this dialog box.

Sometimes, however, the list also contains entries for

applications that are no longer installed or have been

moved to a different location. If you double click on one

of these entries you just get an error message.

These orphaned entries can be annoying, and it's not

possible to get rid of them with the standard tools provided

with Windows.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these entries

so that you can delete them from the Add/Remove Programs

list.


Autostart programs
Orphaned Autostart Entries

Windows has several facilities for running programs

automatically. These programs are loaded and started

after the Windows kernel, when the desktop appears on

the screen. They are normally applications that run in

the background, like anti-virus programs.

Such autostart programs are often identified by a small

icon in the SysTray (the little box at the right hand end of the

Taskbar at the bottom of your screen). Others can only be

seen in the Task List that is displayed when you press

Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Most of these applications are started by shortcuts stored

in the StartUp folder (in the Start Menu).

Most users are familiar with this feature, but fewer people

are aware that applications can also be autostarted at bootup

by entries in the Windows registry.

This registry autostart list is different and completely separate

from the StartUp folder. It's quite possible for the entries to

refer to programs that cannot be found in the specified folders

-- for example applications that have been moved or uninstalled

without updating the registry entries properly.

If this happens Windows is unable to find the applications it

wants to start and an error message is displayed every time

you boot the system.

Setting this option tells WinOptimizer to find these orphaned

autostart entries in the Windows registry so that you can

delete them.


Orphaned Font Entries

Each font used by Windows is stored as a separate file

in a special Windows folder. When you install a font

it is registered with an entry in the registry that enables

Windows to access and use it.

If the font files are deleted or the fonts are uninstalled

incorrectly their registry entries become orphaned,

referring to files that no longer exist or can no longer be

found. This can also happen if deinstallation is interrupted.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find such

orphaned font entries so that you can delete them.


Orphaned System Sounds Entries

Clicking on Sounds in the Control Panel displays a dialog with

which you can assign sounds to a wide variety of events in both

Windows and other applications. These sounds are stored in

WAV files.

If you (or an application) deletes the WAV file registered as a

system sound it is no longer possible to find and play the sound.

The associated registry entry becomes useless and can be

safely deleted.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find orphaned system

sounds entries in the registry so that you can delete them.


Orphaned Help File Entries

Every time you open a help file its path is automatically

stored in the Windows registry. Help files are often also

opened during the installation of some types of applications,

and this also generates corresponding registry entries.

If you uninstall the application or delete the help file the

registry help file path entry becomes orphaned -- i.e. it refers

to a file that no longer exists. Such orphaned help file

entries are completely useless and can be safely deleted.

NOTE: Frequently the paths to the help files are often valid

even though the files themselves no longer exist.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find such orphaned

help file entries so that you can delete them.


Orphaned Application Path Entries

Every time you start an application its path is automatically

stored in the Windows registry. Such path entries are also

often stored during the installation of applications.

If you then uninstall or move the application the path entry

in the registry becomes orphaned, i.e. it refers to an

application that no longer exists. These path entries are

completely useless and can be deleted safely.

NOTE: Frequently the paths to the applications are often valid

even though the application files themselves no longer exist.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to search for such

orphaned entries so that you can delete them.


Orphaned Icon Entries

All applications, file formats and other visible Windows objects

have their own unique icons that you can click on with the mouse

to perform specific actions -- such as opening files or starting

applications.

The paths to file format icons and some other icon types are

stored in entries in the Windows registry.

In the course of time icons sometimes get deleted or moved.

If the object they refer to still exists Windows automatically

displays a standard icon instead. More frequently both the

icon and the object it refers to are moved or deleted. In

both cases, the associated registry entry becomes

orphaned -- i.e. it refers to an object that no longer exists.

These entries are completely useless and can be deleted

safely.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find orphaned

icon entries so that you can delete them.


All Other Orphaned Entries

IMPORTANT:	This option is only available for Windows 95 & 98.

It is not supported under Windows NT (worry about that)!

WARNING: This option is disabled by default and should be used by

experienced users ONLY!

The Windows registry contains a large number of references to

files and folders, both of which we shall refer to as objects for

the purpose of this discussion.

If the object referred to in the entry no longer exists in the specified

location because it has been moved or deleted the entry becomes

redundant. In almost all cases such orphaned entries can be

deleted safely.

Unfortunately, some applications can behave in totally unpredictable

ways when such registry entries are deleted -- even if the entries

really are orphaned and completely useless.

This is why the option should only be used by experienced users.

The option only finds entries that are not found by the other registry

search options.

Activating the option tells WinOptimizer to search for such other

orphaned entries so that you can delete them.


Shortcuts to Non-existent Files and Folders

A shortcut is essentially just a signpost pointing to another

Windows object, which can be a file, a folder or an application.

For example, all the entries under Programs in the Start Menu

are actually shortcuts pointing to the program files that start

the associated applications.

Windows shortcuts are normally identified by a small arrow

symbol in the lower left corner of the shortcut icon.

Shortcuts are stored as files with the extension LNK (*.lnk).

Again, all the shortcut file contains is a reference to the object

it points to. Deleting a shortcut file simply deletes this reference,

NOT the application or file it refers to.

Orphaned shortcuts refer to objects that no longer exist in the

location specified in the shortcut path. Shortcuts can easily

become orphaned if you delete or move the files they refer to

because Windows doesn't automatically update the shortcuts'

paths when you do this.

When you double-click on an orphaned shortcut Windows

displays an error message informing you that the object

can't be found and asking you where it is.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find such orphaned

shortcuts so that you can delete them.


Shortcuts to Non-existent DOS Files

A shortcut is essentially just a signpost pointing to another

Windows object, which can be a file, a folder or an application.

For example, all the entries under Programs in the Start Menu

are actually shortcuts pointing to the program files that start

the associated applications.

Windows shortcuts are normally identified by a small arrow in

the lower left corner of the shortcut icon. Most shortcuts to DOS

applications use the standard DOS icon containing the letters

"MS-DOS".

Links to DOS applications are different from "normal" shortcuts

because DOS programs need a set of different parameters to run

properly under Window. DOS shortcuts are stored in files with the

PIF extension (*.pif). All the DOS shortcut file contains is a reference

to the object it points to and the parameters required by the DOS

program. Deleting the shortcut file simply deletes this reference,

NOT the application or file it refers to.

Orphaned shortcuts refer to objects that don't exist in the location

referenced by the path specified in the shortcut file. Shortcuts can

easily become orphaned if you delete or move the files they refer to

because Windows doesn't automatically update the shortcuts'

paths when you do this.

When you double-click on an orphaned shortcut Windows displays

an error message informing you that the object can't be found and

asking you where it is.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find such orphaned

shortcuts to DOS applications so that you can delete them.


Windows Help Index Files

Every time you access a Windows help file for the first time

the help system automatically generates an index file containing

all the head words in the help file. In the case of larger help

files this takes a few moments and Windows displays a prompt

informing you that it is preparing the help file for use.

This index file only needs to be generated once. The next time

you access the help file the index is simply loaded from your

hard disk.

Since most users rarely actually refer to help files the index

files usually just sit around wasting valuable hard disk space.

You can recover this space by deleting the files. This is

completely safe since the indexes can always be generated

again if you need them.

Help index files are identified by the extension GID (*.gid).

In addition to the extension WinOptimizer also checks a

for the presence of standard attributes in the files to make

absolutely sure that they really are help indexes. This prevents

accidental deletion of other files with the same extension.

If you really do read help files frequently you can save the

time required to regenerate the index files by disabling this

option. To tell the truth, however, we haven't yet encountered

any users who do this!

Activating the option tells WinOptimizer to find help index

files so that you can delete them.


Contents of Lost Allocation Units

The data on your hard disks is stored in blocks referred to as

"allocation units". These are the basic storage units used by

the hard disk and have nothing to do with your directory

structure.

Scandisk is a Windows utility program that checks the integrity

of your hard drive. When you run Scandisk it checks the drive

for errors, including so-called "lost allocation units", which are

blocks of data that are no longer allocated to files on the disk.

Lost allocation units can contain file fragments, entire files or

other data. They are often created when programs or Windows

crash or freeze and are unable to close files properly.

Scandisk saves this "data garbage" in files with the extension

CHK (*.chk). In very rare cases it is sometimes possible to

recover valuable data from these files, but usually they really

are just garbage and can be deleted safely.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these *.chk

files so that you can delete them.


Temporary Installation Files

Application installation programs often create temporary

files and folders on your hard disk to store data that

they need to access during the installation process.

These files and folders are normally deleted when the

installation is complete. However, if the installation is

interrupted, or if the computer crashes or freezes before

installation is complete, the files and folders are left on

your drive.

Since installation files are always recreated automatically

when the installation program runs this data is completely

useless and just wastes space. These files can always be

deleted safely.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find temporary

installation files so that you can delete them.


General Backup Files

Many applications automatically store backup copies

of the documents and files that they process. This

makes it possible for you to recover most of your data

if the original version of the file is damaged or

inadvertently deleted.

However, these backups can waste quite a lot of hard

disk space because they are just as big as the original

files.

Most users almost never access their backup versions,

and anyway really important data is normally stored on

separate backup media such as floppy disks or CD-Rs.

This means that most of these backup files aren't really

so important and they can usually be deleted safely.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find general

backup files so that you can delete them.


Temporary Files

Temporary files are just what they sound like -- files created

temporarily by Windows and other applications. They are

normally used to store large amounts of data that is accessed

while the application is running and then deleted when you

exit the program or no longer need the data.

Sometimes these files don't get deleted -- for example when

the application or Windows crashes or freezes. The data

then just sits around on your hard disk wasting space. This

is particularly annoying with these files because they are

frequently very large.

WARNING:

Temporary files can only be identified by their file extension.

This means that WinOptimizer identifies all TMP (*.tmp) files

as temporary. Deleting these files can cause problems with

some applications. See Security for more details on

this subject.

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these files

so that you can delete them.


Backups

This option is disabled by default.

You may be wondering what the difference is between

"general backup files" and "backups".

What we refer to as "general backup files" are usually

just copies of single files or documents generated

automatically by applications. Backups, identified by the

generic file extension .BAK, are frequently a great deal

more than this.

For example, the files created by the Windows Backup

program also have the extension .BAK, but you will

often want to keep these files because you want to

copy them to floppy disks or other removable media.

Other applications use the .BAK extension to identify

ordinary backup files which you don't really need and

which can normally be deleted safely (see

General Backup Files for more details).

WARNING:

Deleting backups is not quite as safe as deleting general

backup files. This option should thus only be used by

experienced users!

Activating this option tells WinOptimizer to find these

files so that you can delete them.


Drives to search
Drives to Search:

This screen displays a list of icons representing all the

drives installed in your system. WinOptimizer only includes

the selected drives in its searches for redundant files

and folders.

CD-ROM drives are not included in this list. Since it's

not possible to delete files on CD-ROMS it would be a

waste of time to search them.

It's also generally advisable NOT to select your floppy disk

drives unless you have a specific reason for doing so. If

the floppy drive is selected the program will always try to

access the drive and this can be very annoying if there's

no disk inserted.

Multiple operating systems

DON'T include drives containing other operating systems!

If you have more than one operating system installed on your

computer please study Multiple Operating Systems

very carefully BEFORE using WinOptimizer!


Drives to check for links
Drives to Check for Links:

This screen displays a list of icons representing all the drives

installed on your computer.

In many cases, files and registry entries will contain references

(links) to objects on other drives, and WinOptimizer needs to

be able to check these links to achieve reliable results.

WinOptimizer only checks links to objects on the drives whose

check boxes are marked in this list.

CD-ROM and floppy disk drives

Here too, DON'T select CD-ROM or floppy disk drives unless

you have a good reason for doing so! If you do, all links to

these drives referring to CDs or disks that are not currently

inserted will be marked for deletion by WinOptimizer! And

since it's not possible to insert more than one CD or disk

in a drive at the same time there's a very good chance that

this will cause problems!


Folders
Excluded Folders

All the folders in this list will be excluded from the

searches that WinOptimizer performs to find redundant

files and folders.

This can be very useful to exclude folders whose exact

contents need to be preserved without any changes (for

example in order to cut the data to a recordable CD). It's

also a good idea to exclude all folders containing important

and sensitive personal data.

To add a folder to the list simply click on "+" to display

a directory dialog box and select the folder you want to

add.

Clicking on "-" removes the currently highlighted folder

from the list. Whatever else you do, please DON'T try to

remove any of the default folders included in the list by

WinOptimizer!


Files to exclude from searches
Excluded Files

All the files included in this list are automatically

excluded from WinOptimizer's searches. This can be

very useful for excluding files that you know are

needed by specific applications for one reason or

another even though they appear to be redundant

or useless.

For maximum security all the most important system

files are included by default. Please DON'T remove

any of these default entries from the list as this would

seriously prejudice your system security!

Click on "+" to add a specific file in a specific location

to the list. This adds the filename to the list together

with its path information, so that only this occurrence

of the file is ignored.

Click on "Input" to enter a filename for global exclusion

(e.g. README.TXT). This adds the filename to the list

without path information, making WinOptimizer ignore

all occurrences of the file. Here too, you can also add

filenames using the directory dialog by clicking on the

"..." button.

Clicking on "-" removes the currently highlighted file from

the list. Again, please DON'T remove any of the default

entries from the list!


Other Options

This screen contains a few additional settings that affect

the way the program behaves. All of them should be

self-explanatory.


Temporary Installation Folders

Activating the Temporary Installation Folders option tells

WinOptimizer to find installation folders created and not

deleted by application installation programs. This can

happen when you abort an installation or the installation

program or Windows crashes or freezes during the

installation process.

These folders can almost always be deleted safely.

Please see Security for a discussion of the rare cases

where deleting them can lead to problems.


PG46
X


Multiple Operating Systems

You should always exercise EXTREME CAUTION when using

Windows cleanup programs like WinOptimizer on computers

with multiple operating systems installed.

It is very strongly advised that only experienced users

who really understand what they are doing should use

WinOptimizer on systems running more than one operating

system! Failure to observe this warning may result in serious

damage to your system configuration!

The reason for this is that it is quite possible for multiple

operating systems to have large numbers of objects with

seemingly identical names and attributes. If you assume

that these are unnecessary and delete them then one or

more of your systems may stop working properly.

This is particularly important for dual-boot systems running

both Windows 9x and Windows NT, because these two

systems use many objects with identical names.

Boot manager issues

You should also be VERY careful if you use one of the

modern boot managers (like PTS BootManager 98 SUPRA)

that hides the partition(s) containing your other operating

system(s). If the applications used by your hidden system

are on a data partition accessible to the currently active

Windows system then WinOptimizer can think that all the

objects in those application folders are redundant.

The same applies for applications accessed by more than

one operating system, which may contain objects that

appear to be redundant but are actually required by the

system that is not currently active.

As a general rule of thumb, NEVER let WinOptimizer delete

ANYTHING on a computer with multiple operating systems

unless you are really 100% sure that the objects to be

deleted are not needed by any of your systems.

You have been warned!