New & Hot

Speed Busters

The best way to speed up your computer is to add RAM or other hardware upgrades. But if you just need to get the most out of what you've got, a few software programs offer help — while some of their claims are pretty dubious, others make a clear difference to your system. Here are a few of the best.

By Simon Vandore

Section Index

Products in this section: CD-Quick Cache, Dr Hardware, WinTune98, Windrenalin, MemTurbo, APK RamCharge, Cacheman, Cybermedia Uninstaller, DNTools, SysEnhance II, TweakIt, Omniquad Active Interface, Diskeeper (for Workstation), DriveSpeed, FastDisk, Slow Copy, FastVid, 6x86 Configuration, Waterfall Pro, Rain

CD-Quick Cache

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98

Description:

CD-Quick Cache stores frequently used data from your CD-ROM drive, often increasing its performance.

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/circuitsys/CDQ95.HTM

Dr Hardware

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/NT

Description:

Excellent utility for looking at all your hardware and finding out if you're getting the most from it.

Requirements:

Win 3.1/95/98, 386, 2M RAM

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.online.de/home/gebhard/

WinTune98

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98/NT

Description:

Well-established performance testing tool which looks at your system, CPU, video, disk and memory.

Requirements:

Win 95/98/NT

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://winweb.winmag.com/wintune98/

Windrenalin

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95

Description:

A hard drive acceleration program aimed at improving launch speed and multitasking, particularly with Netscape.

Requirements:

486/66MHz & higher, 16M RAM, Win 95, 2M disk space

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.syncronys.com/windrenalin/

MemTurbo

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98

Description:

Continuously checks and defragments RAM to increase available system memory and stop Windows getting sluggish.

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.memturbo.com/

APK RamCharge

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95, 98

Description:

A competitor to Memturbo which operates in the background to defragment, allocate and free up memory.

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.inetnow.net/~alexkowalski/software.html

Cacheman

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95

Description:

Optimises Windows virtual memory, resulting in more effective use of the swap file and less hard disk churning.

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://members.xoom.com/ultimatum/cacheman.htm

Cybermedia Uninstaller

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95

Description:

The best of the uninstaller programs released for Windows 95. This trial version can do a lot to shape up your OS.

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.cybermedia.com

DNTools

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98

Description:

Designed to speed up your modem connections in various ways (can be risky, though -- MTU settings are not really meant for experimentation).

Requirements:

Win 95

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.cache.net/~bseeley/DNTools

SysEnhance II

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98/NT

Description:

Attempts to combine Windows and Internet optimisations with other hardware tweaks.

Requirements:

Win 95/98/NT

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.techne1.com/intrasys/

TweakIt

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98/NT

Description:

An easier way to get the most out of any 3Dfx Voodoo/Voodoo2/Rush card.

Requirements:

Win 95/98/NT, 3Dfx card

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://3dfiles.com/bgrsoftware/tweakit.shtml

Omniquad Active Interface

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98

Description:

Uses basic artificial intelligence to monitor how you use Windows and adjusts it to your perceived needs.

Requirements:

Win 95/98

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.omniquad.com

Diskeeper (for Workstation)

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win NT 4.0 (build 1381 or higher)

Description:

A faster disk defragmenter for Windows NT Workstation (also available for NT Server).

Requirements:

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.diskeeper.com

DriveSpeed

Download the version for your operating system here:

DOS

Description:

Tests the speed of your hard drives with a read/write test, so you can see which one is best to use as your main drive.

Requirements:

DOS

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://members.tripod.com/~stanislavs/prog/exe.htm

FastDisk

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win NT 4.0

Description:

Allows you to create a RAM drive under Windows NT (using RAM as very fast disk space)

Requirements:

Win NT 4.0, 32MB RAM

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.cpenterprises.com/

Slow Copy

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95, Win NT 4.0

Description:

Allows your PC to operate faster while copying something to a floppy disk -- slows down the copying process to minimise the impact on your PC.

Requirements:

Win 95/NT

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://e-port.yeah.net

FastVid

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95/98

Description:

Can help speed up AGP or PCI graphics on a Pentium II or Pentium Pro system by enabling write posting and write combining. [WARNING: According to Intel, enabling Write Posting could result in "rare" problems on the PCI bus.]

Requirements:

Pentium II/Pro, AGP/PCI graphics,

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.fastgraphics.com/fastvid.html

6x86 Configuration

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95

Description:

An optimisation utility for Cyrix 6x86 processors. Makes Windows 95 think your 6x86 is a Pentium processor.

Requirements:

Cyrix 6x86 processor

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://www.sysenhance.com (temporarily down)

Waterfall Pro

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95, 98

Description:

Uses features of your CPU to make it run at a much cooler temperature -- slows down overall performance, but worth it on an overclocked processor.

Requirements:

Win 95, Pentium

Install instructions:

Internet Explorer users just click on the file and choose Open to run the setup program straight from the CD. Nestcape users download to your local drive and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://cpu.simplenet.com/leading_wintech

Rain

Download the version for your operating system here:

Win 95, 98

Description:

Smaller program from Waterfall's creators. Not as stable, but uses new techniques to keep your overclocked CPU even cooler.

Requirements:

Win 95, Pentium

Install instructions:

Download to your hard drive, then unzip it and run the EXE file.

Links online:

http://cpu.simplenet.com/leading_wintech/