Ashampoo WinOptimizer FREE

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on July 18, 2012

A decent system cleaner and optimizer can make a big difference in your PC's performance by tossing out junk files and tightening the Registry. A really good tool would also help you tune and tweak your system by disabling unnecessary features and settings. Ashampoo's WinOptimizer Free is one of the best such tools we've tried.

We started WinOptimizer with a Full Scan, which completed quickly. WinOptimizer made 15 recommendations over five categories, including three unnecessary startup entries in the StartUp-Tuner, seven superfluous system settings in the Tweaking tool, and 97MB of junk files flagged by the Drive Cleaner (a lot of space, even with today's drives). We reviewed each recommendation, which WinOptimizer explains in detail under each category, with the opportunity to deselect any item from the cleaning and optimizing process. We saw no red flags in WinOptimizer's selections, so we clicked Start Optimization. WinOptimizer tracked each process and marked its completion with a green check mark; the whole process took less than a minute. Having run the Full Scan and Optimization, we could run the Quick Scan for fast, regular touch-ups. But we could also run any of WinOptimizer's tools individually from the Modules tab, which groups the program's capabilities by need, such as Clean up system, Optimize performance, and Tune system settings. WinOptimizer's Backup feature lets you undo any critical changes that might affect your system's stability or security. The Favorites tab lets you select the tools you run most often for quick access. WinOptimizer's Scheduled Tasks tool programs the One-Click Optimizer and Hard Disk Defragmenter to run on a regular basis. An extensive Help file is available, too.

We've tried a lot of tools like Ashampoo WinOptimizer Free, and it stands among the best of them, not just because its cleaning tools and system tweaks proved safe and effective, but also because of the clear and extensive explanations the software offers at various steps. We were impressed with WinOptimizer's ability to wring further performance-enhancing tweaks from our test system. It's good to understand changes to your system before you make them, and Ashampoo WinOptimizer Free excels at providing them. Definitely recommended.