10 Speed Tips for Maximizing Your PC Experience

Legacy Content

This article may reference older System Mechanic® features that have been replaced or enhanced in the current version.

The mysterious and sometimes complicated PC—unless you’re an expert on each and every component under the hood, it’s easy to get stuck with slowdowns and other obstacles along the way. Top Speed Tips™ are geared towards maximizing your System Mechanic experience so your PC performance is optimized and life with your PC is that much better.

Re-align for Reliability: Go deep with Program Accelerator optimization for maximum responsiveness and long-lasting reliability.
Burn the Midnight Oil: Set up a deep optimization before you go to sleep, and have SM finish up by shutting down your PC when it’s done.
Power in Numbers: Use Guided Recommendations and harness the power of millions of System Mechanic users to rev up boot speed.
Your Personal Auto-Pilot: Tune ActiveCare® to adapt to how you work and play by exploring advanced settings.
Your PC’s Report Card: Print a comprehensive system diagnosis using System Mechanic’s Printable Report option.
Rewind Remediation: Undo a change System Mechanic has made using SafetyNet.
Download Low-Down: See if your download speed measures up.
HD MD: Check your hard drive’s health and operating status with DriveSense.
Computer Anatomy 101: Take a deep look under the hood using the System Information Report.
Game On: Use EnergyBooster before running high-intensity software such as games, audio/video editing products, or graphics-intensive apps.

Tip 1

Re-align for Reliability: Go deep with System Mechanic’s patent-pending Program Accelerator for maximum responsiveness and long-lasting reliability.

Here’s how:

Important: This ultra-deep optimization will take a while (sometimes many hours), so it’s best to start it right before leaving your PC for a while, such as just before bed.

Start System Mechanic and click Toolbox -> Individual Tools
Find Program Accelerator within Maximize Performance and click Start
Select your C: drive and click Next
Select both the Delete junk files… and Automatically defragment locked files… options
Click the More Options link and tell System Mechanic what to do when it’s finished
Click Show Advanced Options and select Consolidate free space…(leave unselected for a faster but less thorough optimization)
Click Next to begin the re-alignment optimization
Now your programs will start and run at peak speed and efficiency

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Tip 2

Burn the Midnight Oil: Set up a deep computer optimization before you go to sleep, and have System Mechanic finish up by turning off your PC when it’s done.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Toolbox -> All-in-one Tools -> Start PC TotalCare
Select all options within Recommended Actions and Optional Actions to set up a thorough optimization
Click the More Options link at the bottom of the screen and select Shut down my computer automatically after PC TotalCare finishes
Click Next to begin the optimization process and have System Mechanic turn off your PC when it’s finished
Dream of a faster, more responsive computer
Wake up and turn your PC on for a dream come true

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Tip 3

Power in Numbers: Harness the power of millions of System Mechanic users to rev up boot speed using iolo’s exclusive Guided Recommendations

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Toolbox -> Individual Tools
Find Startup Optimizer within Maximize Performance and click Start
Click Next, select Search for all startup program types and click Next again to have System Mechanic list your startup programs
Review the User Community Results to see what millions of other users do with each program
Use the Keep it on, Turn it off, or Decide later options to optimize your PC for improved boot speed
When you’re finished, restart Windows and enjoy a faster computer

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Tip 4

Your Personal Auto-Pilot: Use advanced settings to tune iolo’s patented ActiveCare to adapt to how you work and play.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click ActiveCare -> Automated Tasks
Set the options you want System Mechanic to perform automatically to Enabled
Click the Options link in the upper right corner of System Mechanic’s screen, and then click Edit Advanced Options under the ActiveCare tab
Review and edit ActiveCare’s advanced options and then click Save twice to store your preferences
Enjoy a fast, reliable, trouble-free PC that’s taken care of automatically the way you want

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Tip 5

Your PC’s Report Card: Print a comprehensive system diagnosis using System Mechanic’s Printable Report option.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Dashboard -> Overview
Click the Re-Analyze link and select Perform Quick Analysis
If problems are found, click the View Problem(s) button to review your system diagnosis
Click the Create a printable report link at the bottom of the problem list
Save the report to a convenient location and System Mechanic will then open the file folder in Internet Explorer
Double click the report file to view it in your web browser
Use your browser’s print option to print a copy, or attach the file to an email to send it to friend or colleagues

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Tip 6

Rewind Remediation: Reverse changes made by System Mechanic using SafetyNet.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click the SafetyNet link in the upper right part of the screen
Select the action type(s) and date(s) you want to reverse
Click Undo, then click Selected (x action[s]), and then click Yes to complete the undo processBonus Tip: To inspect the details a specific action, select it in the list, click Export, then save the XML file to a convenient location, and then double click the file to read it in your web browser

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Tip 7

Download Low-Down: Use System Mechanic to quickly see if your download speed measures up to expectations.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Reports -> IntelliStatus
Scroll down to Internet Speed
Click Measure Now to have System Mechanic test and report your download bandwidth

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Tip 8

HD MD: Check your hard drive’s health and operating status with System Mechanic’s DriveSense tool.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Individual Tools -> Perform Diagnostics
Find DriveSense within Perform Diagnostics and click Start
System Mechanic will inspect the hard drives on your system and display a list
Click the [+] next to any hard drive to get more details
For more info on the drive attributes System Mechanic monitors, click Help

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Tip 9

Computer Anatomy 101: Take a deep look under the hood using System Mechanic’s comprehensive System Information Report.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Individual Tools -> Perform Diagnostics
Find Advanced System Information within Perform Diagnostics and click Start
System Mechanic will deeply inspect your PC and display a list comprehensive report
Explore the System Details report for a complete inventory of your PC
To save the System Details report click Report -> Save to XML, and choose a convenient filename and location.
Double click the report file to view it in your web browser. Use your browser’s print option to print a copy, or attach the file to an email to send it to friend or colleagues.

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Tip 10

Game On: Gain a competitive edge by using EnergyBooster™ before running high-intensity software such as games, audio/video editing products, or graphics-intensive apps.

Here’s how:

Start System Mechanic and click Toolbox -> Individual Tools
Find EnergyBooster within Maximize Performance and click Start
Click the Default Mode option and click Next
Click the Automatic option, select Typically Not Used, Dangerous, and Unnecessaryboxes, and click Next
Click Yes to begin the optimization and system resource recovery.
Now enjoy your favorite games and high-intensity apps at maximum performance.