CleanSweep 95 |
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by James T. (Tom) Lassiter |
Looking for an uninstall utility that will do a number of other practical, nifty tricks? This may well be the one for you. Despite its name, it has versions for Windows 3.x, 95, and even NT. It is easy to install, easy to use (within reason), and of course it will uninstall itself. It works by popping up a screen when you install new programs and monitors those installations so they can be completely uninstalled later. It will also attempt to uninstall programs from prior to its installation, but maybe not as successfully.
CleanSweep 95 has five Program Wizards: (1) Uninstall - removes programs, including all the scattered files in your system, not just those in your program directory; (2) Archive - compresses infrequently used programs and uncompresses them when you call for them again; (3) Backup - creates a compressed backup file without deleting the program; (4) Move - moves programs to another drive or directory, while maintaining links for other programs; and (5) Transport - replicates a program and all its scattered files for transport to another computer.
It has Cleanup routines to vanquish wasted space on your harddrive. Again there are five (is five a magic number with Quarterdeck?): (1) Duplicate File Finder, (2) Redundant DLL Finder, (3) Unused File Finder, (4) Low File Usage and (5) Orphan Finder (No, not THAT kind of orphan - orphaned FILES! You can just expect so much out of software).
Cleanup routines present lists of files, and options to delete them and back them up - highly recommended. If you back up a file then it is restorable, and you can later delete the backup file to permanently recover the disk space. It will also offer Advise on files that should be kept, and which ones may be discarded. It actually prohibits the deletion of some files which are essential to your system. Caution: it is tempting to delete the files presented but you may regret this later. Don't be too quick to delete!
It bases its Advise on file dates, version numbers, and frequency of access. These actions are not for the faint of heart. Some fair knowledge of files and their purposes is recommended by this author. It provides options of seeing which programs use files being considered for deletion, and the links used by them. A little DOS knowledge goes a long way in using these features.
CleanSweep 95 uses Windows 95's viewers, which excludes ZIP, GIF, DBF, TIF, and PCX files. Quarterdeck expects future versions to be less dependent on Windows 95 for viewers.
This program uninstalled a beta test program that had put files everywhere, crashed my system, provided every error message known to mankind, and required reboot in Safe Mode. It made a friend of me for life. It also freed up 28 megabytes of disk space as a starter. A Trial Version is available at http://www.qdeck.com. Try it. With an estimated street price of only $29.95, I think you'll like it.
Quarterdeck has long led the pack in memory managers - from DOS to Windows 3.x and now Windows 95. QEMM8 (Quarterdeck Expanded Memory Manager, Version 8) includes versions for all three operating systems. While Windows 95 handles memory better than its predecessors, even it benefits from this helpful program. MS-DOS and Windows 3.x practically BEG for its assistance.
When asked "How much memory do you have in your PC?", we normally respond with the RAM (Random Access Memory) we have installed - "I've got 16 megabytes". But how much do you really know about memory? Do you understand these memory terms - conventional, upper, extended (XMS), high memory area (HMA), expanded (EMS), physical, virtual, linear, and system resources memory? Confused? Fear not; for QEMM8 knows about these even if you don't. And particularly if you don't, perhaps you ought to have QEMM8.
QEMM8's Optimize feature reorganizes the way your system uses memory. While somewhat similar to DOS's MemMaker routine, Optimize really is a giant step ahead. It produces the most dramatic results if you are running a lot of DOS programs or games, or even Windows 3.x. However, it did make available an additional 40K of conventional memory (the lower part or first 640K of RAM) on my Windows 95 system and produced a noticeable difference in speed.
Manifest is the system reporting feature. It provides a detailed description of your system and its memory. It is an education just to read through the screens of data it provides. It can be very helpful during technical support calls. QEMM8 knows more about your memory than you will ever want to know. But who really cares? What matters is that it will MANAGE that memory to allow your PC to work faster and more efficiently than you can do by yourself.
MagnaRam, the RAM memory multiplying feature, is included in QEMM8, but is sold separately as MagnaRAM 2 at $29.95 - so it represents about half of the program's cost of $64.95. MagnaRam performs a Windows RAM compression, taking 25% of the physical RAM memory for its compression buffer. It may admittedly slow program loading when it has to intercept and compress data before sending it to the RAM buffer, but is supposed to speed the access of programs to needed data and thereby provide an overall increase in operating speed. With cheap RAM memory readily available these days, I'd rather buy more RAM before relying on a RAM compression algorithm. You may elect to install/not install this option. QEMM8 is designed to be installed and then let run in the background unless you want some information, education, or care to try and tweak your PC a bit. It was easy to install and I found it to be a very informative, useful addition to my stable of utilities. More information is available at http://www.qdeck.com/. NOTE: QEMM8 and CleanSweep95 are installed on the our Win95-based systems. This does not constitute an endorsement by HAL-PC. It is for members' information only.
Tom Lassiter is a HAL-PC member. He is Chair of the Steering Committee of the Build or Buy a PC SIG, emcees that weekly SIG meeting, and is webmaster of that SIG's internet homepage at http:// www.hal-pc.org/~jamesl/borbsig. He is a HAL-PC Ambassador to the America OnLine (AOL) User Group Forum, was one of the initial HALNet beta testers, and performs software beta testing. Tom may be contacted at jamesl@hal-pc.org/.
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