I know I am always talking about some of the great free software that is out there to be had with a simple download, but today, I am going to freely admit that I just made a software purchase that I think is going to be very helpful.
I say "think" because I haven't tried it out yet. I am only going by what I read...and what I read has been very good. The program is called "System Suite 7," by VCOM. It is a collection of over 60 helpful utilities, many of which I plan to try out right away. Now if you have read my blogs before, you know I usually don't write about any software until I have tried it out. But there is a reason for this change in direction, which I will tell you about shortly.
All this started a couple of weeks ago when I decided to do some research on utilities designed to clean up one's System Registry. The Windows System Registry, as defined by Wikepedia is, "a database which stores settings and options for the operating system for Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, operating system software (and most of non-operating system software too), users, and preferences of the PC and so on. Whenever a user makes changes to "Control Panel" settings, or file associations, system policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the registry."
The registry is a vital part of Windows. You can manually update and change your own registry, but if you make a mistake or erase something you shouldn't, you could wind up in deep doo-doo. Your computer might just not boot up. But, one of the problems with Windows is that over time, the registry becomes bloated with information about programs that have long since been deleted from your system or old listings for removed hardware. After a time, the registry can become so big with now-useless information that it can slow down your computer, both at startup and during use.
My computers are about three years old and I got to thinking about my registry, especially since one of my computers is taking a long time to start up. So, with that in mind and the fact it might make the subject of an interesting blog, I started doing some research...hopefully to find a free program that might do the trick.
I soon learned that there were lots of "free" programs out there that could analyze and repair my registry. So I download a few of them and tried them out. And guess what? They found lots of errors, as I suspected, but when I went to repair those errors, all of the "free" software products would repair 2-3 of my errors, but then say I had to buy a "Pro Version" to fix them all.
Well, forget that...at least for now. Since I couldn't find any for free that would do the entire operation, I started thinking about buying a product. So, I looked for reviews of these types of products to look for the best. Initially, I found several sites that reviewed System Registry repair software...and they all highly recommended different products. Then, in doing a little more research, I found that these sites only reviewed this one type of software, leading me to the conclusion that these were "phony" web sites designed to push one particular product, under the guise of being an independent review site.
So I started looking at review sites that I know are legitimate and that I trust. At the PC Magazine web site, I found that they had reviewed several of Registry Repair products. They gave their Editor's Choice Award to a product called Registry Fixer. And after reading the review, I discovered that the program was not available as a stand-alone product. It was included in two separate software utilities packages from VCOM.
The first is Fix-It Utilities Version 7, with a suggested list price of $49.95; and the second is System Suite 7 Professional Version 7, with a suggested list price of $59.95. With the latter, you get more bang for your buck...many more tools for only $10 more. After reviewing the two products I opted for the System Suite 7 as it would be more useful for me.
Before I officially decided to buy, I decided to look for reviews for the System Suite 7 (or earlier versions) to see if the entire product was worth it. I found out early on that the product is a good one, having garnered many Editor's Choice awards. That clinched it for me.
In doing my comparison shopping, I found that the CompUSA web site had both products for $10 less than the manufacturer's list price. But, here is the kicker and why I am writing about this product having not even used it yet. If you purchase the product prior to 1/1/07, there is a $40 rebate on System Suite 7 and a $20 rebate on Fix-It Utilities. That makes the price $9.95 for System Suite 7 and $19.95 for Fix-It Utilites (plus shipping and tax).
To me, that makes this really worth doing, especially after I decided I wanted to do it anyway. It isn't as good as free, but it ain't bad. I just thought I would let you know about this great buy before it was too late.
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