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Basic Reviews provided by Mike McLain Basic Training Educational Services, LLC
PCMover by LapLink Software Reviewed May 2007 (This review originally appeared on the Mountain View Computer User Group website, www.mvcug.org) Introduction Other migration solutions are available, such as
Microsoft’s Windows Easy Transfer, which will transfer user data files and
program settings. PCMover, however,
also claims the ability to transfer installed application programs between old
and new PCs. This claim makes it
unique among migration solutions. Setup LapLink provided a review copy of PCMover as well as a
LapLink USB cable for use in this review. The
cable is not strictly necessary, as the migration can also be done using a local
area network or a flash drive. However,
as novice users are likely to purchase the cable for use with this software,
this review was done using the cable. PCMover was tested between two laptop systems.
The old (source) PC was a four year old Toshiba Satellite using Windows
XP Service Pack 2. The new
(destination) PC was a three month old Toshiba Satellite using Windows Vista.
The Vista PC has had very little customization done to it, and is almost
in the same condition as when it came out of the box.
This setup replicates the expected typical conditions:
a user who has purchased a new Vista PC and who wants to transfer his
programs and data from his old XP PC to it. Using the Product Setup of both software and hardware was straightforward.
A single page of documentation in the package emphasizes the order of
installation and usage of the product for successful migration:
The serial number found on the CD cover must be entered to
activate the full version of the software. Without
this number, the software is in trial mode, in which it can be used to transfer
data files, but not programs or settings. Following this setup, a full migration was conducted from
the old to new PC, using the default program settings.
A total of 21 GBs of data was transferred in slightly over three hours. PCMover also claims the ability to undo a migration, should
that be necessary. After verifying
the success of the migration, PCMover was invoked again to verify this claim.
The migration was reversed in ten minutes, leaving both PCs in their
original state. Observations Installation of the product was not difficult, and the
product itself was easy to use. However,
a few idiosyncrasies were noted. Early in the software installation process, the user is
encouraged to click a button to check for software updates.
If one is found, the installation is aborted, the update is downloaded
from the LapLink website, and the software must be installed again before
starting the installation process. It
might be easier to just tell the user in the documentation to check for updates
before starting installation. The installation process emphasizes to the user not to
connect the USB cable until after installation of the software.
However, if the user runs the software prior to connecting the cable, he
is instructed to close the program, connect the cable, and begin again. The installation process takes pains to present useful
information to the user, such as liability warnings and information regarding
licensing issues when migrating applications.
However, at least twice windows are presented which indicate clicking on
the next button will initiate a certain action.
Instead, another window will open rephrasing what is about to happen, and
again asking for the user to click the next button.
This adds unnecessary length to the installation process and tends to be
aggravating. The documentation warns the user to disable any running
applications, especially firewalls and antivirus.
However, entering the serial number includes a validation process in
which the program must be connected to the Internet.
This could lead to a user being vulnerable to a worm while using the
program if not located behind a router. Setting up the migration itself has very few options.
This prevents a novice user from getting into trouble, but is also
limiting to an advanced user. The
major shortcoming of PCMover is that there is no way prior to the migration to
select which programs will be migrated. Essentially,
it is an all or nothing approach when migrating programs. The migration itself was trouble-free.
Following the migration, it appeared that all programs and settings were
transferred from the XP to the As far as determining which programs that were transferred
over will run under Additionally, another complication that arose is that
PCMover also transferred all platform specific utility programs, including all
of the Toshiba utilities from the old laptop.
The result was that the new Toshiba had both old and new versions of the
same utilities. This could lead to
confusion and problems for the novice user. On the plus side, PCMover migrated over Microsoft Outlook
with all contact and calendar entries intact.
This is something that would probably be of prime importance to most
users. It also detected a user
account on the old PC that was not on the new PC, and offered to migrate that
account as well. Reversing the migration worked quite well.
It only took about ten minutes, and both systems were left in pristine
condition afterwards. Conclusion Overall, PCMover was easy to use, and seems to be designed
specifically with the novice user in mind. The
migration process itself seems to be solid, and the program does what it is
supposed to do. If the user’s goal
is to bring all of their programs and data from their old computer onto the new
one, PCMover does that quite nicely. If
they have a number of programs that are not
Advanced WindowsCare Personal 2.5.5.8 Reviewed November 2007 (This review originally appeared on the Mountain View Computer User Group website, www.mvcug.org) Advanced WindowsCare Personal is a utility program by Iobit. Advanced WindowsCare Personal is an all-in-one Windows maintenance tool for Windows XP and Vista that performs the following functions: Spyware detection, spyware prevention, registry cleaner, system optimization, program startup manager, privacy optimization, and cleaning out junk files. Advanced WindowsCare Personal is free for home use. The Professional version includes the ability to automatically schedule scans on system bootup or shutdown, as well as automatically updating the software. The product is very easy to use, as all the user needs to do is click on scan, and afterwards clicking on repair to perform the suggested functions. Advanced users can examine exactly what changes will take place before allowing the repair to happen. When I tested this system using an older Windows XP notebook, I did not see any repair options that I did not want to happen. The scan found about 1900+ registry errors (not uncommon on an older system that has had a lot of software installed and uninstalled), as well as miscellaneous optimization suggestions, and 250 MB of cache and temp files that could be deleted. After using the repair function I rebooted the system, and it seems to be running well. This is a good all-in-one Windows maintenance utility available at no cost. PC Decrapifier 1.8.8 Reviewed February 2008 (This review originally appeared on the Mountain View Computer User Group website, www.mvcug.org) PCDecrapifier is a utility made by PCDecrapifier. PCDecrapifier removes "bloatware" (limited trial and demo versions of software that often comes preinstalled on new PCs). PCDecrapifier examines a system and presents a list of what it considers to be unnecessary programs installed on a system, as well as possible startup items that a user may not want to run. The list of bloatware can be added to by users at the PCDecrapifier website. However, one person's bloatware is another person's useful program. Using this program properly assumes that the user can look at the list and know what each program does and whether or not they want it. Experienced users can do this without much problem, but newer users may not know which programs they want to rid themselves of. PCDecrapifier can be downloaded from the website and used immediately. It does not require installation, but runs straight from the downloaded executable file. It works on all versions of Windows, including Vista. It is free for personal use, although the author does request a five dollar donation if the personal user finds it useful. For commercial use, the cost is $20 per person, although payment seems to be on the honor system.
PCDecrapifier's primary function is to remove the extra trial and demonstration models of software that tend to come on most PCs these days. Using it is very straightforward. After starting the program, it asks if this is a brand new, out of the box system or an older system. Next, it asks if you want to create a restore point, always a good idea when using software that automatically changes your system. It then scans your system and comes up with a list of what it considers bloatware. At this point, it is up to the user to examine the list and decide what to get rid of and what to keep. I used it on two older systems and what I found most useful was that it gave me the options to remove programs from startup that were using up resources on my system. In particular, I was able to keep the following from starting automatically on reboot: Installshield update, Quicktime (why DOES Apple keep putting that back every time I update iTunes?), Java update, Adobe Reader speed launcher, and MS Messenger Service. It removed these entries from startup very nicely.
The website is quite straightforward that PCDecrapifier is meant to work best on systems that have just been purchased, and may not work as effectively on older systems where software has been loaded and deleted over the years. Actually, the website mentions it probably won't do much of anything on Windows systems older than XP, although it will run on them. It also warns when running the program that the user must take care not to remove versions of software for which the user has paid. For example, one thing it will look for is anything by Symantec, such as Symantec Security Suite or Norton Antivirus, because so many systems come with 90 day trial versions of these products installed. However, many people will go ahead and purchase a subscription of these products. So it is up to the user to determine if this software is an annoyance or a useful security product.
Very simple to use and lets the user maintain complete control over the process. Really works best if you use it immediately on a new system straight out of the box, but it does assume that the user has a pretty good working knowledge of what software should be kept and which should be deleted. Newer users may want to ask for advice from experienced users before deleting everything that PCDecrapifier suggests out of hand.
©2006-2008 Basic Training Educational Services, LLC. Do not reproduce or disseminate without prior written permission. |
