The Ten-Minute PC Tuneup

Give me ten minutes and I can help you tune up the PC in your home office. No, really, because if you use our new, nifty Web site, chances are good you'll squeeze a touch more performance from your Windows system. I know, much to my chagrin, I did.

The site is PC Pitstop, and we've recently partnered with them. If you want, you can skip my blabbering, go to PC Pitstop, and have some fun right away.

But remember, people, I get paid by the word, so I can't be stopped.

Here's the PC Pitstop Scoop

PC Pitstop is a free site that looks over your PC--hard drive, memory, monitor, and more--for deficiencies, errors, and ways to improve its performance.

You can ask PC Pitstop for the whole shebang or just a few tests. For instance, in short order it'll determine if your ActiveX settings are correct, fully scan your PC for viruses, or see if your drives need scanning or defragging.

You'd be surprised at what PC Pitstop might find. I certainly was. In the ten minutes it worked on my system, it told me my Internet Explorer settings for the Restricted Sites security zone could expose my PC to intrusion. (Swell news.) I also learned that my cache file settings weren't set correctly and IE's browser cache size was too large.

Dig this: Have you ever landed on the wrong page? (Oh, no, not you, of course not.) But for those of you who have, here's a site that keeps you entertained. Just keep hitting Refresh and see what happens...

Fix Me Up

Wondering if PC Pitstop does anything to your PC while running the diagnostics? Nope, not until you ask it to do something, and even then you have a choice: AutoFix or Manual. Autofix is cool. I just let PC Pitstop use a small applet to adjust IE's Restricted Site settings. (Click here to see how it works.)

OTOH, if you're at all curious about the recommended fix, opt for the manual fix. PC Pitstop walks you through the process with instructions and screen captures. It's a good way to learn more about the inner workings of your PC.

Quick tip: Are you too young to know about the Pause/Break key? It doesn't matter, so is my editor. Here's a trick. If your keyboard has a Windows key, press it and then push the Pause/Break key. Windows' "System Properties" pops up in an instant. Cool, eh?

Keep on Truckin'

Another neat PC Pitstop area is the Mechanics Lesson. The page has links to PCWorld's extensive collection of How It Works articles.

If you're curious about how your PC compares to other PCs taking the test, go to the comparison analysis page. My rude awakening was that my 90MHz 486 wasn't nearly as current as I thought. (Okay, I'm exaggerating, but I wanted to get my editor's attention and maybe get him to replace my ancient 400MHz Pentium.) [Don't count on it. -Ed.]

And for a real kick, grab a cup of coffee and look over the stats that PC Pitstop has collected. They do it anonymously, and you'll see computing trends. For instance, the OS page shows which operating system is the most popular (and when it started losing its popularity) and what Windows versions people use at work and home.

I was shocked, just shocked, at the page showing me everyone else's fast CPU clock speeds and how slow mine is in comparison. [The answer is still "no." -Ed.] There are 13 pages of stats, all with graphs and interpretations, and you can see them all here.

The Forwarding/Upgrade Strategy

Embarrassed because your boss won't provide you with a late-model PC? Just look into his (or yes, her) beady eyes and tell 'em "Bass, that PC World guy with the terrific newsletter, said upgrade me!" Then send them a copy of this column. (And if they upgrade you to a Mac, well, you have my condolences.) Either way, suggest they sign up to get their own copy.

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