Easily clean an XP PC for a new Win7 install

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	LANGALIST PLUS Easily clean an XP PC for a new Win7 install
	By Fred Langa Everything needed to give Win7 the freshest-possible start on your XP system is included right on the Windows setup disc. By skipping the Win7 setup defaults, you can even selectively repartition and reformat your XP drive(s) to give Win7 a totally clean slate.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/langalist-plus/easily-clean-an-XP-PC-for-a-new-Win7-install/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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I noticed that the problem with Soluto in this article was being experienced on an Win-XP machine. I manage a small number of laptop/desktop machines. Win 7 (64 bit) machines take to Soluto like a duck to water, but I have had to remove Soluto from all Win-XP (32 bit) machines due to the software being counterproductive. Soluto does a marvelous job to Win-7 64 bit platforms, but not Win-XP and perhaps it is not productive on Win 7 32 bit machines, but I cannot state this as fact. Phasr

Phasr, Sonoran Desert

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I had noticed the same CPU consuming behavior on XP. I simply exit Saluto after the boot is complete. Hasn’t been a big deal if I forget to do it for a while.

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In regards to Soluto, I downloaded and installed it after reading the initial recommendation, but until I read the segment on it in this week’s column, I hadn’t realized it had silently updated itself and now ran continuously in the background. I’ve recently been having some odd problems with my machine seizing up for a couple of seconds at a time every few minutes, and decided that uninstalling Soluto was worth the old college try.

I have never encountered an uninstall like Soluto’s before — it actually attempts to guilt trip you into aborting the process! It displays a large window featuring an animated display that very boldly informs you that if you continue, all the changes it has made for you will be undone — including things it doesn’t have to undo to uninstall, such as disabling programs in your startup sequence. If you ignore its strongly-worded recommendation to leave it unmolested, it then proceeds to a custom uninstall display that ticks off one by one every little thing it’s undoing, almost maliciously pointing out all the favors it will no longer be performing for you.

I had some doubts about uninstalling Soluto before I started — I’m certainly not convinced that it’s responsible for my system’s odd behavior — but after seeing its passive-aggressive uninstall, I’m not sure I’ll want to reinstall it if I find something else is the cause. There’s just something a little tacky and somewhat suspicious about an uninstall that, instead of immediately doing what you want, tells you “you don’t really want to do that” and makes you go through extra steps; it almost smacks of malware.

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I tried Soluto when you first mentioned it about March. My impressions are:
Big promises. Flashy installation and running. Mediocre results.
Previous boot time about 2 minutes. After Soluto it varied, 1.5 to 2.5 min. Not an improvement.
I don’t want a continuously running program like this so I junked it.

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I agree with the posts in this thread. I tried it briefly when I still had my P4, but now that I’ve upgraded to an i5 ,z68 mobo and SSD boot drive, I see absolutely no need for it.

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I haven’t used Soluto for a long time but when i used it, I just used it to tell me which startup apps were taking up the most boot time, manually removing them and the disable Soluto. I do my startup cleaning manually myself but it was useful to see which apps are really slowing down boot. I wouldn’t leave Soluto active long term though.

Jerry

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I tried Soluto once – for a couple of days, it didn’t do what it promised and it got in my way big time, hence it got trashed

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I have had Soluto for sometime now and agree with most — It is long on promises, but short on results. However, it is interesting to see what it comes up with, so I keep it running on my XP32. It does not seem to hog resources.

There are a couple of options that automate what some posters are doing. Right Click “Advanced” on the Soluto tray icon and you can uncheck “Enable Crash Handler.” If this doesn’t eliminate much of the background memory use, then surely the second option will. Just check “Exit After Boot,” and Soluto should monitor your boot and then exit, automatically. To open Soluto after that, just use the short cut in the Programs Menu.

These two options should tame Soluto in the manner suggested. If not, do what others have suggested — Trash it!

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