Help avert system crashes - Central Point Software's PC Tools for Windows 2.0 - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, July, 1994 by Angela Gunn

Rating: ****

PC Tools for Windows

Version Reviewed: 2.0

List Price: $180

Average Street Price: $99

Publisher: Central Point Software, (503) 690-8090, (800) 964-6896

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We loved the original (PC Tools 1.0 for Windows, Editors' Picks, January 1994), and now we love the latest: PC Tools 2.0 for Windows. In fact, it may be the best Windows utility on the market; the interface and file- and resource-management features make Windows sing. Stiff drive-space and RAM requirements, however, are proof that excellence often comes at a price.

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Most of version 2.0's features are geared toward improving Windows's reliability or simplifying system maintenance. The System Consultant, which analyzes configurations and makes suggestions for optimizing performance, has a new Do It button that allows people to implement suggestions with a click. The System Consultant is joined by the new INI-Consultant, which provides plain-English explanations, line by line, of INI (such as Windows's WIN.INI and SYSTEM. INI) and boot files--useful for system management and generally educational.

The splashiest new feature, CrashGuard, is a remarkable idea in these days of multimegabyte applications. CrashGuard, which looks much like an automobile instrument panel, monitors memory, resources, and drive space, alerting you

when any of those areas runs low. Given the ample warning (visual and audio alarms)--the reasoning goes--you'll have time to mend your ways and start removing programs from memory or data from the hard drive before you crash the system. Warning thresholds are preset but can be easily adjusted.

People who have the previous version will find most of version 2.0 familiar, from its intelligently designed installation program (which wisely understands that some people don't get around to installing this kind of software until they're desperately trying to fix a system disaster) to its wonderfully intuitive interface. Though you can still use all the terrific utilities via Windows's Program Manager, the PC Tools interface is better--it's everything you wish Program Manager was.

File Manager, improved in this release, is a good example of how well thought out the package really is. File Manager supports more than 100 file viewers (reducing the time and trouble of opening files to find out what's in them), drag-and-drop operations, and the SmartFind and Undelete utilities. It's also PKZip compatible; zipped files show up with a special icon, and clicking reveals the archived file's contents. But other smaller features such as file-type explanations, single-click sorting by file type, and well-designed windows make the difference between a package with great features and a working environment that you don't want to leave.

MultiDesk, enhanced with directory-synchronization capabilities and animated tutorials, provides a multiple-workspace metaphor that has the pleasant feeling of cleaning off your desk before turning to a new project. The desktops, which can contain both applications and folders in iconized form, look a bit like the Macintosh. The MultiDesk bar travels with you from desktop to desktop, showing small images of the various open desktops (very handy if, for instance, you've left an application running in the background and want to keep a thumbnail-size view of it). Desktops are also named for easy reference.

If your system can benefit from excellent monitoring and management utilities, or if you've grown weary of Program Manager's many limitations, purchase PC Tools 2.0 for Windows immediately.

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