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Windows Tweak Tool?

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moerl:
I just wrote up this fat and great post about this... and then Opera crash-closes on me on spell-check. OMFG. I could KILL someone right now. Guess I'll make this short this time around. I can't believe I'm actually taking it upon me to write all this AGAIN right after having been done with it and having lost it all...

I'm looking for the best Windows tweaking tool. I used to think that's X-Setup Pro, but there are several annoying this about it. A brief list:

* Where's the option to display only the tweaks that have been applied by the user? This would be very useful, and if memory serves me right has even been part of X-Setup's feature set in the past, but perhaps that was a different program as well
* It displays some identical tweaks in two or even three places in the tweaks list. I understand some tweaks may fit equally well under more than one category.. but there must be a more elegant solution than to simply throw duplicate entries of those tweaks in the list. That's just evil, ugly and confusing.
* It displays tons of irrelevant tweaks. Not only do I think the option to display Windows-version specific tweaks (WinXP in my case) does not work.. X-Setup also shows you tons of custom tweaks for applications like Nero, MS Office etc. without any of that actually being installed on your system. I understand it's not fair to expect X-Setup to be able to detect just what you have installed on your system, as cool as that would be, but it could at least allow the user to select which tweaks should be displayed in the list, and which ones should be hidden. That way I could customize the tweaks list and make looking at tweaks easier on the eyes and more efficient because I wouldn't have to wade through all the tweaks that are completely irrelevant to my system.
* There's no love in the wizards. The wizards are simply a bunch of tweaks glued together in a chain, forced into a coherent "grouping" so as to make it look like a wizard. There's not much wizardy about it. I guess it makes sense to do this, but something about it just doesn't make it a very convincing feature. I can't exactly pinpoint what that is.
I'm familiar with TuneUp Utilities 2006 as well. Most of you must have heard of it before. While it's great for what it does, it's pretty obvious its target user audience are clueless computer users who find themselves right at home with the pretty colors and nice icons and the easy interface. It's Windows tweaking--the Fisherprice way. While there's nothing inherently bad in that attribute, it does make an advanced user question if that's the right tool for the job... I'm looking for a tweaking utility that's got the power of X-Setup, but none of the dumbness of the latter, and if possible, even more than just the lack of X-Setup's deficiencies, but some actual smartness! Does anybody know of any such tool? There are quite a few Windows tweak utilities out there and it's always been hard to pick the right one. I wonder if the DonationCoder.com crowd can help.

TIA

PS
This time I used Opera's "copy to note" feature just to make sure it doesn't crash on me again like the little beta bitch it can be... and guess what, no problems with the spell-check at all this time. Software can be so random...

kimmchii:
all i use is xp powertoy.

mouser:
i'd love to hear about what people think is best tweaking tool as well..
my top converns are:

* safety - it should prevent me from making any irreversible damage and help me to undo bad setting changes
* help - i want such a tool to explain the settings to me as much as let me change them.
ps.
moerl, i feel your pain.  i've learned when writing long posts to do like i've learned to do with any big writing - save it periodically (to clipboard or worst case a screenshot).

brotherS:
I just wrote up this fat and great post about this... and then Opera crash-closes on me on spell-check. OMFG. I could KILL someone right now.
-moerl (March 28, 2006, 12:30 AM)
--- End quote ---
Like mouser, I made it a habit to always copy big texts to the clipboard whenever I type more than just a few lines. Very helpful. Google Mail does automatically save the text you type every x seconds (saving the email as a draft), lets see when the forums start to copy this helpful feature.

I'm looking for the best Windows tweaking tool. I used to think that's X-Setup Pro, but there are several annoying this about it. A brief list:

--- End quote ---
Those aren't that annoying, http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/XSetup_Pro/933525917/1 is probably still the best choice for pro users.


I'm familiar with TuneUp Utilities 2006 as well. Most of you must have heard of it before. While it's great for what it does, it's pretty obvious its target user audience are clueless computer users who find themselves right at home with the pretty colors and nice icons and the easy interface. It's Windows tweaking--the Fisherprice way.

--- End quote ---
Hehe, nice description :D

JeffK:
Has anybody tried Tweak-XP Pro from www.totalidea.com.  I'm fascinated by the interface.  I have X-Setup Pro but usually struggle to find what I want.

Jeff

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