3rd Party PC Optimizers - Real Fix or Just Snake Oil?

Hello Steemians! I have been kicking around some ideas for a tech blog for a while and decided to give it a go on Steem! We will cover topics like new tech innovations, discussions on hardware and software, PC build guides, and since I'm a gamer at heart, even some PC and console game reviews! Upvote and resteem or let me know in the comments below if you would like to see more posts like this one! Today's topic is 3rd-party PC optimizing applications. Do they work? Or are they just a snake oil that claims to cure all ails?

A couple of years ago, a relative of mine somehow ended up with some malware on her PC. She started getting pop-ups from a program called "Internet Security 2015" telling her that her PC was infected. It asked for her payment information to install the full version and claimed that it would clean up and optimize her PC. Of course, she panicked and entered her credit card info. A few days later, she called me after she started receiving calls from tech support scammers. First, I had her contact Fraud Services to cancel the card she used to install the program. Luckily, she had good backups so we just installed a fresh copy of Windows and restored her data from backups.

Recently, I noticed there are a ton of videos on YouTube that claim to improve your PC performance by optimizing Windows settings, updating drivers, enabling parked processing cores, etc. I am sure some of these things will legitimately help your PC to run smoother and improve performance, such as installing the latest driver updates for your PC hardware which will likely include stability and performance fixes from the manufacturers.

I have also noticed, however, that a lot of these videos recommend using PC optimizers such as CCleaner and speed boosting programs like Advanced SystemCare. Aside from the fact that most of these free optimizers usually come bundled with tons of bloatware and software offers (some of which may actually be malware - make sure you pay close attention to what you are agreeing to in the installer!), I am skeptical of any software that makes claims that your PC is in bad health and in desperate need of their software to function properly.

For example, I recently installed a fresh copy of Windows and at a friend's suggestion I also installed Advanced SystemCare for its Speed Boost option in the hopes that it might squeeze slightly faster framerates from my outdated AMD FX-4300 CPU.

I was genuinely surprised when I ran a full system scan and it claimed to have found 9,798 browser security issues and 292 registry errors (see attached). As I said, this was a fresh install of Windows. It only had a few applications and the latest Windows updates installed (Chrome, Firefox, AVG Free, Steam, CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare and a few mainstream games downloaded from Steam).

Also, I had just finished running CCleaner and scanned and fixed several registry errors that it claimed to have discovered just before running Advanced SystemCare.

My theory is that most of these supposed optimizers and speed boosters aren't actually fixing much if anything at all and they are just a ploy to get you to install other bundled bloatware and malware.

I did a search to see if I could find any benchmark tests on the various PC optimizers available but came up dry. What are your thoughts on this? Do you use third party optimizing software? If so, which ones and do they honestly make any kind of noticable difference in your computer's performance?

I am currently working as a Systems Analyst for medical software while also working on my Bachelor of Science Degree in Application and Database Design. I have two kids and a wife and I live in rural wine country in Eastern WA, US. I love to find ways to breath new life into old hardware with innovative solutions like Linux and DD-WRT. I love to talk shop and write about new innovations in technology and energy!