WinSpeedUp 2.52 ($15) shows good manners by saving your current configuration on start-up so you can revert back to it if your changes don't work. With a rich, tab-based interface, the program offers 14 pages of detailed tweaks, tips, and tunings. WinSpeedUp didn't improve our system's performance, but it has a lot of handy features, ranging from niceties like its Start menu editor to the esoteric Windows 98 RAM alignment utility. It also simplifies the process of getting to Windows' hard-to-find built-in utilities, such as the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, Regedit, and Msconfig. Though it's not as comprehensive as PC Accelerator XG and lacks in-depth help, WinSpeedUp is practical and user-friendly. It's the best value in Windows tweaking among the products we looked at in this category.

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