How do I measure computer performance before and after optimizations?

How do I measure computer performance before and after optimizations? I want to either programmatically or manually measure how much PC performance increase I get after using a Windows optimization program. There are several programs on the market that do this and I want to be able to tell which ones do it the best, etc ...
Asked by: Guest \| Views: 339

Total answers/comments: 2

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bert [Entry]

"things usually being optimized are 1)
registry, 2) temp files, 3)
unnecessary files, 4) empty folders,
5) browser history, 6) defragmenting
registry, 7) updating drivers, 8)
defragmenting hard drive, etc ...

'optimizing' the registry is at least debatable, 'temp files' i'd rather delete than optimize :)

In case you're using XP, Bootvis is a great utility to monitor the startup process, CPU benchmarking is rather moot as the measures you're talking about hardly affect the computing power of your processor (unless you tweak the services and/or disable unnecessary/unwanted background programs). You might see an improvement of your HDD performance after defragmenting the drive."

bert [Entry]

PCMark Vantage is a way.