My laptop was really tired. I use it every single day and it wasn’t exactly the premium model even when I bought it. I purchased Kris Mainieri’s PC Secret Formula awhile back and wrote a review at the time (PC Secret Formula: Bring your PC Back to Life). I was incredibly satisfied with the immediate and immense improvement in my PC’s performance – and that was with a fairly new PC that was just getting sluggish.
Since then, I have used some of the tools Kris discusses in the guide, but I hadn’t run through the entire process since I first bought it. But when my laptop was getting so tired that it took over three minutes from the time I pressed Start –> Shut Down to even see the Stand By/Turn Off/Restart option menu, I pulled the Secret Formula report out and followed it to the T.
Though it had worked amazingly well for my PC, I wasn’t sure my laptop could regain much speed. It honestly didn’t have a whole lot of punch to begin with – though it definitely does the job – so I was just hoping to perhaps decrease my wait time for booting and launching programs by at least a little bit. Man was I shocked when, even just a few steps into the formula my old, tired laptop was relatively screaming-fast. I’m almost positive it’s now faster than it was when I first got it. And I’m definitely sure that my internet speed and browser performance are better than ever.
Before I started the step-by-step PC Secret Formula, I took some baseline measurements just so I could see the improvements later. Before I share the results, here are my laptop’s basic specs:
- Dell Inspiron 1200
- 760 MB RAM
- 1.3 gHz Celeron processor
- Windows XP (a tweaked “Black” version) with SP 3
- 40 GB Hard drive
- Connected to Cable internet wirelessly from a Belkin PCMCIA card to a Linksys router at the other end of the house and upstairs
Like I said, not exactly the powerhouse of the century, but not ready for the bin either. And now … wow. If it weren’t for the stickers and the desktop full of icons I’d think someone had swapped my machine with another, newer, more souped-up model. And it’s not as if I ignore maintenance on my laptop. I regularly defrag, clean the registry and clear out unnecessary files. But none of those things did what the PC Secret Formula did.
Before I followed the formula, my most robust application – Photoshop – was taking more than three minutes to load and was barely worth using it ran so slowly. Not it loads in less than thirty seconds and runs just as fast on the laptop as it does on my powerhouse PC. It’s amazing. Truly. My boot and Windows load time went from nearly five minutes to less than one.
Though you can check out the other review, I have to tell you that there is nothing special about most of the applications in Kris’ formula. They are all free (except one which has a 30-day free trial) and mostly well-known. The key is the combination of these applications and the system Kris has created. There is a good reason why it is called the PC Secret Formula. You could run all of these programs randomly and you might see a bit of a boost in performance, but in the right order with the right settings, Kris has created a formula that is nothing short of technological magic.
Let me be clear here. It is important to follow the instructions precisely and in the given order. The guide is extremely user-friendly; written in clear steps with links to download all the necessary applications. The only fault I can find with the PC Secret Formula is that you have to reboot your system quite a few times so it does take about an hour to complete it. However, each time you reboot you will notice your PC’s performance improving. Folders suddenly spring open, multiple Firefox tabs load in seconds and everything just feels new again.
After investing a bit of time to download the applications and follow the formula, my laptop is still as old as it was a few hours ago (well, older, technically), but it is anything but tired. The PC Secret Formula is on sale right now for $47 (from the regular $147, but if you click to close the page, you’ll receive an extra 50% off offer). This is a huge bargain and I suggest you snap it up. This is one of the best ebook guide I have ever purchased and you can use it again and again to keep your PC healthy and running like new.
To get free PC optimization tips from Kris, you can visit Slow PC Tips. There are some great videos here, but they don’t go into nearly as much depth and generally apply to various pieces of your system rather than improving the overall performance. I still consider PC Secret Formula to be well worth the money. I was ready to buy a new laptop before I discovered this formula so it literally saved me at least a thousand dollars.
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