Computers don't age particularly well. They slow down not only as their hardware becomes more out of date, but also as the operating system gets clogged up with all sorts of detritus (especially if it hasn't been maintained very well). Enter stage left Auslogics BoostSpeed, which aims to clean up all the mess and further improve operating system and Internet surfing speeds with a diverse range of tweaks.

Cleaning is where any operating system overhaul should begin, and BoostSpeed comes with a simple disk cleaner that flushes out browser cache and temp files. A startup manager, another typical inclusion in PC fitness programs, highlights all the programs loaded on boot-up and lets you disable any unnecessary application pre-loading.

Both these modules are on the basic side, although the registry cleaner is more fleshed out. By default, it only deals with safe areas of the registry so computing novices don't have any tricky decisions to make about whether to delete certain entries or not.

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If you're a savvy user, you can go ahead and enable the other categories for a full registry sweep. We tested the Auslogics effort against another well known registry cleaner and it performed well, finding a number of errors that were missed by the competing program.

Post cleaning, Windows is ready for the optimisation and tweaking sections of the package. There's a registry defragmenter, and BoostSpeed has its own disk defragmenter which runs a little faster than Microsoft's. Both are one-click-and-go utilities, as is the Internet optimisation section, which streamlines your browser settings (both Firefox and IE) and network connection (tweaking MTU values and numerous other buffers and settings).

We tested our ping and download speeds using several methods, before and after the application of BoostSpeed's magic, and the result was... a bit of a damp fizzle, really. This is possibly because our PC is already fairly well set up in this respect - examining the log of changes made, we already had some of the suggested values set - but it didn't make any noticeable difference to downloading or surfing.

The program's tweak manager lets you implement a range of other possible adjustments to the Windows environment, turning off fancy effects on menus and fonts and making minor adjustments to the boot-up process. These are clearly explained for the uninitiated, and some of the suggestions are definitely useful for those running slower PCs.

BoostSpeed also contains some security measures, including a file shredder (for secure deletion of data, though it doesn't specify what security standard it uses), and a disk wiper (which wipes free space on the disk to ensure files that have been previously erased leave no trace).

Additionally, a track eraser scans your browsers and removes all cookies and history, plus it'll deal with programs, blanking Windows Media Player's history and so forth. These extra security goodies are certainly welcome on top of the optimisation elements.

Finally, it's worth mentioning the service manager. This breaks down all the processes running on your machine and provides a handy explanation of what each one is, so you can decide if they're really needed should you be trying to trim your system overheads. If you've ever sat looking at your task manager, scratching your head about what all those funny little names might be, it provides some helpful guidance.

This is a smart little program that novice users will find handy, and it does a good job of explaining itself and the various tweaks it offers. There are strengths and weaknesses here; we didn't find the net optimisation made any real difference, but depending on the state of your PC it might do. The inclusion of some security related extras rounds BoostSpeed off nicely.