Ashampoo WinOptimizer is a powerful system optimization tool that cleans your disks and keeps your machine running at constant speed. It also protects your privacy and allows you to customize Windows individually. Apart from 3 different cleaning modules, the application offers about 30 tools that cover all tasks around maintenance, tweaking, system analysis, performance boosts and file processing (encrypt, split). Ashampoo WinOptimizer is the best choice to clean, optimize and protect your PC. It frees disk space, fixes errors and ensures steady performance. Ittackles the shortcomings of Windows and provides you with a faster, cleaner and leaner system. Numerous auto-features make setting it up a matter of just a few clicks, no prior knowledge required!

Like many other tune-up utilities, Ashampoo WinOptimizer is a digital toolbox containing many performance-boosting applications. The features are numerous, so I’ll mention just a few here. I’ll focus on the new features unique to the paid version. The new Task Scheduler lets you set the System Maintenance tool or One Click Optimizer (an icon you click to run all the programs) so that it automatically runs at set intervals. You can set it to run daily, weekly, or monthly,

ADS Scanner, another new feature, analyzes your PC’s files for alternative data streams, information points that can cause your PC to fall victim to browser hijackers. It’s a potentially good addition to your general PC security package. On the topic of security, Ashampoo WinOptimizer includes Windows 10 Privacy Control and Antispy, tools that you give you control over the data that Windows collects. The two apps let you decide which passwords, telemetry data, or photos should be kept private.

I tested Ashampoo WinOptimizer’s ability to clean a crapped-up Windows PC by performing two tests: I ran the Geekbench system performance tool and measured boot times—before and after running the tune-up utility—to measure speed improvements. I ran each test three times, and then averaged the numbers.

Before I ran WinOptimizer to clean up the system, my testbed—which has an Intel Core i5 CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, 8GB of RAM, 2TB hard drive, and the Windows 10 operating system—booted in a lengthy 2 minutes and 32 seconds. The rig scored 1,301 on Geekbench’s Single-Core test, 5,960 on the Multi-Core test, and 182,137 on the Compute Score test.

As expected, I saw significant test score improvements after running WinOptimizer. My testbed’s boot time dropped to 1 minute and 10 seconds, while the Single-Core, Multi-Core, and Compute Score numbers rose to 1,397, 5,973, and 182,394, respectively. The new boot time placed just 2 seconds behind Iolo System Mechanic’s 1 minute and 8 seconds category-leading mark. WinOptimizer didn’t claim a top spot in any of the four testing categories, but it put up decent numbers across the board. In fact, I experienced snappier performance when using resource-heavy applications, such as iTunes and Steam.

Obviously, Ashampoo WinOptimizer positively impacts your PC, but you may wonder how its improvements compare with those that come from Windows 10’s own tune-up apps. WinOptimizer topped Windows 10 in just one area: boot time (1 minute and 10 seconds versus 1 minute and 14 seconds). However, that doesn’t mean Ashampoo isn’t a worthy purchase.

For starters, WinOptimizer has all of its system-enhancing tools in one convenient location. With Windows 10, you have a Disk Defragmenter, Storage Sense, and Startup applications, but they’re all located in different places within the operating system. There’s no one button—or even one interface—that activates them all.

Plus, Ashampoo includes File Wiper (permanently deletes files for security), File Manipulator (splits files into multiple parts for emailing or copying to media), Disk Doctor (searches the hard drive for errors), and Duplicate Finder (finds and deletes duplicate files). Admittedly, Windows 10 has a feature that overwrites deleted data, Cipher, but it requires firing up Windows Powershell and tinkering with the command line. You probably don’t want to do that every time you want to securely delete a file.