An Ultimate PC-Gaming Tweak

http://i.domaindlx.com/bmproductions...close/icon.gifSmartClose

Run SmartClose to close all your systemtray applications and your games will run much faster!

http://i.domaindlx.com/bmproductions...ns/smartclose/

It really works. I've noticed a nice drop in lag and gain in fps.

SmartClose is a free program that will automate the process of closing all running programs. It can also save the state of the system to a system snapshot, so all the programs that have been closed can be also easily restarted later by SmartClose.

Description

Many tasks that can be performed on PC's these days require you to close all currently running programs. For example, almost every installer asks you to close all other applications to minimize conflicts and to avoid replacing in-use files. Other high-end tasks, such as burning CD's and defragmenting or scanning hard drives can slow down or even fail when other processes 'kick in', like background programs, the screen saver or a scheduled task.
Of course, you can manually exit each program one by one, disable the screen saver… That is when SmartClose comes in! SmartClose will automatically close all running programs, disable the screen saver and halt all other processes that can interrupt without asking.
But what when you have finished the task that required you to use SmartClose and you want to restore the programs and such that were disabled by SmartClose? Restart the computer? No, because before SmartClose closes or disables anything, it will first save the current state of the system (running programs, screen saver…) to a 'system snapshot', that can later be opened and restored again by SmartClose.

Some other features of SmartClose:

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Two wizards: the Close Programs wizard, for closing all the programs, and the Restore wizard, to restore a system snapshot. Both provide an intuitive and clear interface - the latest Windows 2000/XP wizard style - and assist you step by step.
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Thanks to its SmartClose-technology, most programs can be properly closed, so that the program can still save its settings and return memory and resources to the system.
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In the rare cases that a program can't be properly closed, SmartClose can use SmartKill to kill the program. Still, all the memory and resources used by the program will be freed with this method.
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If you don't want a program to be closed or killed by SmartClose, you can add it to a list of 'Protected Programs'.
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Besides closing programs, SmartClose also closes Explorer and Internet Explorer windows and saves their current location, so they can be restored properly later.
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Disables and restores the screen saver.
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Stops and restarts Windows NT/2000/XP-services, such as the Task Scheduler, that can interrupt other processes. On Windows 9x/Millennium, the Task Scheduler can also be disabled and re-enabled.
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And finally, you get all of these features for free! SmartClose is 100% freeware without any nag screens, trial periods, ads, spyware etc.

hmmm.. sounds interesting, going to try it out!

sounds cool :)

cool, installed it. how do you "add" the program you WANT to run, like I want to run FS2004, but close/kill all the others, how do I do that?

I am afraid to use it.

did it work for anyone?

yeah im wondering the same thing too. i odnt wanna experience any possibility of a windows artifact..

so this basically just removes programs that take up ram? what if the game you run doesn't use up all your ram?

If it disables everything that means that it will also disable my Firewall too and since i'm on DSL without a router my pc will be vulnerable right?

I wouldn't rush to install it...

well hl2 wont run if this thing is on (or does its thing, w/e). make sure u disconnect urself from the net if u plan on using this, cuz it disables everything including AV and Anti-Spyware+firewalls, so ya. But it doesnt matter to me cuz hl2+steam gave me an error, and yes, those 2 programs were on the "safe" list.

I see... well I never really had ram problems and i am not in the mood to disconnect and reconnect every time i wanna play a game therefore i'll just pass..

If anyone doesn't really bother with that, well, thats your risk! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpt_azad

well hl2 wont run if this thing is on (or does its thing, w/e). make sure u disconnect urself from the net if u plan on using this, cuz it disables everything including AV and Anti-Spyware+firewalls, so ya. But it doesnt matter to me cuz hl2+steam gave me an error, and yes, those 2 programs were on the "safe" list.

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you have to check "program is unsafe". That way, SmartClose wont close em.

I use SmartClose everytime I want to play Halflife 2. Works much better, because it always frees up 200-300mb of my memory being used by background apps. When I'm done, I just restore all the open apps and everything is back to normal. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfmight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpt_azad

well hl2 wont run if this thing is on (or does its thing, w/e). make sure u disconnect urself from the net if u plan on using this, cuz it disables everything including AV and Anti-Spyware+firewalls, so ya. But it doesnt matter to me cuz hl2+steam gave me an error, and yes, those 2 programs were on the "safe" list.

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you have to check "program is unsafe". That way, SmartClose wont close em.

I use SmartClose everytime I want to play Halflife 2. Works much better, because it always frees up 200-300mb of my memory being used by background apps. When I'm done, I just restore all the open apps and everything is back to normal. :)

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program is unsafe? ok ill give it a try (i thought u'd make it "safe", but ill give it a try), also do u need to do it for only steam AND hl2 (or just hl2) or do u need to do it for some other prog.?

Does it close all of the svhosts and vital windows processes?

no

@Wolfmight wow. how many proccesses do you have running?
and when the prog takes a system snapshot, does that mean that when it restores everything, everything is the way it was before? Like if you had photoshop open, everything will open up the way it was before? Or would it just open up photoshop?

this sounds interesting ill keep it in mind once i get a new comp:)

I have my desktop running with 13 mendatory windows process all the time. System is blazing fast and stable @ 13 processes. I'll post a screeny later.

I doubt SmartClose can shut down svhost processes and other vital exes like smss.exe or system.exe, with that said, it's pretty much useless because you can shut down non-essential processes with task manager

sounds good :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seedler

I have my desktop running with 13 mendatory windows process all the time. System is blazing fast and stable @ 13 processes. I'll post a screeny later.

I doubt SmartClose can shut down svhost processes and other vital exes like smss.exe or system.exe, with that said, it's pretty much useless because you can shut down non-essential processes with task manager

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It's a lot harder to open them back up that way tho. ;)

Here's a screeny

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...askmanager.jpg

I get a 20%-30% performance increase when I close everything

show-off :dry:

pwned. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seedler

I get a 20%-30% performance increase when I close everything

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IN GAMES?

I use SmartClose on machines I am cleaning up. I can't have all their crappy Spyware open, or else things will take twice as long. I can't tell you how many times I hear people talking about those Taskbar Weather programs and how great they are. 90% of em are popin up ads and crap.
They complain about pop-ups when their not even using IE, LoLz that's funny stuff.