SuperCharger sets priority of active window to "High" and set other processes to "Normal" priority. This speeds up active window process. That means your active program is always SuperCharged! In addition, SuperCharger will clean temporary files folder by "Clean Temp Now!" menu option.
I have installed but not used it, not checked it how and if it works.
Maybe an alternative to Game booster.
The installation is fast, easy, clean.
Looks good.
graylox
Hi graylox,
I installed and monitored it with Process Lasso and the active window (Firefox in this case) was indeed given High Priority while other processes were switched to Normal - as soon as I switched to a different window that became High Priority, so it does seem to do what it's meant to as far as that goes.
Whether or not you'll see a difference will greatly depend on the system you have. Not sure if it's an alternative to Gamebooster (in that while the game is the active window it will get high priority status) as I'm not a gamer. Hopefully someone else can confirm that.
BTW, the download is about 6MB but that's because the developer bundled some art work they like in the zip file - once you get rid of that the programme installation file is only about 550kb and once installed the files in it's programme folder only total about 421kb!
Thanks for the suggestion for this,
Regards,
Damian
Hi, Damian, thanks for the test. I have no use for it, nothing to speed up, maybe some day when I dare to play one of the big games...
Or I'll try it with Kaspersky's on demand scan, hopefully it needs only 2 days instead of 4 :P
Today's GOTD gave me the opportunity to test it, as the Digital Photo Organizer needed 15 min to scan a folder (and never came to an end).
However, the organizer was unimpressed or just flawed.
This developer has some other nice tools too on his site All Dead'Soul Projects
watcher13
Member
Our game guru's might want to check out the additional projects page, Lady Gray. Glancing down the list, the developer claims to have made a simplified version of the popular DosBox DOS emulator, called DosGameBox. I've seen newbies say here that DosBox takes a little getting used to - haven't tried it myself - so this might be a find. Looks like some interesting stuff on the list. You find these folks every once in a while. Those who understand how to make a lot of simple, small, but effective and useful programs. Maybe this is one.
Good eyes lady gray and watcher. Definitely checking out the dosgamebox
I've been checking out the dosgamebox and I don't like it at all. Some may find it easier as it simply opens the exe or bat immediately. However, to get your game ready to use with dosgamebox, seems like too much of a pain in the butt to me. First you have to right click the icon in your taskbar (which I hate programs who add themselves to the taskbar) select create new package and then enter in all the game's information (name, file location etc.) I think my way is just as easy and it's a one time setup. With this way, you will have to do it for every game you want to play. Oh and don't forget after creating the package, you then have to install it. Sounds promising but, I think it's more of a pain. My way takes 5 minutes tops to set up and it's done for all games.
Update:
So I shut down Process Lasso (after my initial test, so as not to interfere with Supercharger) and things seemed faster - BUT - I then shut down Supercharger as well and my PC seems even better without either application - LOL
There you have it (at least on an older laptop with 1.6 Intel Centrino with 512mb ram running XP SP2 (I refuse to up to SP3) with all hotfixes to date.
Graylox - you actually did help me boost my PC's speed with this recommendation!
I guess less really is more...
Regards - Damian
LOL - Damian, nice to hear, but send your thanks to the developer. :)
I tried it on my second run of the GGOTD HOG "The Mysterious Past of Gregory Phoenix", and yes, it boosts up the game. Even with firefox running in the background.
I'm glad, as I don't trust IOBIT and therefore won't install their game booster.
Thanks Lady Gray!
Hi guys. I am the author of Process Lasso and wanted to write a note about other utilities that do foreground boosting instead of something similar to Process Lasso's ProBalance, which is completely different.
I really hate to disparage any other developer, but I have warned against foreground boosting for a long time. After browsing through your forum posts that mention Process Lasso (soon to be offered as a give-away), I saw this thread about this SuperCharger foreground boosting application.
I wrote a quick blurb about these types of applications (SuperCharger, GameBooster).. here: http://processlasso.blogspot.com/2010/05/yet-another-warning-about-these-booster.html.. This is at least the third time I've written about it.
In short: Setting ANY process priority class to High is dangerous. It can starve critical system processes of CPU cycles. Windows already does foreground boosting by giving longer time slices to foreground threads. Setting the priority class of the foreground process to High is ineffective and can result in priority inversion situations, or possibly even deadlocks in worst case scenarios. What you'd likely see is strange anomalies here and there, as system processes become starved of CPU cycles and can't do necessary functions.
Not only does theory say additional foreground boosting is ineffective, but so does empirical evidence. Process Lasso does offer this feature, but it is disabled by default. I've personally seen many applications and system problems while testing foreground boosting.
Now, can it sometimes boost performance of some applications in some scenarios? Sure, but in such cases it is better to change their default/persistent priority class instead of boosting each process that goes to the foreground to the High priority class. That is not what you want to do, trust me.
Please remember, Process Lasso ProBalance dynamic priority adjustments does NOT do this type of foreground boosting. It uses a much more complex algorithm of LOWERING the priority of select background processes at select times. Also beware of any application that does this without doing it 'intelligently'. I've spent years refining ProBalance, and I'm sure eventually we'll see other developers try mimmick it... especially as I reveal that foreground boosting is NOT the answer.
The LEAST these applications could do is only boost the foreground process to 'above normal' instead of 'High'. That would HELP mitigate some of the many problems that will result from doing foreground boosting.
Ok, back to work for me.. I just wanted to state this yet again, as it really bothers me. It is excessively SIMPLE to code up an application that does foreground boosting, and that's why there are so many. Even applications that mimmick Process Lasso's ProBalance must be coded in an intelligent way, as priority adjustments are not something that can/should be done without understanding throughly the Windows CPU Scheduler.
ibwebb
Member
Well, I wanted to say thank you to jcollake. That all seems to make sense to me what he/she has said. Honestly, in all life it seems an extreme is not a good thing. I was wondering before I got to their post if it was possible have the program set the forward process to a lower setting to than 'High". Anywho, interesting read and I appreciate anyone opinion and post! Thanks again.
@ibwebb: You're welcome. It just bothers me to see understanding like this.
Since my software (Process Lasso) is a process priority optimization utility, I try to share all I know about this field as a general effort to 'give back' to the world.
You are right, as with all things, excess is not good.
I think I know the major source of confusion with process priorities. People THINK that setting a process priority to 'High' is magically going to make it run faster. It is NOT like turbo-charging your automotive engine. The priority of a process is simply used to decide which process should have the most attention paid to it when multiple processes need the same CPU [tech note: actually I should speak of threads in the case of Windows, but its simpler to say processes]. Its a long subject, I've written lots on it.
I've got work to do now, but the simple thing to remember is: "High priority does not mean anything is necessarily going to go faster. It only makes any difference when you have multiple processes with very active threads, which usually isn't the case. It does NOT mean 'make the threads of this process go super fast'". What it does mean is that the natural 'balance' (if you will) of Windows may be thrown completely off.
Read this page for lots more info on this subject. I need to rewrite that page so it is better composed and clear. Ironically, forum and blog posts seem to turn out better, lol.
As a last plug for Process Lasso, let me also say it has a Game Mode. This gaming mode is a lot different than GameBooster and SuperCharger though.
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru
jcollake
Damn, I've just got Process Lasso. A friend purchased it for me. Pity we didn't know about your impending offer beforehand, lol. Though I'm all for supporting developers efforts especially when it's a useful program like yours, so no harm done really. I'd probably have purchased it anyay. Keep up the great work. :)
W.R.
[p.s. thanks pavid) :)
watcher13
Member
Thanks, jcollake. Some interesting technical stuff both here and on your blog. Always appreciate it when a developer lets us take a peak under the hood. Obviously, discussing the nuts and bolts helps build confidence in users that you know what you're doing and also that you are probably more open to feedback.
Delilah
Member
Hmm... I knew there was some reason I never went for any of those process booster programs (okay, I admit it, it was sheer inertia [and not the inertia of motion!]).
I'll be watching for Process Lasso, as I have way too much stuff running to trust Windows to sort it all out.
Jcollake, thanks for the clear and detailed information, and the heads-up on the upcoming giveaway. I too prefer software that simply does what it promises, rather than diverting programming resources to fancy interfaces. (And that's a general observation in response to Jeremy's comments on his website, not referring in any way to the other programs previously discussed in this topic, as I haven't used any of them.)
@Whiterabbit-uk: Thanks for you and your friend's support, and I'm sorry you missed the GOTD give-away. I assume he sent you a license via the free give-away license I offer for every purchase ("buy one, give one free" I call it). If you or your friend wants to email me at support@bitsum.com, maybe I can do something so you and/or your friend doesn't feel like you missed out ;).
@ALL: Thanks for the good vibe here ;). So many forums are filled with trolls and general negativity, but this seems like a great community. As for engaging my customers, I find that they often have great guidance for future versions. So, its a mutually beneficial arrangement ;).
I am a few days behind my own schedule for delivering the trial for the give-away. I hope the offer is still open to me ;o. Assuming I get everything delivered today, I am not sure when it will be scheduled for. That will be up to GOTD management. I was hesitant to do this whole deal, as it is a lot of licenses to give away and I am always one week away from homelessness. That said, I *think* it will be good. It will introduce lots of people to the software, and maybe some of them will upgrade to an Entire Home or Lifetime license.
TYPO: In my previous post I said, 'it bothers me to see understandings'.. Of course, I meant MISunderstandings. I actually like understandings, lol.
Delilah
Member
Process Lasso giveaway is today Friday 21 May 2010. Be sure to check out the Readme file, as I got an activation-complete message before the activation process was completed (you also have to go to the website, enter your email address, and your activation code pops up right there on the page).
Looks good so far. (Finally, a program that gives me some idea of what all those svchost.exe processes are doing!)
Follow up to my post 5 months ago...
I went back to Process Lasso because it does indeed help and am very happy to be able to try the pro version out!
Oh and in the end one of the main hogs/slowdowns on my old laptop was Kaspersky Internet Security. Since switching to Avira things have been quite a bit faster...
I changed the topic slightly ;) to do justice to the actual discussion.
And of course, I want to thank jcollake, because he took the time to chat with us.
graylox
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