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Where is smart tool pro tools3/21/2024 Oh, really? That's ironical, because Microsoft itself has been found guilty of displaying pop-ups to promote Edge, and the free upgrade to Windows 11. Microsoft PC Manager has a pop-up management tool that can automatically block pop-ups in apps. The Taskbar repair tool has options to restore the taskbar's appearance by removing third-party extensions, and also lets you restore the search box and the widgets button on the taskbar. Microsoft once again, unsurprisingly, uses this screen to promote its own products, i.e. Similarly, you can use the Restore Defaults apps option to check which apps are assigned for opening Office Documents, web pages and PDF documents. The Default browser settings opens up the Settings > Apps > Default apps section, which you can use to change to a different web browser of your choice. The Windows Update tool checks if any new updates are available for the operating system. The Virus & Threat Protection tool has a scan button that runs a scan via Windows Security (Defender). The System Protection tab on the PC Manager's sidebar allows access to some useful tools. I'm not sure whether the Startup tool works, because it kept showing 1 sec, whereas my laptop boots in 5–10 seconds, and the app impact times are always "unknown", even after multiple restarts. Microsoft PC Manager recommends some apps to be left on, such as the OneDrive app. You may click the toggle next to each app to disable them. The Startup section in the program shows you the programs that have auto run enabled, and also tells you the impact time caused by each app, i.e. storage used by browsers), the recycle bin, and Web Cache (including Edge). The Deep Clean option on the app's Home page, runs a scan to clean up the system, application cache (e.g. Microsoft PC Manager's process management tool lists the processes along with their name, the amount of memory that is used by the process, and an End button that can be used to kill the task. It is not as extensive as the Windows Task Manager, but that's fine. The Process button, when clicked upon, displays a list of all processes that are currently running. It also has a System Protection setting using which you can reset the taskbar, and displays a list of apps that are set to startup with Windows. Moving on to the next section, Health Check runs a scan to delete the browser cache, windows cache, temporary files, etc. Frankly, I'm not convinced that the boost does anything. The app suggests enabling a feature called Smart Boost, which will automatically "boost your PC", when it detects high usage of RAM, or if there are 1GB of temporary files. There is a large Boost button which you can click to free up the memory and delete the temporary files. The other bar next to it indicates the amount of storage space that is used by Temporary files. It displays the current memory usage of your computer in the form of a vertical bar and percentage. The Home page is divided into 2 main sections, the first of which is called PC Boost. The app's interface is well-designed, and rather simple, it almost feels like a mobile app, but that's mostly because you cannot resize the window. You can think of Microsoft PC Manager as a user-friendly dashboard that provides access to various options. So, how does Microsoft PC Manager differ from the rest? You may recall that we first reported about the app in 2021, when it was available on a limited basis. The Redmond company has frowned upon programs like Piriform CCleaner, and I agree, most of these so-called "system utilities" are snake oil.
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