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CacheMaster by Mark Balthazor |
CacheMaster Home Page (Broken at the moment) |
This is a great cache utility which will assist you in getting the best performance out of your computer. |
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CacheMaster by Mark Balthazor The first time I hear the word "cache" while getting involved with my first computer, I thought they were talking about "cash", as in the tons that I spent to buy the thing. Little did I realize that it referred to a very important part of the workings of the computer. Cache usually refers to a part of the computer that stores information in a special area for quick retrieval when needed. Usually, the programs that are currently running on your computer use cache in one way or another. Web pages, bits of programs, data, all of these makes good use of computer cache to activate and work quicker when called upon. Cache can be in your memory or on your hard drive. Of course, one is faster than the other. CacheMaster has the ability to show you where the cache is, how much is there, and how much is being used (remember, that's cache, not CASH!! :) ) Platform........ Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000 Downloading........ Size zipped: 850k (.exe file) Size Installed: 204k plus those great windows/system .dlls!! I have not been able to connect with CacheMasters web site or their download FTP. I have uploaded the current program that I have to my site and the link will download from there until I find the proper link Web Site.......... Again, I have been unable to find the current location of the web site. If anyone knows where I can find it, please send me the url and I will update my site. Installation.......... The file is an .exe file. Just double click and the install utility will guide you through the steps. I suggest rebooting the machine before continuing. Help Files.......... The help file is a .doc which shows in a window. There are no screenshots however, the information on this file is enough to get a beginner through the setup and explanation of the program. There is a link to the online help but as of this writing, a 404 (not available) is presented. Interface........... CacheMaster is presented with info bars and slide adjusters in a window interface. Here's a pic:
This full sized view can be shrunk to a smaller size if you want to keep it on top of your screen. At the top, there are three small info bars that show the "physical, virtual, and system memories. These show the current usage in real time, with the refresh rate customizable in the "Options" menu. Below that is the area for your "Cache Settings" with an area for "presets" and five slide bars for adjustment of the different aspects of the cache settings. Features........... CacheMaster is great for finding out exactly how your system cache is working. Since the display bars refresh themselves, you can see how one program may affect the cache in relation to another. One nice feature that struck me was the "preset" area where you get a nice choice of pre-configured settings which cover a great range of operations such as "multimedia, cd burning, power user, 3d gaming plus more. Absolutely fantastic. Of course, if your savvy to this aspect of computing, you can select the slide adjusters and make your own settings. Once you're satisfied, you can save these as a preset with it's own name!! A really nice feature. Another nice addition is the "system tweaks" that is found in the Options menu. Here, you can set some more intricate parts of your cache such as emptying the .dll's from the cache when a program unloads itself from memory. Here's a pic of this window:
Does It Work......... I tried to run three music videos at the same time with my PIII 500 (with 320 megs ram) and found that they ran ok, but there was noticeable chugging (the sound was turned down for obvious reasons!). I started CacheMaster and immediately set it to "multimedia". I rebooted (I don't think you have to do this but I did it anyway) then I started the same three videos. To my surprise, there was a noticeable difference in the play of all three. There was no "chop", and the refresh of each screen looked smoother. I then tried it on "Power User" and started working on my web site, where I could have anywhere from three to seven programs open and running at the same time. After starting seven separate programs, I noticed a great improvement in the operation of the programs as I needed them, without any delay what so ever!!! Problems......... None to speak of! I have been running it for over a month and it has worked very well. Closing......... This is a keeper for me at this time. I may try another freeware cache utility in the future and if you have any suggestions, just e-mail me with it and I may give it a go. If you haven't given one of these a spin yet, I suggest you hop on and give it a try. And since it's freeware don't forget, that's CACHE, not CASH!! :)
Buzzy J
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