From...

October 26, 1998
Web posted at: 11:40 AM EDT

by Sally Neuman

(IDG) -- Browsing grown sloooow? Downloads failing? Searching without success? If you're going crazy wasting your time online, these utilities can help. You can fine-tune your settings to improve connections and throughput, let a program prefetch your pages so you can instantly see the results, and find many other ways to minimize online roadblocks.

1. MTU-Speed Pro: Change settings in your Windows 95 or 98 Registry that affect transfer and throughput speeds. MTU-Speed helps you fine-tune settings that may not be right for TCP/IP connections, helping to increase your connection speeds and stability. The difference can be dramatic.

2. Speed Surfer: This Web accelerator preloads links from pages you browse so that pages seem to pop up almost instantly when you click their links. Data from links you do not visit is immediately thrown out, so your PC doesn't waste disk space or memory.

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3. PPP Boost: Use this utility to make changes to Registry settings that affect your Internet transfer speeds. PPP Boost changes the Windows 95 defaults from local-area network settings to settings more tuned for a typical dial-up session.

4. Jackhammer Trial: Punch through roadblocks on the information superhighway. When you encounter a Web site or FTP server that's busy, paste the URL into Jackhammer; it keeps trying until it gains access and then opens a new browser window or downloads the file.

5. Dipstick: If you've ever been hung up by an FTP server trying to retrieve a file, or been presented with a menu of servers without knowing which to choose, Dipstick will help. It evaluates all the URLs presented on the FTP choice page and helps you choose the fastest site to download from.

6. SpeedyNet: By caching all the IP or DNS addresses you visit, SpeedyNet allows your Windows PC to first look up an address on your local system, significantly cutting seek time when you go to previously visited sites.

7. TurboExplorer: Working with Internet Explorer 4.0, this browser accelerator tries to anticipate hyperlinks and then retrieve the pages before your browser needs to display them. You can drop links into the control window so they'll download in the background while you're surfing. TurboExplorer will also automatically refresh Web pages that have changed since you last visited them.

8. Any Speed: This utility lets you measure your real transfer speed to optimize your time online. Any Speed can help you determine the best times to connect to your ISP for large transfers, and can resume downloading files automatically after a line drop.

9. NetAccelerator Standard Edition: Grab Web pages in advance as you search the Internet for information. NetAccelerator loads graphics and text while you view other pages. It even keeps your favorite pages current for you in the background.

10. Any97, PC World Edition: This version of Any97 comes with time-saving components designed specifically for PC World Online to help you quickly locate news articles from PC World Today, software from FileWorld, and details on products reviewed in PC World magazine. Commercial components are also available from Anysoft, Microsoft, Lotus, and Corel for integrating text, numbers, images, video, and other kinds of data from widely used software programs.

    Related stories: Top 10 Halloween tricks and treats for your PC - October 20, 1998 Top 10 home PCs - October 19, 1998 Top 10 office add-ins - October 13, 1998

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