Hurricane 98 - Review

Figure 1. Hurricane Control Centre

Figure 2. WinGauge

Figure 3. Typical WinGauge property dialogue

Launch Rocket

Launch Rocket launches applications faster. Unless you specify otherwise, all applications on your computer undergo Normal Acceleration, where Launch Rocket reads startup files in the most efficient order. Optionally, you can choose Super Acceleration for individual applications. With this, Hurricane copies and compresses the startup parts of each application into a single file, thereby ensuring it loads faster. Super Acceleration requires more disk space than Normal Acceleration, and the bulkier the application, the more space it needs. AutoCAD LT, for example, requires 3.5 MB for the accelerator files, while Microsoft Word uses 1.1 MB.

Figure 4. Typical WinGauge pop-up warning mesage

Boot Rocket

Boot Rocket starts Windows more quickly by optimising the order in which files are read from the hard disk.

Reverse Cache

Normally, when you exit an application, Windows discards any of its program code still in memory. Reverse Cache replaces this code when you exit, thereby enabling the application to re-start faster.

Print Cache

Print Cache spools print jobs to memory or disk, hence releasing applications faster. A bonus, I found, was that I no longer got any "Printer Not Ready" warnings, even when the printer was turned off. You'll need to be careful, though, to empty Print Cache before you shut down your computer, otherwise you'll lose any data still unprinted.

Figure 5. RAM Expander configuration

Figure 6. Launch Rocket configuration

WinPack

WinPack compresses program code when you minimise an application, so freeing more memory for other programs. Helix claims that programs minimised this way take slightly longer to minimise or re-activate; however, I noticed no difference. At the same time, I observed that some applications released quite significant amounts of memory, while others released none. Microsoft Word, for instance, improved Discardable Memory by 17 per cent, while AutoCAD LT had no effect.

Smart Read Ahead

Smart Read Ahead tracks the way you use your computer and caches the data it predicts you'll need next. It also combines discrete read operations into single operations that complete more quickly. Helix claims that as Smart Read Ahead learns the way you use your computer and becomes better at predicting your next operations, its overall performance increases.

Other Utilities

Among the other Hurricane utilities is RAM Drive, which grows and shrinks as needed. Top-Down Cache caches data from slower drives such as CD-ROMs. Cache Compressor compresses the contents of the Windows disk cache during idle time, thereby giving you a larger cache. RAM Expander intelligently compresses data in RAM, but only when doing so offers a performance boost. Heap Expander, among other things, ensures that when you exit an application, all the memory it used is restored. Discover provides detailed system information in graphical format. There are also a few other memory and cache-based utilities.

Figure 7. Top-Down Cache configuration

Figure 8. Discover

Assessment

I tested Hurricane on a 486DX2-66 and a Pentium II-233, both with 32 MB RAM. As far as my tests went, most noticeable performance gains occurred when opening applications and windows, and the PII received a much bigger performance boost than the 486. For instance, Microsoft Word launched in under 3 seconds on the PII (down from 6 seconds) when Super Accelerated, and in 2 seconds when re-starting. Word started 4 seconds more quickly on the 486, although Super Acceleration had no observable effect. AutoCAD LT normally launches in 24 seconds, but opened up to 12 seconds faster under certain conditions.

Hurricane caused some performance degradation; boot times on both machines lengthened slightly and intensive CD-ROM read activities (e.g. running multimedia storybooks or installing software) took longer to complete. This CD-ROM performance degradation is probably due to overhead resulting from the WinGauge monitors. During intensive CD-ROM work, the WinGauge Top-Down Hit Ratio monitor hovered around 6 per cent, whereas with less intensive work it consistently displayed figures in the high 80s.

What performance boost Hurricane gives your machine will depend on your computer's configuration, the applications you use and the way you work. You'll probably find that performance gains vary with each session at the computer. I found that while Hurricane did slow some activities down, on balance I gained, although nothing like as much as Helix claims is possible. As for Helix's claim that Hurricane works better as it learns your habits, I did notice things moving along a little more smartly the first few times after installing Smart Read Ahead.

Hurricane does have some annoying features and bugs. I couldn't change the date format, for instance, and by default, alarms and warnings have to be individually activated. When first installed, both test machines displayed continual lock-ups associated with the error message "No help topic is associated with this item". The lock-ups lasted only microseconds, but caused whatever program I was running to miss a beat, e.g. missed letters when using a word processor. However, once I had removed and re-installed Hurricane on each machine, the problems ceased and I haven't been able to replicate them since.

If you enjoy tinkering with your computer, Hurricane offers lots of juicy potential. If you simply want to speed your machine up, Hurricane will most likely save you a few seconds here and there. All those seconds will add up and the faster your machine, the more seconds you'll save.

Reprinted from the July 1998 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia