ART of S/W Development Award - X-Setup Pro

I have discovered a tool that I just can't live without! For anyone that has to support Windows, do troubleshooting, remove malware, or is just into tweaking - then X-Setup Pro by XQ|DC Ltd., is for you.I've been tweaking computers since the days of CP/M (Yea, I'm showing my age.), and I've always been very comfortable with the command prompt. Even throughout the history of Microsoft Windows, I've always been most comfortable with the DOS window for making changes to the environment. At least up till Windows NT, when I was basically forced to start using Regedit. That was until about a year ago, when I first came across X-Setup Pro.

X-Setup Pro is a "Tweaking" program, designed to allow the changing of settings and configuration data, which is usually only available by digging deep into the Windows registry database. What makes this program so powerful is the ability to change over 1800 different Windows settings. And the use of additional Plugins, written by the X-Setup Pro fan community, expands the functionality even further. So, what can you do with X-Setup Pro? The following list of features is just a small sampling of what is available:

• You can easily select which icons you want to be seen in the Control Panel or on the Desktop.
  
• Want to use a different directory for your Windows Wallpaper? No problem!
  
• You can define which programs you want to appear in the "right click" Context menu for creating "New" documents.
  
• Tooltips can be turned on/off for Windows and for Explorer.
  
• Easily change the programs you want to have in the Start menu.
  
• And speaking of Startup - you have a ton of control over what programs are permitted to be launched before Windows startup, during Windows startup, and after Windows has loaded. A great way to help track down pesky spyware.
  
• The Paging file can be cleared upon Windows shutdown. Great for protecting your documents from prying eyes on multi-user systems.
  
• Extensive Crash control options for telling Windows what to do in the event of a crash, or at least to turn off the annoying Windows Error Reporting feature.
  
• Want to dig deeper? How about the ability to unload DLLs as soon as they are done being used, instead of allowing Windows to wait awhile before unloading the DLLs from memory.
  
• Or how about the ability to disable the use of CMD prompt and batch files? Easily done.
  
• One of my favorite features, and a very necessary tool for spyware removal, is the ability to edit a registry file without affecting your local PC registry settings.
  
• XSetup-Pro also supports the use of the BartPE program, for creating bootable CD-ROM with Windows, and your custom configurations. Great for recovering a misbehaving system.
  

I could easily go on with several feet of text about the many features and functions in X-Setup Pro. The only way to discover how wonderful this tool is, is to just try it out yourself. You will TRULY be amazed at the capabilities of this product. And for the dirt cheap price of $8 U.S., it is well worth every cent.

The ART of Software Development in this product is in the amount of detail and investigation that the developers have had to go though to put this product together. I'm sure that it could not have been easy to uncover all of those configuration settings under Windows. Also, in the forethought that went into the User Interface. X-Setup Pro is EASY to use. All of the features are clearly explained. And if there's the possibility that you could be causing some significant problems by changing something, then you'll be told. One of the greatest capabilities that XQ|DC has provided is the ability to use a freely available SDK for writing new Plugins for the product. There is great support from the developers and via the use of the web based discussion forum.

XSetup-Pro is the tool that you can't live without! There is nothing that even comes close to the features and functionality of this great Windows tweaking and configuration tool.

Timothy Trimble, The ART of Software Development

Timothy Trimble is a award winning, freelance writer, and software developer. He has written a book for Microsoft Press and over 35 articles for significant computer industry trade magazines. He is the Blog publisher of The ART of Software Development which can be found via his web site at http://www.timothytrimble.info