X-SETUP PRO
Reviewed October 2007

What’s It Do?  Described as “the most complete tweaker available,” X-Setup Pro supports over 1,900 hidden functions that can be controlled with simple button clicks.


Does it do what it Promises?

Reviewer 1: I X-Setup Pro describes itself as the ultimate tweaking tool. That description seems accurate. The program offers almost 1900 “tweaks” or changes that one can make to their computer—to its appearance, hardware settings, software settings, security features, startup and shutdown behavior, and more. Almost all these changes can be made with just a click of the mouse.

Reviewer 2: Yes, it does. Like most of us, I wish Windows would simply to do what it is supposed to -- operate in the background, and let me use the programs that I need to do my work (and play!). But more often than I would like, problems arise, and regrettably, trying to find solutions requires that I delve into the innards of Windows. Or else, Windows just doesn't behave the way I would like or expect it to do. Without some expert help, I am left at a loss. X-Setup Pro is an excellent tool to help me find my way around the mysteries of Windows. Simply browsing through the hundreds of X-Setup Pro “tweaks” is a great learning process. Or, I can use the search functions to find out if I can make certain changes that I would like. With restore logs created for every change that you make, it is always possible to undo things that may not work the way I wanted or expected them to do.

Reviewer 3: X-Setup Pro allows extremely detailed customization of how Windows looks and functions. In addition to giving a high level of control over fine details of Windows’ behavior, a clear and detailed description is given of the effects and side effects of each of the possible changes. Prominent warnings are given in any section where tweaks could affect the computer’s performance. This is one of those rare programs entirely suitable for use for almost all levels of user, from advanced beginner to expert.

Reviewer 4: Yes. X-Setup Pro provides over 1,900 ways to adjust, i.e. “tweak,” mostly hidden settings in any Windows operating system from Windows 98 to Vista as well as a few select and very limited third-party programs such as Adobe; and, it does this in a fast, easy, and relatively safe way.

Reviewer 5: While I did not count them all, it claims to be able to make changes to over 1,900 settings in Windows. From what I worked with, that may actually be the case. The menus and tabs are deep. Every time I opened a setting area, there seemed to be yet another “+” to go even deeper. I’m impressed. It does dig deep. There are settings that I did not even know existed and I’ve been using these machines for many years. X-Setup claims to work on every Windows OS from 98 through Vista Enterprise including the “server” editions as well as XP TabletPC. (I’m using it on my Motion LE-1600 tablet now).


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1: Yes and no. I installed X-Setup Pro twice. The first time, I ran into problems. When I clicked on Automatic Update, the following error message appeared: “The list of updated items is empty. Please make sure that you are able to connect to the Internet if you are using a firewall. You might also consider checking the logfile for errors.” I was connected to the Internet, and the logfile revealed no errors. I tried twice more, with the same result. I then switched to Advanced view, which listed ten updates. I downloaded and installed them with no problem. Several months later, I uninstalled and reinstalled the program. This time, the installation went very smoothly.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: Yes, this might be possible. We once had a problem that a different customer on the same server we host our update list was taking to much CPU time and thus the update list might not be delivered at all. After that problem, we have moved to a different server where we can guarantee that the file is delivered.

Reviewer 2: Yes. When the install program is unzipped, there is a Read-me file inside the folder. It is worth a few minutes to look through it. It gives some general information about the program, how to install and uninstall, some errors that might happen depending on the particular version of Windows, and how to get help if needed. As soon as the installation process is begun, it does a check for the most recent version of the program. I like the style and the attention to detail that this implies. The Read me file also comes up during installation. I was asked to enter registration information during the installation. If I had not entered it, it would have gone to evaluation mode. I was able to choose the location of the program and the placement of the shortcuts. It is a very well-done process, with a minimum of difficulty. The program can be launched as soon it has been installed. Updates are very easy to run; setup finds the folder the program is located in, and also finds and automatically inserts the license key. After update, a detailed log file can be viewed of the additional features that have been added to the program.

Reviewer 3: Installation was easy. The license agreement limits installation to one computer but allows the user to run the program off of removable media on other computers.

Reviewer 4: No. While it is a deceptively small 4.25MB file, this download is only the tip of the iceberg because X-Setup Pro spreads itself throughout your computer. In fact, X-Setup Pro installed 1,133 files and 103 registry entries, for a total of 17.29MB—four times the size of the program you are led to believe based on the download. This is simply unconscionable and, I think, deceptive.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: Sorry, but I don't get it what we done wrong. Yes, XSP is round about four times installed as it is inside the package (see also the system requirements which lists 30 MB of free space http://www.x-setup.net/product/systemreq.asp?lang=EN) . However, our goal was to bring down the file size for the installation as much as possible so the download is fast. Why should this be wrong?

Furthermore, the actual installation is horrendous. After downloading and clicking to open, one must then extract the contents of a ZIP file and open a setup file where there is a second EULA and a setup Wizard.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: It's not a second EULA, it's the same EULA. We wanted to make sure that the user can read and print the EULA in an Editor and not only the small window inside the Setup.exe. That's the reason why we use ZIP archive and put the EULA a stand-alone file inside of it.

Now after having just been told you to shut down all running applications, the program asks the user to reopen the browser to check for an updated version of the program, and then asks to shut your browser down again. Next there is a dialogue box that opens explaining how to open the setup file that has already been opened. This has to be one of the most cumbersome software installations I have ever encountered. Oddly, there is an option to place a shortcut in one’s Control Panel applet but not on the desktop. This program may be the “mother of all tweaking programs” as it claims, but what is really needed is a “tweaking” program to tweak the tweak program—at least the maze-like installation program.

Reviewer 5: X-Setup Pro was very easy to install.


Good Points.

Reviewer 1: One of X-Setup Pro’s most notable strengths is, of course, the very large number of tweaks (which it calls plugins) it makes available. Many are normally buried inside configuration files, and some are usually made by editing the Registry, something I’m happy not to have to do. Most of the tweaks come with brief explanations and almost all are easily implemented by a simple mouse click. X-Setup Pro’s search mechanism helps the user wade through the huge array of tweaks. X-Setup Pro made me aware of useful things I didn’t even realize I could do. For example, remapping the CAPS lock key so that it acts like a Shift key: it will activate caps only while you hold it down. Of course, the Shift key already performs this function, but remapping the CAPS lock key will prevent you from accidentally typing in all caps when you hit it by mistake. Another tweak makes it possible to disable the probably useless automatic error reporting to Microsoft, either across the board or for specific programs. Yet another tweak allows the user to create up to six folders normally buried many levels down so that they’re always shown in My Computer. I was also pleased with X-Setup Pro’s cautious approach. Though most of the tweaks are harmless, some could potentially create problems. These come with a strong warning not to use them unless you have considerable expertise and understand the consequences of what you’re about to do. Another good point, at least in theory, is the Restore Log. X-Setup Pro logs every change it makes in the Restore Log. To undo the changes made, simply open the Restore Log, select the changed desired, and click “Restore.” That change and all others made after it will be rolled back to their original values and deleted from the list. (However, see further discussion of the Restore Log below under “Weak Points.”) Finally, X-Setup Pro makes available a free software development kit (X-Setup Pro SDK) to help technically savvy users develop their own plugins, which can simply be copied to the user’s plugin directory and/or shared with others by being uploaded to X-Setup Pro’s servers.

Reviewer 2: The opening screen is one of the best that I have seen in a while. It is a simple, clear
design, with four Tabs and four Buttons. All the main modules of the program are easily available. I am pleased to see that one of the Tabs is “Help and Links”, giving immediate access to all the help and support available, including an active users/developers forum. In many programs, such direct and simple access to help is not always so obvious; the developers of X-Setup Pro are to be commended for having it so handy. In this same vein, each time that you start the program, a small tips window opens with a new tidbit of information each time. Users more familiar with the program can turn them off. Inside Windows there is a whole batch of “Windows Programs”. Some of these are quite familiar: Windows Updates, the Control Panel, the Task Manager, the Registry Editor. But there are about a dozen others many have never heard of. The “Windows Programs” Tab provides a complete list of these built-in applications. One click on any one in the list opens and runs that program. Two of the Buttons on the Opening Screen seem to be similar: “Classic” and “Classic in User Mode.” With “Classic” changes apply to the computer itself for all users. In “Classic in User Mode”, the changes will apply only to that user. This will prevent individual users from making changes that would affect all other users as well, either on that computer, or even in a network situation, where an individual user can log on via any computer in the network. Another tab, “Helper Applications”, leads to a very interesting program called “BartPE”. This allows making a bootable CD for use if Windows goes down. Following the instructions in this module will give access to X-Setup Pro files to get to a crashed boot drive. As this is not a review of BartPE, more information about it can be found here: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ . There are far too many adjustments, changes, tweaks, and configurations of your Windows setup to begin to try to list them. So I will mention one that I was able to change easily, and which particularly pleased me. Over time, I have looked at and used a number of programs that help me to manage the programs that run at start-up. However, even with help from their information systems, there are usually some that still remain mysterious. For example, something like {0228e-555-49c-4e35-a3ee-b109a19264c2} doesn't really give a clue as to the actual program that is starting up here. But one click on the “Show Info” button tells exactly what which program is being called by this instruction, and where it is located; in this case the gmail notifier program. Terrific!

Reviewer 3: X-Setup Pro allows one to configure the details of how Windows appears and operates in a powerful, detailed, and simple manner. It works on all versions of Windows after, but not including Windows 3.1x and Windows NT 3.51. It is as safe to use as possible since it logs the changes and allows reversing them if desired. All of the changes it facilitates could be made manually within Windows, but doing so would require researching the changes and then executing them by various processes such as editing the Registry. a risky task better left to advanced users. X-Setup Pro has done the research and organized the tweaks into an expandable outline format to allow quickly finding the desired changes and executing them by checking or unchecking boxes before pressing on the “Apply Changes” button. Appropriate warnings are given when a change would have serious or far-reaching consequences. There are separately downloadable versions which run off of a USB stick or U3 medium to allow using X-Setup Pro on other computers without program installation.

Reviewer 4: While this program was installed on my machine for several months, it really only took several days to examine it fully. This is, in part, due to a very intuitive and easy to understand GUI (Graphic User Interface) which allows several choices as to how to use the program and to the familiar-to-all Windows’ user Explorer-like menus. It also provides a search engine to search for individual tweaks rather than needing to comb through the nearly 2,000 tweaks on the menu. (Of course, how one is supposed to know what tweaks to look for until all are looked at is a legitimate question.). The program is built from and thus based on very small 4kb to 6kb plug-ins that allow for the program to be continually expanding. It would obviously be impossible as well as impractical to try to list all of the 1,900 tweaks or even a selective sample as their value is dependent solely on each individual’s needs, configurations, and preferences. Suffice it to say, that X-Setup Pro can modify both the OS interface for both appearance and usability as well as modifying the various performance, network, and security settings. It can also make changes to a select variety of third-party programs. Nearly all of these changes can be made without using this program; however, many are deeply hidden and several require editing the Windows registry. There are adequate descriptions of what each “tweak” will do as well as unavoidable-to-ignore warnings when applying a tweak that will make major changes to the system’s entire configuration and/or could potentially cause damage. Best of all, the program offers the ability to reverse any changes by opening a log file and reversing the changes made. And in the event that a “tweak” causes more severe system problems than expected, X-Setup Pro provides the BartPE Enabler tool which allows creating a bootable CD to access one’s system and reverse any changes made. The EULA (End User License Agreement) is available before downloading and is printable—both of which I do applaud. I also commend the developer for offering a free, fully functioning 30-day trial. Overall, (and this is coming from a fellow “tweaker”) this is about as good a tweaking program as exists and for those who love to customize their system for better usability, appearance, and in some instances performance you can do no better that X-Setup Pro. This program has been around a long time and, to my knowledge and based on my research, has had very few user complaints.

Reviewer 5: The depth of this application is truly amazing. The number of settings that can be adjusted is huge. It is also very flexible. On the main page / Main Applications tab it displays all the settings that can be modified with the “plugins” in a hierarchical view similar to the Windows Explorer so there is no “new” scheme to figure out. Simply click the + and open the level. It also pops up a “Tip-of-the-Day” window. This is selectable via check box to display or not. Once an area is selected by activating the plugin, one can right-click the plugin’s name to see a property sheet that tells what it can do. There is also an “OS Version” tab that indicates which OS a particular plugin will work with since not every plugin supports all operating systems.

When I first used this application, it took me several hours to work through all the levels just to see what the possibilities were, let alone make any changes. X-Setup Pro logs (selectable level) all changes and allows restore if the change is not as desired. This application gives damage to a machine, but warns before making changes that could be problematical. X-Setup also supports Bart PE, a “pre-installed” disk builder application that allows building a full Windows OS + applications ISO file that can then be used to reinstall a setup or port it to another machine. This is a handy feature to duplicate one’s setup to many machines in an Enterprise environment or if one has a standard build preferred for use on all machines. This user-friendly software provides ultimate tweaking on most Windows Operating systems, search function, display filter (to reduce the number of “plugins” shown based on one’s search), XML plugins, Registry loading (for tweaking Registry settings based on user permissions), and the list goes on and on.


Weak Points.

Reviewer 1: I found X-Setup Pro initially overwhelming; faced with almost 1900 tweaks, I didn’t know where to begin. Since I couldn’t think offhand of any tweak I was eager to find, I simply started to work my way through them all in the order they were listed on the program interface. I found some that were useful, and many others that I might have found useful had I not already implemented them on my computer thanks to other programs such as Firefox and Directory Opus. However, I also found a number that I didn’t understand, and some whose usefulness I questioned. For example, why would anyone want to disable the Windows keys or the Send To menu? And what difference does it make whether McAfee Trashguard adds a page to the Properties dialog for the Recycle Bin? Also, some tweaks didn’t work. I tried, for example, to use the “Generic Windows Icon Names” tweak to rename the Recycle Bin, but nothing happened. Sometimes, a tweak’s wording seemed garbled. The explanation of the “Visible Items (System)” tweak said, “This plug-in allows you to modify which Control Panel applets that conform to the Windows 2000 specification that you wish to view.” And at least one tweak’s explanation seemed simply wrong. The “Regedit.exe Enabled” tweak’s description said that “if this option is set, the current user is no longer allowed to start regedit.exe or regedt32.exe.” However, the option is to allow the starting of regedit.exe. Some of the tweaks seemed surprisingly outdated and not very useful. For example, X-Setup Pro claims to have tweaks for the Opera browser. However, the “Opera Preferences” tweak says that it is for Opera 5, a version that appeared seven years ago. The current version is Opera 9. The other three tweaks for Opera say merely “Some options for opera” and give the URL where the browser may be obtained. In other words, X-Setup Pro has no working tweaks for any current version of Opera. I was somewhat puzzled by X-Setup Pro’s “Favorites” feature. The idea is a good one—a menu that gives you immediate access to tweaks that you use a lot. The Help file notes that a few entries have been included to get started but that tweaks can be added or removed as desired. To my surprise, the two entries that had been included in my Favorites menu were Acrobat Reader 6 and Acrobat Reader 7. Why these were included I have no idea. I would think it would make more sense to include tweaks in different categories, not two that are simply different versions of the same program. Moreover, why use versions 6 and 7 rather than the current version, Acrobat Reader 8? At any rate, since I use Acrobat Reader 8, I decided to remove 6 and 7 from the Favorites menu. The procedure for removing items is seemingly quite simple, but though the entries disappeared when I clicked on Delete and OK, they reappeared each time I started X-Setup Pro.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: This is a bug we have in XSP but no one found so far :). If the Favorites list is completely empty, XSP thinks this is an error and will create two default Favorites, currently Adobe Reader 6 and 7. We will change this with 9.1 (One Favorite "Adobe Reader 8") and also notify the user if the Favorites list is empty. I just create a bug entry for this in our forum.

I’ve succeeded in adding Favorites, but not in getting rid of the two that the program came with. Finally, I have one or two reservations about the Restore Log. For one thing, it’s only available from the Welcome Screen. I had a hard time finding how to get back to that screen, since my desktop shortcut opens directly on the list of tweaks. I tried every icon and searched through every menu (File, Selection, Extras, etc.) on the interface before finally finding a listing for Start Screen under Help (the last of the menus). I think there should be more prominent access to the Restore Log, and an entry should also be added to the Help File’s Index. Once I had found the Restore Log, I was somewhat surprised at its performance. Though it supposedly logs every change I made, it listed only one change, even though I had made several.

Reviewer 2: Oddly enough, although one of the great strengths of the program is its depth and diversity; this very depth and diversity can be somewhat overwhelming. This may be especially true for someone who has not yet delved into the murky waters of Windows. Although I often had a desire to be able to change one function or another, I could not always find exactly where to go to accomplish it. Even the Search function failed me. Perhaps I did not know how to word the search, so eventually I would either wander through the tree structure trying to find the specific branch I needed to accomplish the task, or I would simply give up.

Reviewer 3: This program is somewhat “mouse biased”. If one highlight items using a mouse, the description of the item changes automatically. Highlighting the same item by using the arrow keys, the content of the description and details section remains stuck on the previous selection. One must press ‘enter’ for the proper description to appear. It would be a nice modification if simply highlighting the item via the arrow keys would automatically display the linked description without having to press an additional key. Reviewing and deciding whether to change each of the almost 2,000 tweakable items takes hours to do completely. It would be nice to have the option of displaying just the top hundred or so items that could have the most impact on your system. This would allow doing a “quick and dirty” improvement of one’s system, returning later to tweak the details.

Reviewer 4: I would not recommend this program for the fact that it offers no direct support. As readers may know from past reviews, I simply refuse to recommend any software that either does not offer direct support or charges for support. While there is an active support forum available as well as comprehensive FAQ’s, this is no substitute for direct support, especially with a program that could potentially wreak havoc with one’s computer and turn it into a big paperweight! I would like to suggest a better grouping of the tweaks such as having all visual tweaks, performance tweaks, and so on grouped together. Additionally, while I didn’t count to see how they affected the claim of “1,900 + tweaks,” there are several tweaks duplicated throughout the menu tree. There are some bad tweaks in the program; for example, the Boot Optimization tweak is simply wrong, and the Kernal Paging tweak is questionable, although the program does offer a warning. In fairness, however, every tweaking program contains some bad or questionable tweaks and it is impossible to guarantee how any specific tweak will work on any specific program. There are just too many variables due to individual configuration of their own systems. Also, with the increasing use of Firefox, it seems highly unusual that there are no tweaks offered for Firefox but only tweaks for IE. This seems just a bit Windows-centric to me.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: This reviewer must have used an old version of XSP. Since XSP 9.0, we have a lot of Firefox tweaks inside "Internet\Firefox".

The installation procedure as mentioned earlier is a nightmare and needs to be addressed as does the number of files contained in this program and the fact that it seems to spread them like so much sand in a sandstorm throughout the system. The “no liability” disclaimers in the EULA—while not unique to X-Setup Pro—are anti-consumer and unforgivable.

Reviewer 5: I did not discover any real “weak points”. While not really a weak point, X-Setup Pro is so comprehensive, it takes a lot of use to really get a handle on the possibilities. I’ve been using it for weeks and have yet to plumb the depths of all its capabilities in every area of the OS.


Comments.

Reviewer 1: I had a minor problem with the X-Setup Pro Web site. The License Center section says that if I want to find out how much longer my Update Protection will be valid, I should “click on the ‘View Status’ link below.” I thus looked for a link that said “View Status.” There was no such link. Eventually, I realized that the link they were referring to was “Get a status report for your serial number.” I would have found what I was looking for more easily had the link name in the instructions and the actual link name been the same.

X-Setup Pro’s Coder responded: True, this is confusing. (We) will check into this and update the website.

Also, I was a bit put off by X-Setup Pro’s announcing in the Support section of its Web site that “We no longer respond to support requests via e-mail.” Those with problems are told to read the FAQs and/or send a message to the X-Setup Pro Forum, where other users or the support staff will respond to questions. Frankly, this level of support seems more appropriate for freeware than for a commercial product.

Reviewer 2: In spite of the above criticism, just browsing through different parts of the program that strike one’s fancy is not wasted time. Even if no changes are made at all, the enormous amount of helpful information provided with every step of the way is, in itself, fascinating. But X-Setup Pro is not limited to Windows and its own internal applications. Several versions of Microsoft Office, Adobe, Nero, Google Earth, Games, etc. can also be manipulated with this program. Without a doubt, X-Setup Pro is a great bargain for the price.

Reviewer 3: This program is shareware, so it allows you to use the fully featured program for 30 days before purchasing or declining. The recent price drop to $19.95 makes owning this program even more compelling.

Reviewer 4: While this is about as good a tweaking program as I have seen, I find the whole concept of a tweaking program a bit troubling, especially programs that offer tweaks to the registry and major configurations of the entire system. Tweaking can be dangerous and are best reserved for the most advanced user because if you don’t know what you are doing, you can seriously damage your operating system. All of the tweaks in X-Setup Pro can be made manually without the program and it seems to me that if one does not know enough how to do this, he or she might not be advanced enough to be tweaking the system regardless how it is done. Be aware that tweaking can be dangerous and using this software, the user is tweaking on his or her own and without a net.

Reviewer 5: This application is like every tweaking program ever seen all rolled into one application. The versatility is truly mind boggling.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: Probably, until my current subscription expires; however, I will not spend $9.95 to extend the update protection for another year.

Reviewer 2: Yes, definitely.

Reviewer 3: Yes! For the user who desires to change the way Windows works, this program is essential to have.

Reviewer 4: No, but only because as a life-long “tweaker,” I found only one single tweak that I was unaware of, none that I did not know how to do manually, and none that I wanted which I had not already done.

Reviewer 5: Absolutely! I’m taking my own advice and removing things like “TweakUI” etc. I don’t need them with this installed.
 

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro. XP Home, XP Media Center

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