Price:	$11.99		Reviewed by:	Neil Brown
Supplied:	PocketGear		Review date:	15/06/2005
Pros:	Gives control over nearly every aspect of memory management Easy to use interface Excellent help files QuickClean can be run automatically		Cons:

Introduction I enjoy installing and testing new applications on my PDA- sometimes for reviews on the site, sometimes because I see a game that I like, and sometimes just to see what something does, as advertising descriptions are not always clear. What is often even less clear is just how much detritus will remain on your PDA after apparently uninstalling an application- you can often be left with bad shortcuts, unnecessary Registry entries, and a myriad of other files which, on their own largely insignificant, but taken together, amounting to a significant quantity. On a similar note, there are those applications which decide to start themselves automatically upon soft reset- so you know about, others you might be less aware of. Dinarsoft’s MemMaid aims to be a one-stop solution for clearing up unnecessary files, and generally giving you PDA a good housekeeping. However, it goes further than this, as it offers a way to see and stop start-up applications and services, keep an eye on running processes and Today plug-ins, and view your storage usage.   The interface is spread into six tabs, several of which have drop-down option boxes.    The first tab is for file cleaning, and the default mode for MemMaid is “Quick clean”, which gives access to several common cleaning tools- Windows Temp files, IE Caches and Temps etc. You can pick and choose which of these you wish to use – obviously, the more you select, the more space you potentially stand to recover. The Advanced mode gives access to all the available options, and I used this mode most of the take- as I take a complete backup of my machine daily, if something were to go wrong, restoring would be a simple option. However, in the couple of weeks I have been using this application, I’ve not come across any problems running in Advanced mode. The volume of space saved will obviously depend on what you have stored, and how often you run any cleaning application- when I first ran MemMaid, I recovered just under 13mb, and, running the process a couple of days later, I had 2.11mb of unneeded files, mostly relating to the IE Cache.     If you tend to visit the same sites, then caching the files is a good idea, as it will speed up the loading time – it is not worth removing them from the system, only to download them all again. However, if you browse a variety of different sites (for example, following links in the Wikipedia), then the cached files are probably unnecessary.   The second tab deals with the notification queue- a database of events linked to the applications needed to run at those events. (For example, this system controls items such as alarms and scheduled tasks). For some reason, on occasion these events may become duplicated, slowing down your device. Whilst it is safe to delete duplicate entries, it isn’t easy to tell which entries are duplicates, and which entries have the same name, but refer to different tasks. MemMaid scans for duplicates, and, should it find any, offers you the chance to delete them. You are able to search the database manually, and, by tapping on any entry, you are shown details of the event.   The third tab has three drop-down options: Start-up Programs, Start-up Applications and Today Plug-ins. Today Plug-ins is the most familiar option, as it mirrors the settings easily available under the Start / Settings / Today / Items menu- you can see what items you have installed, which of these are running, and you are able to stop / start plug-ins. When you boot your PDA after a soft-reset, some applications start automatically- on my LOOX, Wifi, Bluetooth and pOutlook (responsible for Word, Excel and Messaging, I believe) start by default, and I have a couple of others relating to installed applications- for example, if you install Calligrapher or Resco Keyboard Pro, and set it as your default input method, and entry will be added here to allow the application to restart after a reset. If you have a PDA with dual wireless, you might have noticed that the icons in the bottom right of the screen- the globe and the Bluetooth symbol- sometimes change places. This is due to the boot-order of the Start Up Programs, so, if you are like me and like to have wifi to the right of Bluetooth, just ensure that it boots up first. Start-up Services is more for information than for tinkering- you are not able to delete any services, and neither can you change their running order, to help maintain system stability. Third party applications can install services – for example, in the screenshot, PocketPlus has obviously been installed by SPB.   The fourth tab contains Memory Tweaks and DLL optimisations. Here, you are able to move the IE Cache folder away from Main Memory, although, judging by forum posts from people who have tried this, it can lead to problems. However, the option is there should you want to try it. If you are happy to leave the cache in the main memory, but don’t want to devote so much space to it, you can drop it back incrementally, down to a mere 512kb. There is a trade-off between a large cache (few applications installed) and a small cache (need to reload images when browsing more often) – I’ve reduced the cache size, as, using wifi, reloading information doesn’t take too long. This tab also gives you access to the default memory slider- I don’t bother touching this, as I believe that 2003SE adjusts it automatically anyway, depending on load.   The DLL optimiser is something which I haven’t really touched. If you enable this, it allows you to move the location of any and all DLL files to, say, your SD-Card, potentially speeding up your PDA. Changing the location appears to be a trial-and-error process, although MemMaid does label certain DLLs: green means “safe to move” whilst yellow shows that they relate to Today plug-ins (generally best in Main Memory, might work elsewhere).   The fifth tab takes slightly longer to load that the others (meaning it is not quite instantaneous) – this tab houses all the information about memory usage on the various cards and locations on your device. The default view shows you the current volume usage as a number, whilst tapping the “Chart” option brings up a pie chart showing memory usage, broken into different colours, with a key beside the chart. Also incorporated is a basic file-finder, offering a search based on file name (including wild cards) and file size. If you really want to examine your device at a minute level, the integrated database viewer will let you do just that, providing information on each of the databases on your machine, with the option to delete them should you wish.   The six and final tab is taken up exclusively by running processes – a list of everything currently running on your PDA. For me, the largest of these was invariably gwes.exe, which is hardly surprising at it represents the Graphics, Windowing and Events Subsystem. As you can see, Calligrapher and GSPmagic both take up a fair amount of space- just under 1.5mb between them. From this tab, you are able to terminate processes, although, if you can get to this screen, you can probably just exit them properly, if they have that as an option.   MemMaid includes a QuickClean function, which pops up as a small box in the middle of your screen and runs through a clean. This is a great idea, as it means that you do not have to launch the full MemMaid application each time you want to tidy up – there is, however, an option for you to launch it from the QuickClean box. Similarly, in the Options settings, you can configure QuickClean to run immediately after every soft reset,  which is ideal for keeping your machine in peak condition.   Conclusion MemMaid has a lot to offer, in that most everything you need for optimising or cleaning your PDA is available via its interface. A lot of these tools are already available on your PDA, and I am sure that you will have come across some of these already – for example, the Today screen changer. There is nothing to stop you doing everything by hand, working your way through your PDA’s file structure, looking for, and fixing, the problems. However, MemMaid makes it all so easy – whilst you will have to think about things like DLL Optimisation, the interface makes it as simple and understandable as possible- something I have not mention elsewhere is the excellent help files associated with each tab, probably the best I have come across. You get a neat explanation of the problem, how to fix it, and, in some cases, what to do if something goes wrong – you really couldn’t ask for more in this respect. For me, the $12 asking price is, without a doubt, more than reasonable – whilst you may be able to do the cleaning operations on your own, MemMaid will hold your hand through the process, making it as simple and quick as possible. There is a good range of both basic and advanced functions, so, you can choose what to clean or just let the machine do it for you.