Fidelizer

Sbleam --

No worries, Fidelizer is doing what it's supposed to do just fine reading through your message above. After you've chosen your setting and pressed 'Fidelize' it then "does its thing" as indicated by the small process-window(status-screen), and when it's done the small window closes and a browser to their website pops up. Simply close the browser, and then start up your playback software. From here om Fidelizer has managed you PC according to your setting and closed down processes corresponding one of the three chosen stages - either Professional, Audiophile, or Extremist. I'd recommend you use the Audiophile setting, as it still allowes basic usage of your PC while having shut down a variety of processes that interferes with audio quality.

To achieve the desired effect of Fidelizer it is important that you run the program BEFORE you start up your playback software. Simply run Fidelizer as the first thing when you start up your PC, and Fidelizer will then continue its effect until reboot. That's also saying that you need to start up Fidelizer manually after every reboot, a small measure of action that only takes a few seconds.

Remember, Fidelizer only shuts down a variety of processes on your PC, and that's it. It's not a playback software to manage your music library; it simply "re-calibrates" your computer by shutting down processes that would otherwise interfere with audio quality in making the soft- hardware environment less "noisy." Fidelizer is simply "incognito" while running, the only visible effect of which is when you access the Task Manager under 'Services' and sees how many of them are stopped when scrolling down(compared to when Fidelizer is not in use).

Phusis - the problem I have with Fidelizer is that it does not act like a good Windows citizen. It does not register itself as a app, so you cannot delete it easily. It also does not provide an easy way to start it up on re-boot. Once runnng, it does not provide any way to know what it is doing. I wounder how many people think it is working after a reboot, when, the best I can tell, you actually have to restart it manually after each reboot. It may do what it is suppose to do, but for the casual user, it is very mysterious. Quite frankly, for the paranoid, it looks like a pretty suspicious program. I believe they need to work on making it user friendly if they really want people to use it.

Dtc --

For what it's worth a friend to a friend of mine, who is an avid audiophile himself, is a software programmer(as mentioned in my OP on this subject), and he's thoroughly tested Fidelizer to have a look at its "inner workings." From what I've been told nothing suspicious came of his conclusions that would warrant an alarming position with regard to the safety of using Fidelizer, and from all the posts I've read on people using Fidelizer none of them have expressed problems as in actually being confronted with problems from its use.

With regard to the (lack of) ease of starting up Fidelizer upon every reboot - and yes, you have to manually start Fidelizer after every reboot, and if you don't check Task Master und 'Processes' to confirm that it actually doesn't run - I don't see the problem. I've placed the Fidelizer icon in the task bar at the bottom of my Windows page next to JRiver and other icons, and from here on it's only a matter of seconds for Fidelizer to be up and running. Had there been an option for it to default start with every reboot, fine, I'd have greeted the opportunity. You should in fact be able to have Fidelizer start up automatically via the Windows settings, but you'd still have to go through the setting, press 'Fidelize,' and close the browser. As is I'm fine with it as is; it's a free program, the audible difference is significant, and what small setup there is is done within a matter of seconds.

Perhaps part of the answer to your wondering what it is Fidelizer is doing lies in its, for the casual user, intricate function in shutting down Windows services, but also because doing what it does is not playback related as such, and therefore has no inherently visible "user interface" you'd want or even need to go by. For more detailed information I'd simply access the Task Manager under 'Services,' where you can see the services running or stopped. For a reference you might want to access this information both with and without Fidelizer running.

I'd wager to disagree with your stance on the casual user seeing Fidelizer as a "mysterious" program. Granted, apart from being a casual user I may as well be somewhat naïve (or simply ignorant) into the workings of Windows programs, but I've had the fortunate pleasure of having beforementioned software programmer giving the Fidelizer program his "Approved" stamp, as far as he could tell, and from here on I've simply applied a pragmatic approach with the use of Fidelizer where, if no problems arose, I'll remain happy.

Don't get me wrong. I do not think Fidelizer is any threat to my system. But, to me, since it does not register itself so it can be deleted and because it does not have a startup option or a shutdown option, it appears more like a virus/trojan than a legitimate program. Personally I think that is a problem. Many casual users would have a hard time finding the executable and creating a shortcut to it. I cannot name another app on my system that requires that, even free ones. Also, the only way to return to normal operation of the system is to reboot. Just saying - I think they could work on their user friendliness.

Version 3.0 is released.

http://www.windowsxlive.net/fidelizer-3-0-merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year-2013/