Agent 95
Software Review by Karl Kabanek

If so, you might want to try Agent 95 from Connectix. Agent 95 is a performance enhancing tool for Windows 95. It monitors how your system resources are being used and recommends changes to your system to allow you to take advantage of Windows 95 features such as multi-tasking. 

Agent 95 has four separate functions which, when used together, give you a detailed picture of how your PC is running and what you need to do to improve its performance. 

The first function is the System Info Agent. This Agent tells you at a glance how your system is configured and what devices have been installed, as well as how your network connection is established. Most of this information is already available through Windows 95, but it is nice to be able to pull it up all on one screen. Also, if you need to share that information with someone else, you can either print out a diagnostic report or even e-mail it from the System Info Agent Window. 

I found the second function, the Memory Agent, to be much more interesting and useful. The Memory Agent shows you, in real time, how much memory, RAM and virtual memory, each of your programs is using. Each of the programs running is listed, from largest to smallest, with a graphic showing the amount of RAM and virtual memory each is using. The total amount of memory the program is using is listed beside the graphic. All the individual statistics are combined into a pie chart showing you how all your memory has been allocated. 

In order to monitor memory use even when you don't have the Agent 95 window open, Connectix included a memory use alert to let you know when the amount of virtual memory you have allocated needs to be adjusted. It allows you to set a marker that sounds an alert when you are using almost all of your virtual memory (which can slow your system down). When you get an alert, the Agent will give advice about how to correct the problem and how to avoid it in the future. 

I found this to be extremely helpful. I was able to adjust my virtual memory allocation according to the recommendations of the Memory Agent so my system ran a lot faster. In addition, if you just need some additional memory for an immediate need, such as running a spreadsheet, you can close an program directly from the Memory Agent window to free up the memory. 

Another interesting Agent is the Resource Agent. This Agent displays information about resource heaps. Resource heaps are simply areas of memory set aside to hold the information about all the windows you are using. The Resource Agent monitors both the windows and graphics heaps. Connectix wisely choose to make these displays look like the Memory Agent displays so that if you understand one, you'll understand the other. The Resource Agent has the same graphics and alerts the Memory Agent had. I found this Agent fun to check occasionally, but I never really needed, or at least used, the information it gave me. 

The fourth agent, the Performance Agent, is the Agent, in conjunction with Memory Agent, I used most. It graphically displays how much time Windows spends swapping parts of programs in virtual memory in comparison with how much time it actually spends working. You can set how often the measurements are taken anywhere from every 30 seconds to every 300 seconds and monitor the performance over as long a period as 100 minutes. 

The Performance Agent also keeps a running average of the system's performance as a percentage of time spent working. This allowed me to see that my virtual memory was too small and my system was spending too much time swapping parts of programs in and out of the virtual memory. I increased the size of my virtual memory, and the problem was fixed. Afterwards, I could easily see my system ran a lot better (faster). 

I used Agent 95 on my Cyrix 6X86 system with 16 MB of RAM and found that it was very easy to install and ran well. I spend quite a bit of time doing research on the Web, working with e-mail, and word processing all at the same time. I was considering purchasing more memory but, since Agent 95 helped me tune my PC's performance, I've found I don't need the additional memory (right now). It didn't slow my system down while it was running (an absolute must for a performance enhancement program). 

 It was easy to understand, although I found the manual didn't go far enough into the details of what Agent 95 was doing for me and why. When I called Technical Support at Connectix, it took eight minutes to talk to a human being, but she was knowledgeable and friendly and answered my questions right the first time. She even told me where one of the Easter eggs was. 

Overall, I would say that most of us probably don't need Agent 95. Though it worked well and did what it promised, I don't think many of us use our systems so intensely that Agent 95 would make that much difference on our home PCs. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of time at work trying to make a lot of systems work well on a network, Agent 95 might just give you the information you need to make your users happy. 

All in all, Agent 95 was helpful and even fun to use. If you need or want to improve the performance of your PC, give Agent 95 a try or buy some more memory and increase the size of your virtual memory. 

Agent retails for around $60 -$65. More information is available on the Connectix web page.