SpeedSpec benchmarks your PC in ten ways for a thorough assessment. After all tests are complete, upload and compare your results. Higher scores are better. For best results, close all other programs before running SpeedSpec.
Over the years the Windows folder has gotten fatter and fatter and fatter. Within that fat folder it's not unusual to find 300,000+ files and 100,000+ folders, and many of those catch the watchful eye of Defender or require special/admin access. Even on a first-class solid state drive, limping and stumbling through that sludge can take over 10 minutes. Ain't nobody got time for that.
As of version 21.9 of SpeedSpec, the Drive test no longer scans the beastly Windows folder. The test now looks at Program Files. With all of that sluggish bureaucracy and red tape out of the way, expect Drive scores to be higher, much higher. The old test is built for the simpler days, the days of Windows XP. The new test—slimmer, sleeker, speedier—is built for the future, the fat future.
As of version 21.10, the user may select the folder from a few options, including Program Files and Windows. The default is Program Files.
Standard SpeedSpec runs up to 32 threads per test. The 32 threads are contained within a single process and application window. Distributed SpeedSpec runs up to 32 independent instances (or nodes) in the background for a maximum total of 1024 (32 x 32) threads per test. The Cracking test requires at least 32MB RAM per thread, 32GB for 1024 threads, a modest amount of memory for the average PC in the year 2032. This number 32 was chosen not by accident, not without careful consideration, not by the flip of a coin, not by counting squirrels. It was chosen because it's one more than 31—the greatest number of days in any month, and the number of ice cream flavors in the observable and edible universe.