Community Newsletter: Q&A: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance
- 7/14/05 2:27 PM
slow machine: STAND BY
by ertldg37 - 7/23/05 1:10 PM In reply to: Winning answer by Dana H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When shuttting down if stand by is used. after start up the runn time is very slow. Looking at task manager (Cntrl-alt-Del) the CPU approaches 100 % usage.
Good luck, hope there is help.
EDR
dealing with slowdown
by mlstalls - 7/27/05 6:06 PM In reply to: Winning answer by Dana H. by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I just wanted to say thanks for adding to my knowledge base. There were some things in your suggestions that I wasn't aware of. I've copied your answer to my desk top to use on a regular basis.
This old lady is very appreciative!
Honorable mentions
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 7/13/05 5:09 PM
In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Answer:
Evelyn since we don't know much about your system, other than that you are running XP, I'd start with the basics:
1. Delete the Internet Cache - Using IE? Open your browser under TOOLS click INTERNET OPTIONS and on the GENERAL tab select DELETE COOKIES and DELETE FILES. Warning, you will delete all cookies even the “harmless” ones that hold stored passwords of sites you visit regularly.
2. Delete unnecessary files with DISK CLEANUP. Click Start \All Programs\ Accessories \ System Tools folder\Disk Cleanup.
3. Your hard drive may be fragmented which can slow it down since parts of files are scattered all over the hard disk. So you may need to run DISK DEFRAGMENTER. Click on My Computer on the desktop then right click on the hard drive to be “defragged”. This can take a lot of time so plan ahead and start it on an evening when you won't need the computer. When you first open this utility choose the ANALYZE too see if the system needs to be “defragged”
4. Have you got at least one Anti-Spy ware program running? If not there are several good and free options to download: Anti-Spy free from Yahoo, and my fav, SPY- BOT Search and Destroy. Run these regularly to prevent add ware and spy ware from building up and slowing down your online experience.
5. Do you have and run a good Anti-Virus program, and Firewall? Systems that suddenly start to slow-down can be infected by Worms, and Trojans. If you have a high speed or wireless connection you could be at risk for having your computer taken over, and turned into a ZOMBIE! According to Scarlet Pruitt, of IDG News Service, “Internet-connected computers infected by worms or viruses and under the control of a hacker, are used to launch denial of service (DoS) attacks, or send spam or phishing e-mails. An average of 157,000 new zombies are identified each day.” So it’s a pain, but run that Anti-Virus program, and keep it up-to-date by setting it to download the weekly virus definitions automatically, and use the Firewall to stop unauthorized access to your computer when online.
6. If you are still having trouble after all this, you may want to look at what’s running on your computer, using MSCONFIG. Click Start\Run\ and type msconfig in the dialog box. On the Startup tab you will see a list of all programs currently booted at startup. If you don't recognize some of these be careful before you start un-checking. Go to www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm for an alphabetical list of almost all programs and what they are doing in your system. If you still aren't sure, check with a friend or your PC’s support service before you do anything drastic. This is a good way to get rid of or disable programs you don't need that are slowing things down for you.
Submitted by: LoneGypsy
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Answer:
Step one: Clean up any Adware and scumware
Free programs on the internet are not always what they seem. Often the sting in the tail is, the behind the scenes, installing of Adware or Scumware as it's sometimes known. This usually consists of programs that run in the background and advertise various offerings which can be targeted to
match your preferences. These programs take up valuable system resources and should be cleaned out. Programs such as Gator (form filler) and Kazza (music sharing) are well known examples of this but there are many others. The solution to this, is for you to download one or both of these free programs.
Adaware 6.0 at http://www.tucows.com/preview/236049.html
or Spybot Search and Destroy at http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
Use them to clean up your system regularly. I personally use them both once a week.
Step Two: Clean out your start-up files
Nearly every program you load on your computer wants to be top dog. By that I mean when you install the program it usually sets itself up in your startup list. This means that whenever you start up your computer the programs installs itself automatically into main memory whether you are going to use it or not and just takes up valuable resources that could be better utilised by programs you are using right away. If you hit the Control-Alt-Delete keys once (if you do it twice you will reboot the computer and lose any unsaved work) you will be able to see all the programs that are running behing the scenes. The more you have running that you are not using, the more memory will be taken up and the slower and less stable the system will be. Things like Anti-Virus programs and "system tray" should be left running but many others can be removed. To do this in windows 98/ME, hit "Start"-"Run"- and type in "msconfig" and enter, then choose the right hand top tab marked "startup" Uncheck all the programs that you aren't using all the time. You will be able to run them normally at any time from your start menu so don't worry about that. Most of the programs can be identified by the program names at the right hand side, any that can't, you can always type it into google and see what comes up. Occasionally you find programs loaded here that are malicious programs such as Trojans or Browser hijackers that you definitely don't want. To get rid of them search for the filename in Google and then see if it comes up as a nasty and then get the info on how to remove from the anti-virus website. You will notice a definite improvement in start-up speed and general running when these are removed.
Step Three: uninstall any old programs that are no longer used
Windows registry is the section of windows that contains all the information relating to your system and software. As time goes by it can get extremely bloated and even if you are not using the old programs anymore, the time taken to search through registry is increased. Uninstalling the programs rather than just deleting the files will ensure that the entries in the registry are removed and this helps keep the size under control. Another little utility you might find useful is called "EasyCleaner" and it is great for cleaning out all these unwanted files and registry entries that were somehow left behind. You can also use it to locate temporary files used by various programs that just clog up your hard drive and slow things down. It's a free utility you can download from http://www.docsdownloads.com/easycleaner.htm
Step Four: Invest in a good antivirus program
Invest in a good antivirus program such as Shield-Antivirus or Panda anti-virus and keep it regularly updated. Having a virus on your system can not only wreak havoc with your system speed but can lead to more serious problems and data loss. You can check out Shield at:- http://www.pcsandthings.com/shield-antivirus.htm and Panda at:- http://www.pcsandthings.com/panda.htm
Step Five: Delete or uninstall unwanted fonts
When Windows loads it installs all available fonts. This not only takes up space but also valuable time. Deleting or uninstalling fonts that you will never use will help streamline things a bit more. To view the installed fonts, select Start, Run, type "fonts", and press Enter. To see what a font looks like, double-click its icon. You can delete a font by right-clicking it and selecting Delete, but it's safer to uninstall it by dragging it to another folder so you can always drag it back if you really need it. You must do this dragging (in either direction) from within Windows Explorer. Moving or copying a font to or from the C:\Windows\Fonts folder via DOS commands or some other utility won't properly install or uninstall it. Some fonts should stay put, such as Windows system fonts, which have the extension .fon instead of .ttf. The icon for a system font has a red 'A' rather than a gray-blue 'TT'. System fonts are usually hidden files, but they're visible in the Fonts folder in Explorer. They disappear when you move them elsewhere, though. Some applications require specific fonts, such as Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman, so you'd better keep them around. Any other ones you don't use can be moved to another folder. More info on this can be found at:- http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;234749
Step Six: Optimise your system
A few basic pointers for optimising your system.
(1) From the desktop right click on the "my computer" icon and select properties. Select "file system" and under the hard disc tab, where it says "for typical role of this computer" select "network server" in the drop down menu as this speeds up transfers.
(2) Under floppy disc make sure the little box is not ticked as this increases boot up time slightly.
(3) On Internet Explorer while surfing the net, images are stored on the hard drive in a section called the cache. This is useful if you are using a slow dial-up connection as it means the most used images don't have to be continually downloaded so surfing speeds are increased. If the cache size is too great then Explorer has to check through all the images before it downloads them and this can slow up browsing. The optimum size is a bit, hit or miss, but with ADSL or cable the cache can be set much smaller as the images download quickly. Also when the cache is too large the files get fragmented (this is covered later) and the hard disk thrashes around trying to piece it all together thus slowing everything down. It's a matter of trial and error but I wouldn't recommend much more than 50MB for a slow connection and about 10MB for ADSL or Cable. Adjustment is made by clicking on Internet explorer "tools" and "internet options" then under "temporary internet files" the settings button and use the slider to adjust the amount.
(4) A program I find very useful for optimising various parts of your computer is one called "Speed up my PC" With this you can set it automatically to take care of memory usage and can prevent system crashes at awkward times. It's not free this on but it might be worth taking a look at it. You can read more on it here:- http://www.pcsandthings.com/speed_up_my_pc.htm
Step Seven: defragment your hard drive regularly
Sounds a bit severe but it's something that should be done fairly regularly. Your computer works efficiently when the data it takes from the hard drive to process in memory is all in one place and doesn't take very long to fetch. After using your computer for a while, related files get broken up into fragments and are scattered all over the disc. This happens in normal use and it can significantly increase the time it takes to collect it all up. A bit like you going to another room to fetch your files from a filing cabinet and if they were all together it would be easy to collect them. If on the other hand they were in different cabinets all dotted around the room then you get the idea. The thing to do is run the defragmenter that comes with Windows. Double click "My Computer" and then Right Click the icon for drive C: and then click properties. Select defragment and follow the instructions. This process can take a long time on a large hard drive with badly fragmented files, so it may be advisable to set this running at a quiet time computer wise or even overnight. There is a another program I highly recommend for defragmenting which is called Diskeeper Lite and is much better than the built-in version that Windows has. It is available as a free download plus some more articles on fragmentation from http://www.executive.com/downloads/menu.asp Defragmenting is best done last after the other steps above as removing files and clutter will leave gaps that can then be put back together for normal use.
And don't forget one of the most cost effective upgrades you can do to your PC at the moment is to add some more Memory (RAM).
Submitted by: David G.
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Answer:
From time to time, all versions of Windows do require some maintenance.
This can be caused by a variety of reasons, but this is the "usual list"
of tasks I perform whenever I perform maintenance on any of my Windows-based machines. Before doing any of these steps, make sure no other programs are running.
(1) Remove Unneeded Programs
Your computer receives additional RAM when it needs it by allocating hard drive space. If the hard drive(s) are near full, the computer won't have as much "breathing room" to do this. Therefore:
(1a) Go to the Control Panel, to "Add/Remove Programs".
(1b) Scan the entire list, removing programs that you don't use often or at all. Windows even does the job of giving you a good estimate as to how often the program is used, but I recommend using your own knowledge.
(2) Scan For Spyware
Spyware not only can be dangerous and hazardous, but lots of extra programs running can easily decrease your overall system performance.
For a good scan, I recommend Lavasoft's Ad-Aware Personal. Not only is it an easy-to-use scanner, it is free.
(2a) Go to Lavasoft's web site at http://www.lavasoft.de and download Ad-Aware SE Personal.
(2b) When installing, choose the options to immediately check for updates.
(2c) Run a full system scan. This will take several minutes.
(2d) Checkmark everything the scanner finds and have the program remove them.
(3) Check Your Tasks
Sometimes the Spyware scanner misses some tasks. Therefore, I always check my task manager to make sure there aren't other things running that use a lot of memory. Of cousre, since some of these tasks are important system tasks, this should only be done if you know what you're doing, and can identify whether or not a task is important to the system or not. Deleting the wrong file can harm your computer.
(3a) Press Control-Alt-Delete, and choose Task Manager. Go to the "Processes" tab.
(3b) On the list, look for any task using more than 10,000 K of memory.
Note that "explorer.exe" is your windows interface, so that is okay.
(3c) If you find any, go into the windows search (Start->Search) and search for that file. If it is in the Windows or System folders, leave it alone. If it is in a different folder, and the folder's name looks like something that could be ad-ware or spy-ware, use the task manager to end the process and then immediately delete the file.
(4) De-Fragment Your Hard Drive(s)
Your hard drive data can become fragmented, which causes the computer to not run at peak efficiency. To combat this, you can easily de-fragment your hard drive.
(4a) Open the My Computer window.
(4b) Right click on your C Drive, and choose Properties.
(4c) Go to Tools, and choose Defragment Now.
(4d) In the list, your C Drive should be selected. Choose Defragment.
This will take a while to do.
(4e) When it is complete, repeat the process on your other hard drives.
(5) Restart
You just performed quite a few memory-intensive tasks. To clean things up, restart your computer.
These five steps should help your computer trememdously. Because I do a lot of high-memory tasks on my computer, I do this procedure about once every two months. I hope this helps!
-Scott J. Davis
Submitted by: Scott D.
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Answer:
I apologize upfront as this is going to be a long response. You did not say how long you have had the computer or the specs on the computer so I am going to start at the beginning. You also did not mention what preventative measures you do take, e.g. Anti-Virus or Spyware. Some may say this is “bit rot” and recommend a fresh install every 6 months. I feel that this can be corrected without going to that extreme. The solution may not be as quick as you would like, but will take less time than a fresh install.
The speed of a computer is contingent on the following: Processor (Speed and Cache), Memory (Size and Speed), Hard Drive (Speed and Cache[), Video Card (GPU Speed, Memory Size and Speed) and how many programs (Tasks) are running in the background, (e.g. Anti-Virus, Firewall, as well as undetected Malware such as viruses and spyware. (I know right now that I am going to get slammed on the Video Card, just keep reading.)
The following chart illustrates how I feel the main components of the computer make up the speed ratio:
Type of User :
Average -- CPU and Memory 80%, Hard Drive 15% , Video 5%
Power User/Video Editing -- CPU and Memory 60% , Hard Drive 30% , Video 10%
Gamer -- CPU and Memory 35% , Hard Drive 30% , Video 35%
Note: I bundle the CPU and Memory together as they are in essence “MARRIED” to each other.
Average User: Has less than ten applications going, such as email, web browser, or word processor
Power User: Has more than ten applications going, and constantly having to go between them
Video Editing: Uses the computer to edit video
Gamer: Plays the latest and greatest 3D games
First, the CPU. As the CPU is the brains of the computer, its speed determines the upper limit you can take the computer. The available cache on the CPU will also determine how speedy the CPU feels. All things being equal while running several programs, or one CPU intensive program a larger cache say 1 MB, will feel faster than a 512 KB cache. For MS Windows XP the following chart breaks the CPU speed scale down for each category of user.
3 GHz or Greater: Gamers and Video Editors (the faster the better)
1.5 – 3 GHz: Power Users
600 MHz – 1.5 GHz: Average User
300 – 600 MHz: Windows XP can run, but is severely limited to how speedy the OS feels.
(My brother-in-law has a Pentium II 450 with XP and it runs okay, but takes awhile for it to boot and any more than 3 applications it does slow down.)
On a side note, the new multi-core CPU’s can help a system seem faster, but the Operating System has to recognize both cores, and each application needs to be programmed to take advantage of each core. Currently, MS XP Home and games cannot take advantage of multi-core CPUs.
Second, the Memory. As I stated before the CPU and Memory are “MARRIED”, this means that a fast CPU will run slow if there is not enough memory, but at the same time throwing more memory at a slow CPU will not always improve performance. There are different speed ratings for Memory, but the motherboard and front side bus of the CPU determine which speed works for each system. For example throwing a DDR2700 memory stick in a system running in a slot running DDR2100 speeds, there will be no improvement. For MS Windows XP the following chart breaks down the memory levels for each category of user.
1024 MB or Greater: Gamers and Video Editors (the more the better)
512 – 1024 MB: Power Users
256 – 512 MB: Average Users
(384 MB minimum if there are several background applications such as Anti-Virus, Firewall, etc.)
On my work laptop, I have 256 MB of memory, and since I consider myself a power user, in excess of 20 applications open at the same time (not counting the background applications), I notice my lack of headroom.
Less than 256 MB and Windows XP relies heavily on Virtual Memory (Located on the Hard Drive) and this dramatically slows the system down.
Third, the Hard Drive. The Hard Drive is important in several ways. First, there is the Hard Drive speed. This is the rotation speed of the drive the common ones for desktops are 5400 RPM and 7200 RPM, with 10,000 RPM starting to appear. Not counting SCSCI Hard Drives. (For laptops the speeds are 4200 RPM and 5400 RPM.) The rotation of the Hard Drive determines how fast a data rate can be maintained if a file or file stream is larger than the cache on the hard drive.
Second, the Hard Drive cache. On standard drives this is typically 2 MB, with 8 MB appearing in special edition Hard Drives. The data in the cache can be sent to memory with out waiting on the Hard Drive to actually find the file. I have seen some with 16 MB, and I thought I saw one with 32 MB. The preceding two factors are more important to system builders or those upgrading, but I point it out as they are a speed factor
Third, the free space available on the Hard Drive. Windows expects there to be about 10% of the drive free of all data. To see how much free space you have left on each drive open Windows Explorer and Right Click each drive and select Properties or download Belarc Advisor from www.belarc.com , free for personal use. If your drive does not have enough room, you either need to uninstall unused programs or buy a larger Hard Drive. Without free space on the Hard Drive, simple tasks like defragging either will not complete or will take an extraordinary amount of time.
Fourth, Virtual Memory. I mentioned this before and all Operating Systems use a Virtual Memory, Page File, or Swap File. This is where files are stored that are not currently being utilized by the Operating System, but may be needed on short notice. Windows tries to manage the size of the Virtual Memory, this takes CPU cycles away from the other tasks that the computer is processing, so a way to keep the computer running at a consistent speed is to set the Virtual Memory to a static size. Go to Control Panel – System – Advanced Tab – Performance Button – Advanced Tab – Virtual Memory Change Button – Select Custom Size and enter twice the installed Memory in both Initial and Maximum Size in MB. This will require a reboot.
Fifth, Fragmentation. If the files on your Hard Drive are fragmented the computer has to work harder and it takes longer to put all the pieces together. Once a week I check my fragmentation with Speed Disk, a utility part of Symantec’s System Works. If the fragmentation is over 10%, I defrag. If it has been awhile since the Hard Drive has been defragged this may help a little, from your message the problem seems more noticeable than some fragmented files.
Fourth, the Video Card. Just hear me out, in computers that have on board video, such as most laptops and some desktops, the CPU has to expend more cycles helping to draw what is seen on the monitor. This is not a big deal for most users, but if you have a tendency to have multiple programs up at the same time, or are doing a CPU intensive task such as video editing or playing a game, the extra CPU cycles to draw the display can take up much needed CPU horsepower. Also, in some of these systems with onboard video, the memory for the graphics is stolen from the system memory, so if you have 256 MB of memory and assign 4 MB to the video, you now have only 252 MB for all applications. This may not seem like a big deal, but when a computer is on the edge of being slow and you take away even a small portion of system memory can cause noticeable slow downs. So particularly with systems with slow CPUs, having a dedicated Video Card does help.
If this is doubted, look at the specs of Sims 2, with a decent Video Card a 600 MHz CPU is needed, with an old Video Card a 2 GHz CPU is needed. Take this with a grain of salt, as this is a 3D game, and games use system resources to their limit.
$200 or Greater Video Card for Gamers. Look for DirectX 9 compatibility and 256 MB Memory minimum.
$150 – 200 Video Card for Power Users who play the occasional game, 128 MB Memory
$100 – 150 Video Card for Power Users and Video Editors
$50 – 100 Video Card for Average Users
These are only approximations; Gamers can spend upward of $500 on the current top of the line video card. Also, sales may drop the price of a card to the next level, but does not make it a bad choice. The point I am trying to make is the more CPU heavy tasks that can be moved from the CPU to dedicated cards, the more CPU cycles available for whatever you are doing. Note: Video Editing relies solely on the CPU; the Video Card plays no part in this process, other than not taking available CPU power available from the CPU.
Fifth, Background Applications. Background applications can be hard to stop, as this is where Viruses and Spyware reside. First, look at the System Tray, down by the clock, each icon represents a program that is running in the background. Identify each program and determine if it is required. Some of the worst offenders here are media players, each developer thinks that by having the player in active memory it will speed up the time to listen to that CD you just inserted. Required applications include Anti-Virus, Firewall, and Spyware scanner (e.g. MS AntiSpyware). Most applications found in the System Tray can be disabled in their respective settings control.
Second, open up MSCONFIG. (Start – Run – Type ‘MSCONFIG’) go to the Startup Tab. You will find a list of all the programs that are activated at startup. Each program can be selected or deselected for startup. Deselect those that you do not want to start on startup.
Third, run an Anti-Virus scan. Update and scan your computer. Every other month or so go to a competitors Web Site, e.g. McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, and run online scanner. This does three things: first, it ensures you can access a security web site, second, it uses the most current virus definitions, and third it may detect problems your Anti-Virus misses.
About two months ago, I had to run 4 Anti-Virus scanners on my brother’s computer to give it a clean bill of health.
Fourth, download or run form its website MS Malicious Software Removal Tool. This scans for the top Worms in the wild and will attempt to clean the offenders off your system. This tool is updated monthly.
Fifth, run a couple of updated Anti-Spyware Programs. I recommend Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Yahoo! Anti-Spy, MS AntiSpyware, CWShredder, and Bazooka. I also recommend HijackThis (Please be careful with this, it shows every program both good and bad, run this last and go through the program list carefully). Another Ant-Spyware program is SpywareBlaster, this program blocks bad ActiveX programs from downloading in the first place.
Sixth, run a Registry Cleaner. (This could also cause some bad feedback.) When an application is installed, uninstalled, or updated there is a chance that a registry entry may be made that points to nothing or to the wrong file. This causes system slow down. Be careful when using a registry cleaner, not all are created the same. I like Norton WinDoctor, also a part of Symantec’s System Works. Norton WinDoctor can be run by itself or as part of System Works One Button Checkup.
Now that we know the general factors in what determines how speedy a PC can feel, let’s go over the steps in figuring out what is the problem with a slow computer. Repeat each step as needed to receive a clean bill of health. If the computer can not be cleaned, boot into safe mode. Most of the scanners will work in safe mode, where they will have a better chance to clean hard to clean infections.
1. Download and install Belarc Advisor. Look at the report; compare the CPU, Memory size, and available space on each Hard Drive with their previous sections. In this case I do not think that the CPU or Memory is the culprit, but the available space on the Hard Drive is suspect. If the computer passes all three of these checks, there is no upgrade required. Do not worry about the Video Card at this point, if the system was fast previously, the Video Card is probably not a culprit either.
2. Go through the steps to make the Virtual Memory static, remember make it twice the size of installed Memory.
3. Cleanup the Hard Drive and defrag the Hard Drive
a. First run a disk cleanup, Start – Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Cleanup, or run Fast and Safe Cleanup in Symantec’s System Works, or your favorite tool.
b. Run a defragger, Start – Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Defragmenter, or use Speed Disk in Symantec’s System Works or your favorite defragger.
4. Download or run from its Web Site MS Malicious Software Removal Tool http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
5. Update and scan your computer with your Anti-Virus program. If you do not currently have a current update and the computer is for non-commercial use look at www.free.grisoft.com/doc/1 for a free Anti-Virus scanner.
6. Download, update, and run the following Anti-Spyware applications in the following order, I have them in a general fastest to slowest order with two exceptions I have Bazooka and HijackThis at the end, as these do not remove the offending software, this allows the previous run programs to remove any potential bad programs. All of these programs are free for non-commercial use, but read the end user agreement for each if there is a question.
a. Download and update SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
b. Download CWShredder http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
i. Scan, takes about 5 minutes
ii. Select Fix or Next, depending on whether you system is infected
c. Yahoo! Anti-Spy. This is part of the Yahoo! Toolbar, available for both MS Internet Explorer and Firefox. I also scan for tracking cookies, not something that usually slows a system down, just a security precaution. http://toolbar.yahoo.com
d. Download Spybot Search and Destroy. www.safer-networking.org
i. Update
ii. Immunize
iii. Turn-On Browser Helper, block all pages silently
iv. Turn-On Opera immunity, if Opera is installed
v. Turn-On Tea Timer, this actively checks for any change to any system setting
vi. Scan, takes from 5 – 20 minutes in my experience
vii. Repair
e. Download MS AntiSpyware http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
i. Update
ii. Turn-On all resident scanners
iii. Select Scan Options
iv. Select Run a Full System Scan
1. Scan memory
2. Scan all local Hard Drives
3. Deep scan
4. Save Options
v. Run Scan, takes 30 – 120 minutes in my experience
vi. Repair
f. Lavasoft Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
i. Update
ii. Select Start
iii. Deselect negligible
iv. Deselect low risk
v. Select Custom Scanning Options and Customize
1. Select
a. Archives
b. Active Processes
c. Registry
d. Deep Scan Registry
e. IE favorites
f. Hosts file
2. Select drive & folders
a. Select all local Hard Drives
b. Select Proceed
3. Select Proceed
vi. Select Next, this starts the scan, takes 30 – 120 minutes in my experience
g. Download and update Bazooka http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/
i. Scan, takes about 5 minutes (I have never had Bazooka show an infection, but it does not remove the spyware, you need uninstall manually or have a program that can uninstall programs, such as Uninstall Wizard in Symantec’s System Works.
h. Download HijackThis http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
i. Scan, takes about 5 minutes.
ii. Select all good programs
iii. Add checked to ignore list
1. You can do the proceeding in batches, until all good programs are ignored.
2. If you do not know what the entry refers to checkout this website http://www.hijackthis.de./ you can post your potential questionable entry and someone can tell whether it is good or bad.
7. Optional Run a Registry Cleaner such as the one found in Symantec’s System Works
a. This will find and correct any potential problems in the computer’s registry, which can cause slow downs.
8. Optional go to http://www.grc.com. The tools at this site will test the vulnerability of your computer to future infections.
a. Run the Three Musketeers
i. UnPlug n’ Pray
ii. DCOMbubulator
iii. Shoot the Messenger
b. If you run a firewall run the following
i. ShieldsUp!
ii. LeakTest
Now I know that this is a lot of information and time consuming to run all on the same day, so I recommend breaking down the tasks so only some are done each day, and by the end of the week all tasks are complete.
Remember to update, immunize, and scan with each tool as needed.
Monday
Ad-Aware
Tuesday
Yahoo! Anti-Spy
Spybot Search and Destroy
SpywareBlaster
MS Malicious Software Removal Tool
Bazooka
HijackThis
CWShredder
Wednesday
MS AntiSpyware
Thursday
Anti-Virus
Firewall – Check for updates
Friday
Windows Update – Microsoft releases critical updates once a month, but other software packages may have optional updates.
MS Office Update
Saturday
Registry Cleaner
Disk Clean Up
Defrag
Eraser – a utility to clean the free space on your Hard Drive, this prevents others from getting old files off the computer. With this tool you can create a bootable floppy that can erase an entire Hard Drive, if you are selling or giving away your computer/Hard Drive.
Sunday
CHKDSK (I found that by running this utility once a week mysterious shutdowns on my computer stopped.) I alternate between CHKDSK /V (3-5 times in a row) and CHKDSK /F (about 30 Minutes) and CHKDSK /R (takes over an hour). Like the following:
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /R
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /V
CHKDSK /F (Repeat until CHKDSK /V says no fix needed, on each drive)
1st Saturday of the month, update other software, for example:
Java
Macromedia Flash /Shockwave
MS Windows Media Player
Real Player
QuickTime
i-Tunes
DivX
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Firefox and other Web Browsers
Email Application, if using a third party Email client
Any other application applicable to your system
In addition to Symantec System Works and Eraser, I also recommend FreeRamXP Pro, this program works better with Windows 2000 and XP over Windows 98. This program keeps track of memory usage, and moves files to Virtual Memory, to keep the system running smooth.
I know this was a lot of information, but hope this helps answer how to troubleshoot a slow system, and maintain a system so it never becomes slow.
Submitted by: Robert B. of Centerville, MN
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Answer:
1)Update antivirus/firewall and scan disk
2)Download a free spyware program like AdAware from Lavasoft.com and clean/remove spyware. If you've not done it in a while, run it twice. Other free spyware programs are available, like Spybot and Spysweeper, it's good to have these to back up adaware. (Have google search a place to download them from.)
3)On top of IE browser page, go to tools, then internet options and then delete cookies and delete files (don't be afraid, these are temporary internet files that just clutter things up, they're not important computer files)
4)If you store a lot of large files like pictures, games, or music, consider getting a external hard drive to store these large files. They hook up easily to a USB port and are very reasonably priced)
5)Delete large files you don't use/need anymore or burn copies to CD's etc.
6)Go to Add/remove programs and carefully look at programs loaded. Delete any program you don't use anymore
7)empty trash can
8)go to start>run>type in "msconfig" without quotation marks>startup tab>carefully look at everything (program) that is checked. If something has a check that you're sure you know what it is, like msm messenger, weatherbug, greetings workshop, etc, etc, uncheck them. Every item that is checked is a program that is loaded/launched each time windows starts and runs in the background if you're using it or not. If you're not sure what a checked item is, go to google.com and have it search. It should give you enough info to decide whether to leave it or not. IF YOU"RE NOT SURE, LEAVE IT CHECKED. Windows will then want to restart and that's ok. A message will come up warning you you have changes the startup (DUH) and check the box to not remind you again.
(Whenever adding a new program, if you have the option, chose the option to not have the program launch when windows starts.)
9)Finally, go to start>programs>accessories>system tools>disk clean up then follow the same route again and chose disk defragmenter
If that doesn't help, you probably need more "professional" computer help.
Submitted by: critterdoc
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Answer:
Detailed checklist of simple tasks to help boost PC performance.
I have many computers belonging to me and my family, and work endlessly to keep them running quick and effeciantly.
Here are the six things I always make sure to do constantly.
Adware - Download Adware from Downloads.com (Its free!) and run it often. It will clean all of the spyware and junk that you have stored in your program files and registry. Be sure to use the backup option in case it removes something you need to support a program.
Anti-Virus
Install a good anti-virus. Most PCs come with one now, such as Norton or Mcafee. Make sure it is turned on and automatically updating itself. Set it to run a virus scan in the middle of the night when the computer is unused. If your computer did not come with an anti-virus, there is a fantastic free one called AVG
Uninstall any unused programs
Check for any programs that you don't forsee ever using again.
Uninstall it. Its just wasting your hard drive space and resources. To check what programs you have installed, go to the start menu, settings, control panel, and choose add/remove programs.
Windows Update
Ensure that you are checking for updates to your windows operating system. Better yet, set it to automatically update itself. To enable this, go to start menu, settings, control panel, and choose automatic updates.
Windows Firewall (XP only)
Turn on the windwos firewall. It helps protect you from many viruses and worms that will slow down your computer. To check of it is turned on, go to start, settings, control panel, and select 'dial up and network connections'. Now select your connection tgo to properties, and check 'protect my computer'.
Disk Cleanup
This won't just speed up your computer, it will also free up a lot of hard drive space. Everytime you visit a website, data is stored on your computer for retrieval when you visit that website again. Every time you move a file into the recycling bin, the file actually hasn't been deleted yet. This all acumulates into both wasted hard drive space and resources. Running disk cleanup deletes every one of these files. You may even save yourself a gigabyte of space! To access this tool, right click on your c:/ (or whatever drive windows is installed on, and choose properties. In the 'general' tab you will see a button named disk cleanup.
Defragment
This makes a key difference in speeding up browsing your computer.
Defragmenting your hard drive re-aranges all of the data for faster retrieval. This means everything will be quicker. The more often you defragment, the faster it is next time, as less data needs to be re-arranged. Note - the first time you do this may take many hours. To defragment your hard drive, right-click on your hard drive you want to defragment, choose properties, click on the 'tools' tab, and select 'defragment now'.
These six steps must be done regularly in order to keep your computer running effeciantly. Try and automate them all of you can via Windows scheduled tasks. To access this utility, click the start button, rollover programs, accessories, accessability and choose scheduled tasks. Click the 'add scheduled task' icon and start adding any program you want, and how often you want to run them. Don't schedule them all at the same time, and make sure it is set to a time when the computer is unused (such as 4am)
Following all of these steps and using common sense while using your computer will all lead to a faster machine. Common sense such as safe browsing, not installing unknown programs, not opening E-mail attachments from people you don't know and so on. Also note, that if your computer is constantly turned on, try to reboot it every day or so, it really does make a huge difference. Try and make a routine of restartng your computer every morning.
Good luck
Submitted by: Cheyne W. of Melbourne, Australia
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Answer:
Speeding Windows XP
1. Make sure you have signed on to XP using an account with Administrator privileges.
2. Make sure anti-virus is up to date - run a scan.
3. You DO have anti-spyware don't you? If not, download Microsoft's Anti-Spyware Beta from their web site. Regardless which products you have, run an anti-spyware scan.
4. Open My Computer, right-click on your boot drive and select properties.
Click on the 'Disk Cleanup' button to clean out a lot of cobwebs.
5. Use a Registry checker. I personally use Norton Utilities, WinDoctor, to clean out or correct all the incorrect entries. Note, I NEVER let WinDoctor automatically choose the action to take. I personally view and select each corrective action. These tools are great, but let to their own devices, have a tendency to occasionally point to the wrong readme file, or worse, the wrong uninstal file.
*** from this point on, you will see dimishing returns with faster CPUs, more RAM, NTFS file system (versus FAT32), and faster front side buses ***
6.Use a Registry optimizer. I personally like NTREGOPT, a freeware program written by Lars Hederer. The Registry is a collection of files forming a database of information about your system. Like many databases, deleted items aren't actually removed from the file; rather they are flagged as no longer to be used. Also additional information is always written to the end of the file, not in the neat order you see displayed in RegEdit. NTREGOPT reads the files comprising the Registry and writes new files, skipping deleted entries and re-ordering the entries it writes. Your system is then re-booted and the new files swapped for the old. The result is a smaller, more organized Registry that your system can read faster.
7. Run a defrag utility. Microsoft's version is fine.
I get noticeable results from steps 6 & 7 on my 1600+ Athlon-M equipped notebook computer with 640MB of RAM and a slower hard drive. I see almost no improvement on my 3000+ Athlon XP desktop with 1GB of RAM and a fast SATA hard drive.
Happy Computing!
Submitted by: Jim J.
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Answer:
This is the checklist I've devised to boost my PC's performance. These steps have served me well, and I suggest you perform them in the order indicated.
1) Scan/check disk, known as Error Checking in Win XP. For some reason users rarely perform this all-important function, probably because the feature isn't as visible as it used to be. XP users go to My Computer > right-click on Local Disk (C: ) > Properties > Tools > Error-checking (Check now...) > check the two little squares > Start > Yes or OK > reboot. The ensuing process, which will rid your computer of corrupted files, can take an hour or more, but it's worth doing before performing the following steps.
2) Complete virus scan. You know how to do this. If you have your Norton or McAfee scanning software set to run automatically (best to set it up for the middle of the night), then you needn't run it manually as part of this sequence.
3) Empty your browser cache. If it's Internet Explorer, click on Tools > Internet Options > Delete Files (check Delete all offline content) > OK. Depending on the time elapsed since your last cache dump, the hourglass can "hang" a long while. When it disappears, exit from this window.
4) Update Windows. If you don't have the update alerts set to pop up automatically, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and run the scan. Choose either scanning option; the custom option will let you pick the updates you think you need.
5) Find and zap any spyware on your computer. The basic (free) AdAware program is the best of all that perform this task. Get it at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and run the sucker.
6) Run Disk Cleanup. Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Check all the little squares next to the hard disk areas containing data and run the clean-up.
7) Empty your recycle bin.
8) Purge your registry of invalid values. Go to www.iolo.com and get System Mechanic. Run the registry fix tool and delete all invalid values identified. (While you're in System Mechanic, also run the junk files clean-up tool.)
9) Perform an analysis of your hard drive for fragmentation. Go back to System Tools, as in step #6, and select Disk Defragmenter. Click on the Analyze button. If the result is a "you need to defrag," do it.
That's it. It's a piece of cake and kinda fun, too.
Submitted by: Bob F. of St. Augustine, FL
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Answer:
A few months ago, I had a similar slowdown issue on my machine. After running spyware and virus checkers, I had to conclude that any problems were not quite that sneaky.
First, when you feel that your machine is slow, do a ctrl-alt-del, and select the Performance tab from the Windows Task Manager dialog. How much Physical Memory do you have in your machine, and how much is Available? If you find that there's not much left when running your favorite software, it could be that the system is slowing down because it does not have enough RAM to work with. When that happens, it tries to swap memory out to disk, which is very slow (compared to the RAM).
So, what is taking up memory? After a fresh reboot, check the Performance tab again. If it appears that there is still not as much Available memory as you'd expect, then it may be due to many software packages loading portions of themselves in memory upon startup. While many articles will suggest running "msconfig" to turn things off, I would save that more complicated option for more experienced users. Many programs that load themselves at startup will allow you to turn off that behavior through their Preferences or Configuration screens. Sometimes turning off the "load into system tray" option will work.
Back in the Windows Task Manager, if you click on the Processes tab, you can get an idea of the memory usage for the programs, both the ones you normally see and the ones running in the background. As an example, one of the instant messaging programs that I run takes 12 megs and another takes up 8 megs, even if I'm not IMing anyone! By loading these at startup, I'm already reducing my computer's memory by 20 megs from the start! If you need more RAM, it's better to load these only when you want them, and exit when you're done. You may find some items in your system tray worth visiting. You shouldn't have to turn everything off, mind you -- just a few megs here and there might be enough to make the difference.
If you haven't done it in several months, running defrag on the hard drive might help a bit, but don't expect a cure-all from this.
After doing the above, check the Performance tab again. You still may not have enough available RAM space (especially if you enjoy editing photos or home videos), and it may be worth investigating upgrading the RAM in your machine.
Submitted by: Gary W. of Gainesville, FL
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Answer:
A sluggish operating system can be caused by a number of problems, but the most common one I have been solving has been caused by either spyware and or viruses. Even if you don't have spyware or viruses, my procedure works and I suggest you try it.
There are 4 phases: Daily: 1) Get rid of temporary or junk files; 2) eliminate spyware; 3) run your antivirus on all files scan. Weekly: run defrag.
To get rid of temps and cookies, run Disk Cleanup first, checking all boxes except compress files (Programs, Accessories, System Tools)
Then double check by:
1) using Internet Options and delete cookies and offline files (Control Panel)
2) using Windows Explorer and delete contents of any temp or cookies folders (right click on My Computer, select Explore)
3) empty the Recycle Bin
Note: I created a folder on the Desktop, called House Keeping, and sent a copy of each of the above folders or shortcuts to the Desktop and dragged it to the House Keeping folder. I then renamed them by giving them a numerical order: 1-Daily - Disk Cleanup; 2-Daily - Del Cookies & Offline Files; etc.
Now that I have removed all the clutter, I can scan for spyware through the least amount of files. I use, in this order, the latest versions and updates of: SpywareBlaster, Spybot, Adaware, & Microsoft antispyware Beta 1. Yup! You need them all!
Now I can run the latest engine and profile of my antivirus. I use AVG. It may not be the best, but it is free, and I have had no problems with it. And I can run it in Safe Mode in case it encounters a live bug that it cannot remove in the normal mode.
Now that I know the system is probably healthy, it is the best time to run Defrag. Even though you can run it in Normal mode, it can take a very long time. I boot up in Safe Mode and it rarely takes more than 20 minutes for a 20-30Gb hard drive. (Why so small, you say? Because I keep my programs, data files, music, pictures, and videos on other drives or partitions - and they don't need to be defragmented - that's why!)
Get to know these free programs. Make a donation where you feel a program has solved your problem. Keep in mind that you could be using a total Suite program, but I have seen them fail for a number of reasons. Because I run these programs manually, I know if there is a problem and where it is occuring.
Total time except for running the antivirus and defrag can vary, but generally it takes less than 2 minutes to eliminate the temps and cookies; it takes 30 seconds to update Spyware Blaster; it takes 5-10 minutes to run Spybot on a fast machine; and it takes about the same with Adaware. MS Antispyware can take from 3-30 minutes, depending on which mode you choose for scanning.
Oh, yes. Nothing is perfect, so once in a while I go online to housecall.antivirus.com and have Trend run a full scan on all of my partitions as a final check.
So far, my machine has been looking good, and it runs faster than anyone else's machine that runs those fancy suites and burdensome background utilities.
Submitted by: Dennis S.
One more trick...
by pammienyx - 7/15/05 2:40 PM In reply to: Honorable mentions by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There's one program that I didn't see mentioned that has proven to be invaluable to me. WinPatrol, which is available here at http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=winpatrol&tg=dl-2001
A small Scottish terrier (Scotty 
) sits on your toolbar near the clock. You're asked if you want to add programs to your startup list when they try to do that. You're asked if you mean to change your homepage when programs try to change it. You're asked if a program tries to set itself as the one to open file extension .xxx, or whatever. It lists your IE helpers, the services running, active tasks, cookies (it checks cookies, too, for malicious ones), lists the file types and what program opens them, and in general makes sure no program muscles in and does something you don't want it to do. But what makes it even more valuable is that if there's a program listed as running or on your startup list or 'helping' IE, you can click on the 'info' button and find out something of what that program is and where it is located. You can also ask for 'more info' if knowing that doesn't help you identify it clearly enough.
I've used it for years, and it's not only kept malicious programs from grabbing things and changing them, it's kept some programs who want to run at startup and some that want to change my home page from doing so, when I clicked 'no' when asked.
I use WinPatrol, ZoneAlarm (free), and CA's EZTrust AntiVirus. I run AdAware at least weekly, and defrag and scandisk at least once a month. I make sure everything is updated before it runs, and I exercise reasonable care with downloads, installations, and email. I've never had any problems with worms, viruses, or any other little nasties that can make a computer more of a nightmare than fun 
Pam
Other recommendations from our members
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 7/13/05 5:09 PM
In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Answer:
Dear Evelyn D.,
It has been my experience that ultimately, spyware is the culprit for a slow and sluggish response. Having experienced it with both a dial-up as well as a dsl isp, I know quite well how spyware can most assuredly destroy the enjoyment of using the internet as well as favored software.
If you don’t mind spending a few dollars, I have implemented two software packages that I use daily in the process of keeping my xp home running seamlessly. The first is CounterSpy and the second is TuneUp.
Since spyware can do such a devastating job on pc performance, eliminating it is a critical element for a smooth running computer. I have also used Webroot Spy Sweeper which I was initially dissatisfied with. However, they have recently upgraded and I have found it does the job adequately.
A daily running of CounterSpy takes but moments (checking the registry and cookies for the culprits that remind me of those characters in the “under the toenails” fungus commercial).
TuneUp is a veritable treasure chest of combined utilities that will harness control over your windows operating system for the lay person. It has a “1-Click Maintenance” icon which I have installed on my task bar that works flawlessly! I now can feel when something is not quite right and click the icon and moments later, things are back to where they should be.
I know how frustrating it is to sit and wait for screens to load and downloads to complete. These two programs have changed that for me. I wish you luck!
Submitted by: Alden B.
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Answer:
Dear Sir,
The problem you are facing is not a complicated one, and can be easily solved by the following steps:
1. Running a registry cleaner such as Error Doctor 2006. Which will remove any obsolete entries found in your PC's registry. It will also scan for hidden and troublesome problems. Error Doctor provides you with a free scan at the following page:
www.errordoctor.com/free_scan/free_scan.php
Should you feel uncomfortable with Error Doctor 2006, try Registry Mechanic, which is my second choice for a registry cleaner & a try-out can be found here:
http://www.pctools.com/downloads/rminstall.exe
2. Run a disk defragmenter such as O&O Defrag V8.
Personally I would recommend this disk defragmenter above all, because it proved to be the best I ever tried. It has a friendly user interface. It finishes its tasks faster than other disk defragmenters like :
Windows' own Disk defragmenter, PerfectDisk, Diskeeper, and results can be seen immediately after finishing the defragment process. A free trial of the software can be found here suiting your needs:
http://www.oo-software.com/en/index.html
3. The problem may not be solved by these ordinary methods, sometimes you need to check your system for malicious spyware or adware. Now these things can be tricky, and hard to remove, but I will point you to a very handy, useful, and powerful software, note that its also free. Its called Spybot Search & Destroy, and can be found right here:
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1
SpyBot proved to be the best software around when dealing with spyware and other malicious software. It also provides real-time protection that continuously monitors your PC's registry, its background tasks, and the browser you are using to make sure that your system is 100% safe from them.
4. Sometimes but not always, the problem may be with the hard disks you are using. Therefor if the solutions above did not work, try checking your disks for errors running Windows' own disk checking software, or Chkdsk, which can be easily launched via the Windows Commandline: chkdsk. But note that chkdsk will be checking for errors on the disk your Windows directory is located.
I hope these steps prove to be handy
Take care
Submitted by: Fouad H.
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Answer:
Hi Evelyn,
I spent a little time reading between the lines of you question and am running on the assumption that you also have a little concern about tinkering with your PC. I'm also assuming that you like to surf the web and open a lot of sites and that you have acquired a lot of ad-ware, spy-ware and whatever from your surfing habits. You say that you don't much time to work on the computer, but the time you spending waiting for it to work is time time wasted. On that basis, I'll make a couple of suggestions that you should be able to perform with confidence.
- Download a free copy of Ad-Aware from http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5
Click the green button for the free download. Install and run the program per the instructions. If it ask you to look for updates, please do that before you run the program. Later, run it about once a month, always checking for updates beforehand.
- Download a free copy of Spybot Search and Destroy from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/. Install and run per the instructions. Again, if it suggests that you look for updates do that before run the program. Later, run it about once a month, always checking for updates.
I think you can expect to have a considerable list of candidates for deletion from both programs. Don't worry about deleting the items, the process is reversible. Reboot your PC and see if the performance improves. If it's no better or only a little better, I suggest that you invest in a registry analysis tool. I use Registry First Aid. It costs $27.95 to download from Rose City Software – http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/reg1aid/. Here, we are getting a little more risky, but the program pretty well holds you hand while you remove damaged and orphaned items from your registry. I STRONGLY recommend that you do a full backup of your hard drive before undertaking any registry maintenance.
Finally, we come to the last ditch and most drastic fix. Only do this if you see little or no improvement in performance. Shut down your PC and reboot with the Windows XP installation disk in your DVD drive. Then run a Windows repair per the prompts. The repair should fix corrupted, damaged or missing Windows items. After the repair, make sure to reinstall SP1 and SP2 if they came after the date of your installation disk. Make sure that the Windows firewall is set on or replace it with whatever firewall you use. Also, make sure that your antivirus is up to date and active.
If the PC fails to boot from the Windows DVD make sure that your PC can boot from the DVD drive and that the DVD drive is before the hard drive in the boot sequence. Your owners manual should show you how to get into setup mode or follow the screen prompts that say to press a particular function key for "Setup" just as the PC starts to boot and the screen is still black and white. Look up "Boot Order" in Setup. The order should be "A" if you have a floppy drive, then whatever letter applies to your DVD drive, then "C" for your hard drive. Again, I cannot overemphasize the wisdom of taking a full backup of your hard drive before this kind of maintenance.
Hope this helps.
Submitted by: Dave G.
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Answer:
Almost everyday, I have someone in my retirement community ask me the same question - "how can I speed up my slowed down computer"? Since most of my clients are seniors I had to find a simple solution - one that wouldn't take a lot of time since most are on a fixed income and I charge by the hour.
My solution is to use a commercial program - System Mechanic. I have no financial interest in the program, but it sure does a great job in speeding up a unresponsive and slowed down computer. It's not the complete solution but I highly recommend it for a quick fix.
Submitted by: Ted M.
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Answer:
For Evelyn D.
As a network administrator I have quite a few XP machines that I’m responsible for and with heavy usage comes file fragmentation and stagnant temp files. With multiple statewide projects fighting for the time I have left after my normal network administrator duties, I don’t have time for routine maintenance of still functioning computers, so I utilize a batch program a friend of mine wrote that runs the built-in XP disk maintenance utilities, and I think this will help you.
First, open notepad. Then copy the following and paste it into the notepad window:
@echo off
echo y|chkdsk /f/r
goto diskclean
:diskclean
cleanmgr /sagerun:11
goto defrag
:defrag
defrag c:\
shutdown /r /f
:end
Save this as “Clean.bat” or something like that, just make sure you change the ‘save as type’ from txt to all files. Otherwise you will just get a clean.bat.txt document instead of a .bat program. Save it to your desktop or somewhere easy to get to.
When your computer seems to be running sluggish and you won’t need to use it for a while, double click the file to execute it. When executed, it will schedule chkdsk to run on restart, it will then run the disk cleanup utility which will clean up the temp files, followed by defragmenting the hard drive. When finished, it will reboot the computer, which will allow the previously scheduled chkdsk to run. The time all this takes will depend on the hardware of your computer and how many files are on your hard drive and how fragmented your hard drive is, but I’ve found that the disk cleanup and defrag don’t take as long this way since the GUI isn’t needed.
Some variations that I use: If you don’t need the chkdsk to run, add a REM at the beginning of the 2nd line (echo y|chkdsk /f/r).
Create a scheduled event to run this batch file weekly or monthly. This will keep you from having to remember to run the program and will still keep your hard drive performing at its best.
Submitted by: Rick H.
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Answer:
Dear Evelyn D. ,
Have you scanned your computer for spyware or viruses yet ?
If not , please do so ( forget about using Norton or Mcafee , they suck big time ).
Here are some programs you need to install to scan for spyware :
1) Ad-Aware SE Personal 1.06 ( http://www.lavasoft.de )
2) Spybot Search and Destroy 1.4 ( http://www.spybot.info )
Additionally , you can install Microsoft Antispyware Beta , which you can find at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security
It could also be that you have too many Temporary files and Temporary Internet files and log lifes and such more.
To delete those easily , you can use CCleaner ( Crap Cleaner ) , which you can download at http://www.ccleaner.com
Be use to not play with the settings too much , because otherwise you could mess up your computer. Just keep the basic settings.
In the "Options" thing , please tick the box which says "Run CCleaner at startup of the computer" , this is a useful thing , because your computer is cleaned whenever you start your computer.
That way you don't have to worry about those Temporary files and Temporary Internet files.
Also do a defrag regularly ( about once a month ) to keep your computer running smoothly.
I hope this helps you keeping you running your computer faster.
Sincere greetings ,
Submitted by: Wesley
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Answer:
I recently downloaded a free optimizing program from www.inkline.com called PC Booster
that will examine all parts of your pc from hd to memory and more, and then give recommendations as to what should be done for utmost pc performance...it also includes tweaks, hd stress testing, etc. I can't recommend this program enough...it does a great job!
Submitted by: Mark S.
When you upgrade your machine.....
by Dr Juice phD - 7/15/05 8:34 AM In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You should take a serious look at offerings from Apple. Apple's product lines are updated about 2 to 3 times a year, meaning your "current" hardware will stay current a lot longer. I have a 1.33 GHz PowerBook that's a year old. The newest model is 1.67 GHz, not a huge increase in speed. Basically all I have to do to keep my hardware relatively up to date for the next few years is throw some more RAM in and keep with the latest release of OS X.
But if you're going to stick with Windows, as many people feel they have to, then here's what I think you should do, from personal experience with Windows and XP. These have all probably been mentioned already.
-Periodically, go through your hard drive and find programs you haven't used in a while. My rule back when I was running XP was if I hadn't used it in the last month or so, I didn't need it. Obviously things like Norton products, Office, Ad Aware, and others you'll need to keep.
-Also, find junk media files. Movies you downloaded and only watched once, pictures from your trip to Vegas two years ago, and that mp3 from that one band that you liked for two weeks can be deleted all together or moved to CD/DVD. This also goes for any Office-created documents; your grocery list from 3 weeks ago is no longer needed.
-Scan Disk and Defrag. Windows has a nasty habit of moving chunks of memory around on your hard drive, which over time makes it harder for the software to access what it needs. I'm sure there's software out there (in fact, I think XP can do it) that you can use to automatically schedule these things, so all you have to do is leave the computer on and it'll go to work. I should also mention that Apple machines don't have this problem as they have something called Journaling which actively keeps the hard drive in order.
-Usual antivirus and spyware/pop-up protection. FireFox has a built-in pop up blocker and it's free, check it out @ mozilla.org.
Finally, when your using your computer, only open the programs you need, and when your done close them. The more stuff you have open and running in the background the less memory you have for the program you're using then and there.
My Computer:
17-inch PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz
512 MB RAM
OS X 10.4.2
Wireless 802.11g connection to SBC/Yahoo! DSL 1.5 Mbps
XP Tweaks Optimize Performance
by Bill Goodwin - 7/15/05 9:57 AM In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are several things XP users can do to optimize performance as a supplement to the cleanup described in several posts.
In "My Computer"
...Advanced tab, Visual Effects...
1) Set Visual Effects to "best performance." This eliminates a lot of overhead used to make your screen and mouse look pretty.
...Advance tab, Advanced..., Virtual memory... Change...
2) Resize the swap file to 2.5 or 3 times RAM. The minimum and maximum size should be set to the same value... the swap file will be opened only once. This reduces the time XP currently uses to resize for each task. Doing this after cleanup and defrag will optimize chance that the swap file will consist of only one segment, instead of 2 or 3.
3) Stop and/or disable unnecessary services. Right-click on My Computer, click on Manage, click on Services and Applications, Services. "Startup Type" should be set to either 'Manual' or 'Disabled.' There are several services a typical home user does not use, or that may leave your computer vulnerable. Typical services NOT used at home: Alerter, Messenger (not the same as Microsoft Messenger), Network DDE, Network DDE DSDM, Routing and Remote Access, Telnet, and Computer Browser. This reduces the number of .DLLs running in the background, and frees up valuable CPUs.
4) Most service provders (ISP) provide client addressing using DHCP. This eliminates the need for an LMHOST file. This can be disabled in Network Connections, Local Area Connection, Properties, Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties, Advanced, WINS.
5) Unnecessary print confirmation messages that appear each time you print... these appera at the printer icon that appearts temprarily on the tray in the lower right-hand corner.
Open Printers and Faxes, click on File, click on Server Properties, Advanced tab... unselect Show informational notifications for local printers Network also, if any).
There are more, but this requires editing the Registry. Suggest you start with the things already mentioned first... you should see a marked increase in performance and overall response.
XP Tweaks Optimize Performance
by poltonis - 7/15/05 3:05 PM In reply to: XP Tweaks Optimize Performance by Bill GoodwinHello Bill: I was intrigued by the number of suggestions and tweaks you submitted.
I was never aware of them and would appreciate to see others (you suggested “There are more, but this requires editing the Registry”). I back-up my registry daily at the first boot and would therefore like to try out your tweaks.
Tks BRgds
Poltonis
XP Tweaks Optimize Performance
by Bill Goodwin - 7/17/05 4:13 PM In reply to: XP Tweaks Optimize Performance by poltonisHi again...
There are two ways to tweak the rigistry...
1) With packaged software.... safer, sometimes fixes the problem.
2) Manually.... more dangerous, but will go a step further than software.
The first thing to consider is running registry software first. There are some good packages, and some not so good. Peter Norton has been the guru's guru since day one, and offers Norton System Works. It's pricey, but the cleaner features identify entries that are no longer referenced, used or valid.
The second step is to manually turn of those features that are pure overhead. Several communications and media software programs are loaded at boot time, taking up valuable resources and many continually poll the web for updates, info, etc.
Browse the entries at these keys...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
Many startup programs appear in the icon tray on the lower right portion of the screen, next to the clock, and are not really needed... mouse config, Quick Time, CD Creator, etc. The services povided by these programs will still work without this tray feature.
Some of them can't be turned off in the software and must be turned off in the registry. To do this, click START, Run... key in 'regedit' and click OK. Browse to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
You will see a list of programs launched at start-up. You can delete several of these items. If you're not sure what they are, research first. To do this, launch the Search feature from the start menu, and key in each program (separated by a semicolon ; ), richt-click on each executable found, click on version and review info. This should give you an idea of what this is.
If you have recently deleted software, although you've deleted the folder and files, registry entries remain. After you've cleaned the registry, you can perform a registry search for keywords unique to thye software. If you're sure they have been uninstalled, you can probably delete the entry safely. Again, use caution.
More later if you need....
Regards,
Bill
XP Tweaks Optimize Performance
by poltonis - 7/17/05 10:40 PM In reply to: XP Tweaks Optimize Performance by Bill GoodwinThere are two ways to tweak the rigistry...
Thanks again Bill: that was extremely helpful and clear.
NB. Do you host a website with your Tweaks (something on the like of "Kelly's Korner)?
Rgds
Poltonis
XP Tweaks..... Web Site
by Bill Goodwin - 7/18/05 4:58 PM In reply to: XP Tweaks Optimize Performance by poltonisGlad my suggestions helped.
Re: web site... Seems like I'm always busy. I never really sat down to take the time. Wouldn't take much, but monitoring it and moderating a forum would take a little more time than I can give it right now. Maybe in a couple years.
I've worked on all sizes since 1971... mainframes, midi, mini, micro, etc. I programmed for several years, spent several years managing and leading an R&D team for a large company in Rhode Island, networking, configuring, planning, etc. I've loved every minute of it, even thrived on it about 14-16 hours a day.
I'm in Alaska now, and the pace is a little different. I only hope I can hang on long enough to retire.... the younger guys coming up will work for a lot less, and could make me a memory.
Gotta stay sharp and on my toes....
Rgds,
Bill
XP Tweaks.....Web Site
by poltonis - 7/19/05 2:53 AM In reply to: XP Tweaks..... Web Site by Bill GoodwinHmmm...don't I know the feeling! I was in Shipping (import & export) and my job was made redundant after 23 years of service. Couldn't get another job: I am 57 now and no one will hire persons of my age so close to retirement age(61yrs).
Ah well...But with your expertize and sensible approach, I am sure you will hang on Bill - if you do have time in the future and put up that Good(Win) Website, it will be appreciated by many.
Take care
Poltonis
For additional help have a look at this site:-
by j.a.shaw - 7/15/05 10:01 AM In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Optimize XP - A Windows XP Optimization Guide
Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. This Free guide will help you improve your overall system performance without having to manually edit the Registry. The link is listed below
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html
Regards,
Tony Shaw
HijackThis program
by todd.reidenbach - 7/15/05 10:47 AM In reply to: 7/15/05 Simple tasks to help boost PC performance by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have had very good luck with this program which detects running processes and registry entries. Some malware and spyware that can't be removed with the major removal programs will be detected in this log.
It is not the most user-friendly, so it is probably wise to copy and paste a log file to an online forum for someone to help check.
http://www.download.com/HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html
No Please No!
by Johnny B - 7/17/05 2:50 AM In reply to: HijackThis program by todd.reidenbachPlease DON'T copy and paste the hijack log into a help forum! In my opinion this is the worst possible thing you can do when asking for help! The internet is clogged up with forums with these logs on them! I have wasted countless hours looking for an obscure problem, trying to wade through posts which have my key word buried in a Hijack log (which was posted for a completely different reason). Although Hijack may be a neat program, which has a valuable function, it gets my vote for most hated program of all time (sorry Merijn) because of the way these logs are posted everywhere. By all means use it and examine what is produced - Just don't post a log 5 pages long!
BTW as this is about slow PC's - Defragging has been shown to speed up sluggish PCs especially if they use XP, and clearing out the registry is another very good tip (just be careful!)
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