Community Newsletter: Q&A: How do I get my PC back in shape?
- 5/10/07 8:43 PM
Dell Tune Up Running XP
by OldWiz - 4/28/07 12:48 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you haven't tuned up your PC in some time you should take the following nontechnical steps.
The first step you need to ckeck your hard disk to make sure it isn't having any problems. Go to the start menu and click to open. Go to the my computer icon and click it. A window will open that will show you what drives you have on your system. Go to the C drive and right click it. Scroll down to the properties box and click it. This will open a window that has a pie diagram showing how much of your drive you have used. Across the top of this window are tabs. Click on the tools tab. This will open another window. The fist item you will see is the error checking. Click on the check now tab and another little popup will appear. There will be two boxes in pop up and you need to check them both. Click on the start button and a pop will tell you that to do this it needs complete access to your system. Just click the yes button and restart your computer. Shut down your computer restart it and let it check your disk. This process will take some time but it will let you know if you have any problems with your disk.
Step two repeat step one when you get to the pie diagram click on to the disk clean up tab and clean up your old files. This will eliminate any of the old files your system has stored for the past few years.
Step three repeat step one and go to the tools tab on the top. This time click on to the defragment now tab. Click on it and another window will open. Clik on the defrag button and let it defrag. This will take some time so you can do some spring cleaning or something else until it finishes. Be patient as all of these processes will take quite some time. The end result will surprise you. Your system will run faster once again.
Uninstall Software and Upgrade Hardware
by Multiverse - 4/28/07 12:52 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Uninstall Unnecessary Software:
Some software starts unnecessary processes that use computer resources, making your computer act busy. Examples are programs that help you "quick launch" certain applications, and programs that look for updates to your installed software.
Here are the steps I use to tune up computers on the software side. Hardware upgrades come after.
A. Go through your list of programs and uninstall anything you probably won't use anymore. Especially scrutinize programs that were installed under a previous operating system if you happen to have upgraded your O/S. Use the uninstaller that came with the application if supplied, located in the application's program group in your Start menu. If there is none, use "Add/Remove Programs" under the Windows Control Panel to uninstall. Barring that, look up manual removal procedures on the support section of the application's website. Always reboot your computer after uninstalling applications.
B. Remove auto-start programs that are unnecessary. Windows auto-starts daemon processes using two methods, both of which you can clean up. First, right click your Start menu and select "Explore All Users". Then navigate to <DRIVE:>\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. Any programs listed here will be executed when anyone logs in. To determine if a program is necessary, simply search for the executable's name on Google. Enter for example, "qttask.exe", and link to the various hits containing the phrase "Process Information", or "What is it?" Sometimes the executable name will hint to its function, like "Adobe Reader QuickLaunch".
The other place to find auto-start programs is in the Windows registry. To get there, click Start->Run... and enter "regedit". In the registry, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run.
Again, search for any listed processes on Google to determine necessity. I have found it impossible to damage Windows by deleting everything within this node blindly; the worst that could happen is some old program stops working.
Upgrade your hardware
The two best ways to speed up your computer are to add more memory and upgrade the CPU. In the process you may determine that your computer is not worth upgrading, but at least you will know.
To upgrade the memory, first determine how much you have. Go to "System" under the Control Panel, and select the "General" tab. The "Computer" section tells how much RAM you have. If you have more than 512 megabytes (MB) of memory, then memory may not be your problem. If it's low, determine which type of memory your system takes, and how much it can accept, and in what denominations. The authoritative reference to find this information is the manual for the motherboard. Find the make and model number of your motherboard by opening the side of your computer and reading any and all printed text on your motherboard. Common makes are Intel, ASUS, GigaByte... The model is usually some numbers or letters, possibly hyphenated. One you have the model, look up the mother board in the Support section of the manufacturers website, usually under Support->Downloads, or Documentation.
The manual should state what type of memory is accepted, like PCnnn, or DDRnnn, where nnn is a number relating the speed of the memory. Also check how many memory slots the motherboard has. They usually have 2 or 4 slots. Each slot has a maximum amount of memory per stick, and there is also an upper limit on total installed memory, so don't buy too much, or the wrong denominations. Memory is available on bidding websites or those of computer hardware suppliers.
To upgrade the processor, look again in the motherboard manual to determine which CPUs the motherboard accepts. Any motherboard usually accepts one or two different kinds of chips, either Intel or AMD, but each chip may be available in different clock speeds, stated in megahertz (MHz). Determine the maximum clock speed of the fastest chip the motherboard accepts, and get it on eBay. When you install the "new" chip on the motherboard, use a cooler made for that chip, and apply thermal grease between the chip and the heatsink of the cooler.
As a final rubdown, install some new, free anti-malware software like AVG or Avast!, and run a full system scan. For optimal performance, disable the real-time filesystem checking, but schedule periodic scans. Finally, defragment the hard drive using the Disk Management tool of the Computer Management console under Control Panel -> Administrative Tools.
Do Disk Cleanup before Defragment
by Multiverse - 4/28/07 1:24 PM In reply to: Uninstall Software and Upgrade Hardware by MultiverseIt makes less sense to defragment the disk while it still contains tons of temporary files. Use the Disk Management tool in the Computer Management console to clean up your disk. Right-click the drive you want to clean, select Properties, and click the "Disk Cleanup" button on the General tab.
Spring Cleaning
by bkspeck - 4/28/07 1:05 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The maintenance and "cleaning" of a PC is quite simple. Below is a typical order of how I "clean" a PC to restore it's performance back to where it once was. Most of the software titles mentioned can be found at Cnet's www.download.com:
1) AntiVirus: Current, updated AntiVirus software is critical to a computer's long-term performance. Any virus can put the brakes on a computer's speed, so ensure that your AntiVirus software is current and up-to-date. If you're in need of AV software, try AVG AntiVirus Free for a Home PC, or Trend-Micro for a business PC (AVG's free license only permits use on a home computer). Run a complete scan to ensure your PC is free of any and all viruses.
2) Spyware/Adware/Malware: A close second to viruses, spyware, adware and malware can also put the brakes on your computer's speed. Some AntiVirus software comes with this protection built-in (typically titled "Internet Security"). If you're in need of software, checkout SpyBot, AdAware and SpywareBlaster.
3) Take out the Trash: No, not the Recycle Bin, but all of the unneeded and unneccesary files that have accumulated on your hard drive. CCleaner does a great job of finding and removing these files. I recommend unchecking three options: Windows tab, Internet Explorer, Cookies; Windows tab, System, Empty Recycle Bin; and Applications tab, Firefox/Mozilla, Cookies (if installed). Cookies are best monitored by a program such as SpyBot, not deleted in their entirety. Most cookies are good cookies! I believe that your Recycle Bin should be manually emptied, for what if there's an important file in there that was accidentally deleted?
4) Defragment the Hard Drive: To restore your computer's performance to like it was when new, keep your hard drive defragmented! Windows ships with a defragmenter, which does a good job if you're on a budget (Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter). For trouble free "set it and forget it" defragmenting, you'll need to purchase Norton's Speed Disk (included in Norton Utilities and SystemWorks) or Executive Software's DiskKeeper. I run DiskKeeper, and have it set to monitor my hard drives for optimum performance. The defrag routines run at night and/or in the background automatically, keeping my computer performing like a champ!
5) Memory: Your post mentioned that you THINK you have 200 MB or memory. Most likely it is 256 MB of memory. Memory is available in 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB chips. I recommend that your memory be at least 512 MB to run Windows XP smoothly. Don't fret: Memory is inexpensive and very easy to install! A typical 512 MB chip costs around $45 - $60 for a desktop model. Some desktops and all laptops will cost more.
I hope this helps you complete your "Spring Cleaning" chores. Hopefully, your 2008 cleaning won't include your computer (other than dusting), because you've followed these simple maintenance steps all year long!
Sincerely,
Brian K Speck
Speck Consulting & Training
cleaning up hard drive (C)
by papajohn70322 - 4/28/07 1:15 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I use a program called regcure which will get rid of a lot of stuff you donot need.
Cleaning up and power boosting your DELL!
by Impreza WRX - 4/28/07 2:09 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've been down this road so many times, I now have a rapid and effective procedure to doing this. It still takes a lot of time, so get a tall glass of drink, drink it, and then sit down.
First, once your PC is started, go to Start ->Control Panel, and Add/Remove Programs (Classic View). You will see a large list of stuff that's installed. Go through each one and start removing what you don't need. Things to keep:
Programs you use
Audio Drivers (Creative Sound Blaster, Intel Audio, etc.)
Graphics Drivers (Intel, ATi, nVidia)
Modem Drivers (v.90, v.92, usualy Lucent or Agere, maybe Conexant)
Network Drivers (Intel, Netgear, 3Com, National Semiconductor, etc.)
Adobe Flash Player
Windows Updates (i.e. Update for Windows XP [buncha-numbers])
Internet Explorer 7 (unless you don't like it for some reason)
Things that can go:
DELL Support
things that you never use
AOL !!!!! (unless you actually use it)
Trial Versions of Programs or Expired Apps (such as the McAfee or Norton Antivirus 30-day thing they gave you)
Look in your System Tray. This is in the bottom right next to your clock. If you see an arrow to the left of one or three icons, click it, and the real story begins. All those things you see down there are running in the background eating up space in your already choked up RAM. By hovering your mouse over each one, you can tell what it is. The procedure is different for each one, but here is the gist.
Right-click the icon, and choose one of the possible options:
Disable Autostart, Disable Quickstart, Options..., Preferences...
If you go to Options or Preferences, you will be given a menu, of which you have to find an option (by rummaging through tabs along the top and the like) that ha a checkbox that says something to the likes of "Run with Windows", or "Start with Windows", or "Autostart" or something along that line, and uncheck it. Or, it could be "Show Icon in System Tray" or something like that. OK out of the Options.
Things to keep in the System Tray:
Volume Control (unless your DELL has no working sound)
Network Icon (the two monitors that blink blue when you use the Internet)
Antivirus (if you don't have one, keep reading)
Anti-Spyware with a real-time protection
Drawing Tablet Icon
[name of printer here] Icon
Things that must go:
DELL Support
Quicktime
Any "Quickstart" Icon
Now, go to Start-> Programs -> Startup, and take a look at what's there. If you have "Adobe Reader Speed Launch", remove it. If you have any "Quick Start" Icons in here, remove them too.
We're getting there, now you have to download a program. Not to worry, it's very small, and won't bite. Go to www.ccleaner.com and download CCleaner. When you are installing it, do NOT install the Yahoo! Toolbar, uncheck that option. You don't need yet another toolbar in IE. When it is done, right-click your Recycle Bin and choose Open CCleaner...
You are now presented with the CCleaner window, and you have the option of cleaning out all the Temp files and cache that has accumulated, but first, go through the list and unchoose or choose certain options at your discretion.
First, Internet Explorer. If Cookies is checked, any websites that have customizable layouts, or automatically log you in will be logged out if you have this checked. However, this removes bad cookies too, the ones that track your surfing habits and the like. If History is checked, you will lose all your Browsing History. If you have Recenttly Typed URLs checked, you will not be able to go to a website by choosing it from the Address Bar's drop down list just after you run CCleaner. You can uncheck Last Download Location, and if you check Autocomplete Form History, you will lose ALL saved passwords, so you have to enter them again.
Next, Windows Explorer. Unless you actually use Recent Documents, that can remain checked. Same for everything else.
In the next section, System, you have an option at the bottom: Windows Log Files. These Log files are useful for finding out exactly what is happening if a program or your system is going sour, if you go to Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer, but if you never use it, leave it checked.
Last but not least Advanced. This can clear out any customizations done to your Desktop, so leave all unchecked except for IIS Log Files (same reasoning as the Windows one). Hotfix Uninstallers winn remove the uninstall files for all the Windows Updates since Service Pack 2. This can free up a lot of disk space, but if you need to uninstall a hotfix for some reason, you will be hosed if you check this. Check at your discretion.
Click the Applications tab. Here you will see some programs you may have installed. First thing, find Adobe Flash Player and uncheck it. If you use a different Web Browser than Internet Explorer, fix up the options like you did with IE.
When done, click Analyse, and after a few seconds (or a few minutes) it will tell you how many MB of temp files it can remove. Double check your options, and click Run CCleaner. It warns you about removing files, then clicking OK does it. When it says Cleaning Complete, close CCleaner.
From now on, all you have to do to use it again is right-click Recycle Bin, Run CCleaner. It won't show up in a window, but it will do its work right then. Wait a minute before doing something else.
Right-click Internet Explorer on your Desktop and choose Internet Properties, or go to Start -> Control Panel -> Internet Options (Classic View). Click Settings... in the middle where it says Temporary Internet Files, and change the number to 64. OK out of it.
You have one more thing to do in Windows. That is this.
Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter. When it opens, click your C: Drive and click Defragment. It may take a long while, but after it is done, your hard drive should run significantly faster. You may have to do it more than once.
Your DELL has 256 MB of memory. While this was OK for Windows 2000 and even Windows XP Gold, it is not good for XP Service Pack 2. This is one reason things are taking forever to boot. You need at least 512 MB or RAM to run XP smoothly.
To upgrade your RAM, you have to do a Google.com search with the words DELL [your exact model, i.e. Dimension 3000) RAM. The first 50,000 results will be shopping sites that will offer you the right memory. While you can buy from DELL, it is twice as expensive and not worth it. If your DELL has RDRAM, buy two 128 MB sticks, otherwise, buy a 512 stick.
To insert the RAM into your DELL, depending on the model, you unplug the system, put it on a workbench, and you either unscrew the large thumbscrew on the right side of the rear, or you push the grey button on the top rear and bottom rear of the case, then either slide the side panel off, or it opens like a clamshell.
Put your hand on the metal part of the case before doing anything.
When you look inside you will see a large circuit board, the motherboard, and near the rear is a large duct. In front of the duct, depending on the model, will be one or two vertical circuit board stick(s) like the one(s) you purchased. There should be one or two slots empty, or in the case of RDRAM, there are two "different like" sticks near the front. Push down the clips on both sides of the empty slot(s), and/or remove the last two boards if you have RDRAM. Either way, pull out your RAM stick(s), find the notch on the bottom, line it up with the groove in the empty slot(s), and insert it. Push down until the clips on either side lock into place. It requires some force to do so. Once it is firmly in place, close the clamshell or slide the side panel closed, and if applicable, screw in the thumb screw.
Plug the PC in and start it up. It should warn you that it has more RAM when you start it up. If it beeps at you several times repeatedly and will not boot, something went wrong. You have to open up the PC again and double check that the RAM stick is in correctly. If it is, try switching the first(or first two) and the last (or last two) sticks. Make sure they are paired together if it is RDRAM, as in 1122 or 2211, not 1212. Try again. It should work this time. If it does not, pull out the new stick(s) and try again. If it boots, then you got a dud, which is rare, so get an RMA on it. Read the included return policy for details.
If you got it to Windows the first time, you should notice an immediate improvement. You are now finished with the spring cleaning.
P.S. Remember when I mentioned the Antivirus? If you don't have one, you need to get one. Fortunately, the best things in life are free. go to www.avast.com, put your mouse over the download button near the top left, click Programs, and download Avast! Home Edition Free. Install it, and when it it done, it will ask you to register.
Registering is free, so click that Register link, fill out only the stuff labelled in bold print, read and accept the terms, and click that register button. Go to your email, get that register code (highlight the letters and numbers between the lines in the email that read ----cut [above or below] here-------), hold CTRL and press C [on your keyboard] then let go of CTRL (commonly said as CTRL+C). Right-click the Avast! Icon (blue ball with an a) and click About Avast! second to the bottom on the menu. Click the Register... button on the bottom, and press CTRL+V when the window comes up. The letters and numbers will show up in the box. Click OK, and you are done! Avast! AV is fully automatic and will notify you only if something goes wrong.
Now you are truly done. Congratulate yourself.
Now, all you have to do once a week is right-click Recycle Bin, Run CCleaner, and Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter and Defragment, in that order.
Regards, Mike
that slower and slower and slower phenom
by entneye - 4/28/07 2:38 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Sandy, I have found that running a "defragment" program helps to speed things up again. Dont know if it will help with your problem or not. Goodluck
How to cleanup and keep your computer moving.
by helleon - 4/28/07 2:46 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Well Sandy, having run into a similar problem, I have worked out my own little program to keep my computer in good health. First I would suggest you run your virus program to make sure that is not part of the problem. Next I would run a spyware program. I use Ad-aware(downloaded for free). I also use Spy Bot , another program free of charge. You can Google to find them. As part of regular maintenance I do the following every two weeks. I go to the start menu and click All programs. Near the top of the list is Acessories, click on System Tools, click on disk cleanup. Look at the various files that are listed and choose what is appropiate for you.It becomes obvious which ones to delete once you click on each file name. Recycle bin,web files etc. Once this is done I go to Internet Explorer and click on Tools, then Internet Options. It usually opens in the General window. There you will see Web page History, please delete this. Next I go to My Computer, click on Properties, click on Tools and finally click on Error Checking. Here you will find two boxes. Check both Boxes and this will error check your disk and correct errors where posible. This will take some time . You will need to restart your computer for Disk error program to begin. On my computer it took an hour and 45 minutes, so dont be concerned about the time. After that I defragement my computer. I do this by gong to Start, all programs and acessories again. Under tools you will find Disk Defragmentation. Click in analyze and then Defrag. even if it tells you you dont have to. When all this is done, and it takes alot of hours so I suggest you do it on a good T.V. night so you can go back and forth. I back up my computer to a stand alone Hard Drive. I keep a notebook, in which I check off each step with the time it takes and the date I performed these steps. This has worked well for me over the past few years and is not hard to follow. The other step I take is clean out my email box. I tend to hoard those old emails and sometimes they get in the hundreds and seem to slow down the loading of my email site. Good luck and I hope this helps you enjoy your computer.
Spruce up that computer
by spike_n58 - 4/28/07 2:54 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have A couple of suggestions that worked for me. First It will cost A little, But It's worth It. Go and buy Evidence Eraser. You can find this online. It doesn't cost that much. It gets rid of all that junk you dont need. Second, get Windows Registry Repair Pro. It's buy 3b software. It get's rid of all those invalid registry errors. It cost A little also, but Its definately worth It. Go to: start, control panel, Internet options, Advanced, scroll down to security, select box that says, Do not save encryped pages to disc. You do not need to save them. Defrag regularly. Last empty Browsing History In Internet options, Like I told you how to access above. You should see a difference after this. If not you might need to get Lavasoft Ad Aware because you might have some spyware bogging you down. I know this sounds like alot, but I do it on A regular basis, and I have a E-Machine T6524, and it's 2 years old, and it is faster than my friends Dell computer, which is only 1 year old.
Memories: like the corners of my PC performance
by soccerjock3 - 4/28/07 4:13 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I think your problem lies in your available memory. I have helped several people lately with the same thing that you are mentioning in your letter.
When you bought your Dell, you probably went for the cheapest that they had, or a special price that they were selling - that's only good enough for simple computing. Since you bought your PC, you have slowly hacked away at the available memory by adding programs, allowing extra installations that you didn't even know you were allowing, and ah yes, of course, XP SP2 add on's. These all require a small chunk of memory. Before you know it, all your little startup programs require 50 or 60 little chunks of memory.
When your 256 MB of RAM gets close to being used up, your computer tries to accommodate by using your slower hard drive to help keep track of running programs.
All you need to do is order more RAM. If you want to avoid this problem, you should get 1GB of RAM and put it in your available slot. As soon as you power up your PC with the new memory in place, it will be like a new PC again!
spring cleaning a slow system
by randysvh - 4/28/07 5:57 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Sandy,
i wish i could tell you there was one simple solution to fixing your problem in this situation. i do this all of the time, but i will give you the basics of the few tools that will help. The top 3 programs that will make an immediate difference is ccleaner, advanced windows care, and regseeker. these programs will do a good initial cleanup for you. After using them i would recommend spybot, superantispyware, and spyware terminator.
First i would run ccleaner and set up the option for it to run at every startup to clean up the garbage files in your system. Make sure you do the analyze and run cleaner.
Advanced windows care would be next and make sure you run it twice to do a full clean. It will find alot of stuff and does an excellent job.
Regseeker, is not what you might expect, but use the clean the registry option and run it twice as well.
Once this is done i would run and install spybot and make sure you do the immunize, then the clean up.
The other two just follow the basic instructions and run them and make sure after all is done you do a complete shutdown and reboot.
i use other tools, but i know this alone will make a difference.
GOOD LUCK,
randy
spring cleaning bites, so I suggest..
by kapricorn62 - 4/28/07 6:11 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
cleaning your computer out a little more often than once year (or 2). It is much easier then it sounds, and it only takes a few minutes once a week (at least). It sound like you need some serious defragmenting, for starters. But the first thing you should do is get to know your computer a little better. Start with right clicking the 'my computer' icon, and click on 'properties'. this will tell you how much memory you have and what size and type of 'cpu' you have. now on to the chore of defraging. This is the way I do it, and some others my suggest some oother way so you chose the best for you.
1st I disconnect from my internet (usually i just disable the connection) you can go to your control panel, then 'Network & Internet Connections' then 'Network Connections'..any active connections i just right click and choose 'disable' (don't forget to renable it after or you'll bee wondering why you can't get on line)
next I stop and exit my anti virus and any firewalls that are running. Usually there is an icon in the task bar (right hand corner by the clock), and you can just right click that icon and click 'exit' or 'close'...also you want to exit or close any other icon there by right clicking and exiting. lastly i usually stop my screen saver also.
once all that is done...open up the 'my computer' icon..right click on the hard drive (usually it's local drive 'C') and click 'properties' there will be a screen that comes up with some tabs at the top. the first thing i do is on the screen showing i click the 'disc clean up' button...a small screen will appear and it'll say 'calculating...' now please be paitent...it sounds like this may take some time if you've never done this before. when it is done calculating, another screen will appear. 'disk clean up for C' i always just hit ok hit ok..it'll ask you if you are sure you wanna do this...the answer is 'yes'. when that finishes the screen should close automatically, leaving the propreties screen open still. Now comes the deep cleaning. Click on the 2nd tab at the top that says 'tools' click the middle button says 'defragment now'. a screen will pop up.. close all other windows except that one. Highlight the 'C' drive and click 'anlayze'. this too may take some time. now i'm fairly positive that you are gonna get the message screen that says 'you should defragment this volume' (see all the red...bad..very, very bad). choose 'defragment'. Now the only problem you may have is that you have to have at least 15% (i believe) free space on your drive in order to complete the defrag process. (and this too is gonna take some time more than likely. but if you do this once a week, at least it wont take that long. and do it even if when you hit analyze it says you do not need to...do it anyway! and as for the 'disk clean up' i do that like every other day. you should see huge improvement after this process. hope this wasn't to technical for you and hope it was easy for you to understand, good luck!
Peace
Laurie B.
Reply for Sandy H:, re: system cleanup
by Watzman - 4/28/07 6:38 PM In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Sandy,
Well, first, you do not have 200MB of memory, because memory only comes in “power of two” chunks. I suspect that you meant that you have a 200 Gigabyte hard drive, an entirely different thing altogether from having a 200MB memory size.
But, that statement does suggest to me that maybe you would be well off to consider getting some professional assistance with part of your cleanup. When someone who doesn’t know the difference between an engine and a transmission suggests doing an engine overhaul themselves, the idea of getting some help seems worthwhile. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything, or even quite a bit, yourself.
And since you mentioned speed and memory, if you are running Windows XP, and if your computer has less than 512 megabytes of memory (for example, if it has only 256MB), one thing that should be on your list is expanding the memory in your computer to at least 512MB. If you can go all the way to a gigabyte of memory (that’s 1,024 megabytes), so much the better (up to a gigabyte, more memory will make things faster, but if you are below 512MB, then you are probably “memory starved” and increasing the memory may make a truly dramatic difference). If you do add memory, you need to determine if your system already has, or (even if it doesn’t) is capable of supporting “dual channel memory”, because if you add memory incorrectly to a system which is dual channel capable, you can cut the speed of the memory system in half (and, conversely, if the system supports dual channel memory but it’s not currently operating in a dual channel mode, you have an opportunity, by reconfiguring the memory, to double the speed of the memory system). The details of this are more involved than I can go into here (it would literally be a question unto itself), but it’s an area that any competent professional can analyze and advise you on. It depends on your motherboard and what memory you currently have installed.
Now, as to system cleanup and optimization:
First, it’s kind of important to know what data files you have and where they reside. So some “poking around” -- just looking --- may be a good investment of time. In some cases, you may want to move and/or consolidate things in a more organized directory structure, so that all of your related data files are all together. This is also an excellent time to make a backup of your important data files, just on general principles, but also, to an extent, because an error in trying to “clean up” a system sometimes inadvertently erases important files.
Another thing to do before you start is to create a system restore point, again, so that if something gets badly screwed up, you can revert to your “pre-cleanup” system. Note, however, that system restore only saves your system files ... it does not save or backup your data files, so back those up yourself, separately.
So on to the cleanup itself .....
First, run “Windows Update” and download and install all critical updates, and the various optional software and hardware updates as appropriate (this does not mean to install all of the non-critical updates; you need to have some understanding of what this stuff is to make these judgments, and in some instances this requires more knowledge than many users have).
Similarly, update and reconfigure as necessary, your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software.
Now, run a complete virus and spyware scan (this will take hours, quite often, but it’s mostly self-running and unattended). Your problems could be caused by virus’ or “malware”, although there don’t appear to be any specific symptoms of that in your description.
Next, find your “Temp” folder and clean it out. In general, there should be almost nothing in that folder immediately after booting when nothing is running. Then empty the recycle bin. [You will want to repeat both of these steps at the end of the process, because additional cleanup will likely re-clutter the temp folder and refill the recycle bin.]
Now the most likely cause of your “slowness” is a combination of startup software and possibly a very bloated Windows registry.
Attacking startup software first, the general idea is to remove all software that you don’t need and don’t use, but especially things that run some of their components constantly in the background, loading them at startup. I’d start by opening “Control Panel”, add/remove software, and looking through every item listed to see whether it can be removed. DO NOT remove something if you don’t know what it is, you can “break” your system. But there may be things that you know that you can remove, that you are not using and will not use, and if so, remove them. A professional will recognize things that you don’t, but at the same time it’s your system, and there may be things there that you will recognize that a professional won’t. Not everything in “add/remove software” runs startup tasks or impacts performance, but enough things do that if you have software installed that you know that you neither use nor need, it’s worth removing.
Following this, you want to use the three tools MSCONFIG (start / run / MSCONFIG, then the “startup” tab), System Information (start / programs / accessories / system tools / system information) and task manager (control-alt-delete) to see exactly what is being loaded and run after you reboot your system with no actual user programs running at all. Most Windows systems will have 50 to 100 “things” (programs, services, etc.) running, and some people will find that they have several hundred. In most cases, it is these things that are slowing you down and killing your startup time. Knowing which of these you need and which you can get rid of (and how to do it) is a complex subject and this is another area where some more professional knowledge can come in handy. [And even professionals often resort to “Google searches” to find out exactly what some of these modules are and how, if it is appropriate, to either remove them or stop them from loading.] This can be a time consuming process (if you have 100 to 300 items loading up, it’s going to take some time to just review what they are), but it’s probably the step that will produce the greatest results.
Finally, you may want to use a “registry cleaner” to remove unused data from your registry. Pretty much every program that you have ever run or installed (even just once) makes entries into the registry, and usually these entries do not all go away even when you remove the program. While these entries may do no actual active harm, the simple fact that they make the registry larger makes the system slower by itself, and some of the entries may also be actively harmful. However, attempting to “clean” the registry can also do damage (you may accidentally remove registry data that is necessary ... the system can be so badly damaged that it won’t even boot), so, again, some level of professional knowledge may be helpful to do this safely (and, sometimes, the best judgment is to not do it at all).
One thing that I did not suggest that many people put near the top of their list is disk defragmentation. I used to defragment drives religiously, but in today’s world of NTFS rather than FAT32 partitions, I don’t find that it really makes that much difference (doesn’t make any difference at all that I actually perceive in most cases), Windows does it (to some degree) in the background, and like directory cleaning, it is a process that carries with it some risk in and of itself. But many people (other professionals) still recommend and do it, so it will often be “on the list”, in which case if you are going to do it at all, do it last, since all of the other stuff will “refragment” the drive if defragmentation is not done last.
The ultimate Windows cleanup, and it is sometimes either necessary or the best overall approach, is a total reinstallation of Windows and your application software from scratch. However, that is a drastic step that I usually only recommend when the system is truly broken, and from your description, that isn’t your case at this time.
I hope that this has been helpful,
Sincerely,
Barry Watzman
Watzman@neo.rr.com
Wierd RAM numbers
by ZachThurston - 5/4/07 7:44 PM In reply to: Reply for Sandy H:, re: system cleanup by WatzmanIntegrated graphics take RAM off the system RAM, so windows would think that only 200MB is installed. IE my laptop has a 1.256 GB of RAM, but Vista says it has 1150 MB installed, the reason behind this is that my GeForce 6150 GO! uses 128MB of that. Just to make sure you don't offend anyone because their computer saysa they dont have a standard number.
Zach Thurston
cleanup
by roswald - 5/5/07 6:03 AM In reply to: Reply for Sandy H:, re: system cleanup by WatzmanIsn't there anything I can do with just a Q-Tip and some rubbing alcohol?
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