pc maintenance etc

hi all,

I have followed how to clean my pc from malware etc and how to protect it.

Is there anything else i need to be doing for maintenance etc or to speed up my pc.

I have ccleaner and tuneup utilities (test only). Whats the difference between the two. I also saw Regseaker recommended as well. Do i need these. Which ones do you recommend etc.

Thanks for your help.

 

Personally the following items work for me,

CCleaner:http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4191
RegScrubXP:http://www.majorgeeks.com/Lexun_RegScrubXP_d2048.html
Spybot S&D:http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpyBot-Search_&_Destroy_d2471.html
AdAwareSE:http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ad-Aware_SE_Personal_d506.html
Spyware Blaster:http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareBlaster_d2859.html
Microsoft AntiSpyware:http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_AntiSpyware_d4466.html
Zone Alarm:http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html

Start--> Accessories--> System Tools
Defrag (Weekly)
Disk Cleanup (Weekly)

Best of all, they are all free right here at MG's!

 

hi,

Thanks for that.

With ccleaner do i have all items checked in both tabs? What do you think?

With regscrub do i delete everything it finds?

Also i have Sygate firewall, is zone alarm better or just stick to this.

Thanx

 

In CCleaner, just have the default options selected, but uncheck the 'Old pre-fetch data' box.

For RegScrub make sure to make a back-up so you can restore if you have any problems.

In terms of firewall, it's really up to you and which one you like better. I use ZoneAlarm but if you don't like it, it's kinda difficult to uninstall. Sygate is still a good firewall.

 

whats the defrag thing do does it delete stuff

 

The latest version of CCleaner already has "Old PreFetch Data" unchecked.

Also, Micro$$oft AntiSpyware only runs on Windows XP, 2000, and Server 2003.

As far as Regscrub, or any Registry program, only delete things you know are safe to do so, back up the Registry key beforehand, and make sure the program makes a backup. (Most decent programs do)

No, it doesn't delete anything.

It re-arranges the files so they are better organised and so your hard drive is more efficient and doesn't have to work as hard.

 

I always make a back-up for deleting anything RegScrub recommends, but I have not run into any problems with it yet. I definitely ran into problems when I tried the "User defines problems" tab. Not a good experience.

 

I would probably make the switch from sygate too zonealarm since sygate will no longer supported and no more updates will be released..

 

Some good free defrag programs from MG

http://www.majorgeeks.com/DefragMentor_Lite_d4095.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Diskeeper_Lite_d1207.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/O&O_Defrag_2000_Freeware_Edition_d4545.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Power_Defragmenter_GUI_d4647.html

I personally like diskeeper professional. It cost money though, but it lets you set the time when you want it to defrag your computer and it does it everyday.
Heard they came out with diskeeper professional 10..Its a good product.

 

CCleaner is used to remove temporary and redundant files that can build up over time, whereas TuneUp Utilities is used to optimize, configure and enhance the operating system.

 

I always tell everyone to go here to get the best performance they can from their machine.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html

 

I see some things never change with that guide. Disregard the Windows Update step. Install critical updates, and reccomended updates, but avoid the hardware/drivers section at ALL costs. Definately do not blindly install all Windows Updates. You will thank me later

There are other quirks as well. Not really a bad guide, but the Windows Update tip is in dire need of updating.

 

Hi,

I am still unsure about which tabs are the default tabs in ccleaner. Do i have all checked in both windows and Applications tabs except old prefetch data.

Thanx

 

hi,

I have followed advice for defrag and downloaded diskeeper. It looks and acts the same as the xp pro version. Is that correct or is it better.

I also downloaded dmlite but couldnt really understand what it does.

Can anyone help.

 

Diskeeper lite, is just a short version of the diskeeper professional, I believe it is a little better than the XP defrag. You could use both if you wanted. Couldnt hurt, and for dmlite, i used it once awhile ago, off the top of my head i dont remember about it, so when i get home from work I will install it and get back to you unless someone else does that has more experience with that defrag.

 

For my ccleaner, in the application tab, everything for mine is checked..now for windows, everything is checked except for the advanced boxes. I dont believe I messed around with it so it is probably the default settings..maybe somebody else can say if it is the default settings.

I just installed..seems like it just defrags your computer when you reboot. Try another one like..http://www.majorgeeks.com/Power_Defr...GUI_d4647.html

That one is better, you can defrag files, folders, or your whole hardrive.

 

I know I don't follow ALL the steps, as I've honed down what I like and what I don't, as per my needs. But what about the drives section don't you like? He says use official drives as compared to Windows drivers, and that seems like sound advice to me.

I also pick which non critical updates to download, but newer folks may not know which to load or not. They could always get advice as to which ones to download, but overall, that site is a great starting point to optimize one's machine.

You should email him and dialogue about the updates and what not, he'd probably appreciate the input.

Let me know what you don't like about the drivers section, I always like learning new stuff!

 

Its not a bad guide overall, but there are contradictions.


I'll send it to you in PM, because this could get ugly. You'll understand why

 

Thanks for the PM!

 

Hi,

Thanx for getting back guys. Your help is appreciated.

One other program reccomended in another thread was regseeker. It said not to delete the red entries. Is that correct or should we delete all the entries (red and green). Does anyone use it.

Thanx

 

Green are generally safe to delete.

Red shouldn't be deleted unless you are absolutely sure.

Just add red items to your exclusion list so they aren't picked up on the next scan.

 

regseeker is good, but try this one also..http://www.majorgeeks.com/Lexun_RegScrubXP_d2048.html

This one clears everything out for me..use both if you want. What one doesnt clean up, the other one should.

 

I used to use others cleaners, registry defraggers, and file shredders, but I uninstalled all of them and now use HDCleaner, a nifty, small (0.86 MB) program that cleans out the junk, defrags the registry, shreds files, wipes free space on your hard drive clean; deals with cookies, startup programs, and lots of other cool stuff!

Get it here:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/HDCleaner_d1287.html

 

Well heres a maintence plan that i use and love. I divised it myself go me . Well once a week i run diskeeper, scandisk, defrag, registry mechanic, ccleaner, and ad aware. Of course i will update ALL of my programs first then start the cleaning with ccleaner, ad aware, registry mechanic, scandisk, then both normal and boot time scans in diskeeper. Then once a month i do all the following but also clone my computer to an old hd for backup, run sfc /scannow (need windows cd) and i use the windows cd to run fixmbr and fixboot so i have a new boot record. also i run both switches of chkdsk from the windows cd (time consuming but i heard it is more effective), and finally at the end of the month i also do a virus scan. Usually clean but i can never be sure so it never hurts. Also to make sure good ol aim is clean if you have it i run the latest version of aim fix. That plan has been working good for a while now so use if you will. Only thing i suggest is that if you clone run a registry cleaner on the clone as ms office doesnt like being cloned. But registry mechanic should clean it. Just clean everything before cloning and you should be fine. If you want an order on how i do these procedures please ask and i will post it.
-the new tech guy

 

I'm surprised your PC still works.

You say "once a week i run diskeeper,... , defrag"

What's the difference, diskeeper is a defrag utility. (And yes I know XP has the lite or basic version already installed)

 

Hence my username, Oooops!.............
I'm an idiot. I've been deleting both the green and red. I haven't noticed any problems with the computer, so I just kept on deletin'. I've now learned to add items to the exclusion list. Duh!

What are the chances of the computer messing up from my past stupidity? Thanks!

 

sweet man, i think i'll give that a try..

Now, since you guys are talking about your pc maintenance, i actually do things everyday before i go to bed, i run the registry mechanic, regscrub, and ccleaner, then scandisk, and i have the diskeeper professional 9.0, so i just set it for everynight, every two hours, this way my computer is defraged and i dont have to worry about it..the webroot spysweeper runs a sweep automatically, and i have AVG free edition, and it runs a sweep automatically also. Spyware blaster also keeps me safe. Doing this everyday keeps my computer in excellent condition.

 

Yeah when i said defrag i was referring to diskeeper. Is that a problem how i maintence my pc or somthing Insomniac? If it is i am open to comments on how to improve it. In my mind i thought i was like practially does alot of good to the os as it probably replaces alot of corrupted crap.
-the new tech guy

 

Hey, don't put yourself down like that, let me do it.

It's not really your fault as there is no help file in RegSeeker.

If you haven't noticed any problems, you should be OK.

RegSeeker makes backups by default anyway, so you could always use them in a worst case.

What usually happens is that some installed applications may no longer work as the Registry association has been broken.

It that's the case, either reinstall them (easiest way), or use the RegSeeker backup.

 

Hey, do you mind putting up an order, and also what each thing does? I'm not familiar with sfc/scannow and fixmbr and fixboot, etc. If you have time and would post the exact order and an explanation of each thing, you'd be da bomb! Thanks in advance!

 

Ok here is how exactly i do it step by step!:
1. When i come on i update all my programs for security. I do windows, nero, adobe, whatever i have and install updates if needed.
2. I clean cookies with ccleaner.
3. I run antivirus scan from normal mode as safe mode does not allow it to run.
4. I go to safe mode and run ad- aware to remove any spyware in the computer. Also i run ccleaner and then kill the process explorer.exe to close the desktop, then go to taskmanager from cntrl, alt, del and start dos. From there i run a deletion of index.dat by typing in "del index.dat /s" then after that i just type explorer.exe into the prompt to restart the desktop.
5. After closing dos i go and run a full scan in registry mechanic. Let that fix what it finds then run ccleaner's reg cleaner and clean what it finds. Then i run a registry compression.
6. Now i reboot into my windows cd and run fixmbr and fixboot. (fixmbr- writes a new master boot record to the computer and fixboot- writes a new boot sector)
7. Now reboot normally and run the sfc /scannow that goes through any protected windows files and corrupted ones are replaced with a copy from the cd. So have the cd ready when that command is run.
8. Once that is done i go to the cd again and run a scandisk using both switches provided which can be found by typing "chkdsk /?" into the recovery console which is also where i ran "fixmbr" and "fixboot". This part is very time consuming but works better than running the normal one without the cd i think.
9. Finally using diskeeper i run a normal defrag and then run a boot time defrag after that is done.

At this point the normal system work before the clone is done. If you would like my procedure to cure the clone of errors as well just ask and i will post them. They may be out of order in some places as i do this off the top of my head. I may write it down one day so i do not forget .
-the new tech guy

 

Oh insomniac i did not see the question there ! Sorry bout that . To answer your question, diskeeper is more elaborate than the windows one but whichever floats your boat is fine. And by the way i use windows 2000. So i have the older crappy windows one from eons of crappy windows operateing systems. It just has more features and options and that nice little set it and forget it so i dont have to worry bout it between the week. I throw it on that smart schedule and i dont touch it.
-the new tech guy

 

You should not be using fixmbr, fixboot, or system file checker as part of regular maintenance.

That's not their purpose or design.

 

Hmm thanks for the pointer insom. does not really seem to hurt anything though. I wanted to say that my scheme was so elaborate it has reached a rigamorole status. I also understand there purpose that is why sfc and the fix commands are only done once a month. Do it so i dont get stuck with a bad boot sector in the first place. Just a way to control file aging and corruption. Keep the file young in the first place and your less likely to run into trouble. Only things i do weekly are registry mechanic, adaware, scandisk from the norm system (aka no boot disk) and diskeeper.
-the new tech guy

 

Well, fixmbr, fixboot, and sfc are not preventative measures.

The MBR does not get modified in most cases, nor does the bootsector, unless you are playing with dual OSes. They don't corrupt over time, when they go, they go. You cannot prevent it by running fixmbr and fixboot monthly.

As for SFC, that is completely redundant. Windows File Protection is running in the background and watches for the same things SFC addresses. SFC is only useful if WFP breaks down, which is rare. As well, when WFP breaks, or glitches, you will know it by a popup box telling you that a protected file has been replaced. The most common reason for that error is becasue the dllcache is empty, missing the file, or outdated.

 

SFC has other uses, like repairing Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.

As far as fixmbr and fixboot, I've seen it make systems unbootable.

They really shouldn't be used for regular maintanence.

 

Well, this is all very interesting. I learn a lot from the dialogue. And thanks for posting all that info, new tech!
May I add, you can delete index.dat in Ccleaner, so you don't have to do it manually.

 

index.dat is enabled by default in CCleaner to be deleted.

That's the latest version, not sure if older versions do or not.

 

Hi all,

Ok now im really confused about defrag stuff. I tried dmlite and it done something on boot up for a few seconds (dont know what). Then i tried Diskeeper lite and it took about 1.5hrs to get to 20% done.

Then i took BERG's advice and tried power deframenter gui but it took about a second and it said it finished.

Please help guys

 

Uninstall any unused programs and folders first.

Then use something like CCleaner and RegSeeker to delete temp and redundant files.

Then run a scandisk or CHKDSK followed by a defrag.

(If you are using XP, the defrag included is DisKeeper Lite)

 

Ok so both of those sfc and fix commands are dangerous for me to run as regular maintence. I figured that the sfc would at least be usefull as it will help maintain a systems files. Although the boot sector is read only i remember a while ago hearing somthing from the screen savers and Leo was talking about bitrot and i figure well if that is true then why not rewrite the critical files every now and then that can cause a problem to occur at any unkown time. I know i have to run the fix commands to my clone when it is first created because it eliminates a small hang that i get during system start when coming out of BIOS. As for the sfc again. I figure even though adrenaline says it is not usefull, I suppose it is like anti virus and even though you have the active shield running, you still should run scans every now and then and i beleive that has the same case. Thank you all for the suggestions on how to modify my maintenence plans for my pc. And your welcome eclayton for the info.
-the new tech guy