Results 1 to 16 of 16

Thread: How do you keep your computer running smoothly?

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    How do you keep your computer running smoothly?

    I use Quickclean, and when it gets too bad I just rebuild.

    However, I cant rebuild at the moment (not until I go home).

    Therefore, what programs/techniques can I use to give my comp a spring clean?

    Thx,


  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    This is my Task Manager on Bootup, is there any crap I can get rid of here?


  3. #3
    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sunny Glasgow
    Posts
    8,067
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    181 times in 171 posts
    msnmsngr
    aim
    realsched
    do you need both McAfee (RuLaunch) & AVG (avgserv)?

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Aylesbury
    Posts
    52
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Get a copy of system mechanic from www.iolo.com (free for 30 days). All sorts of facilities in there from clearing out old internet explorer cache etc., managing your startup apps, registry cleaning, junk file clearup, popup stopper, etc. etc. Excellent product I've been using for years.

    Also get a copy of "spybot S&D" (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and Lavasoft adaware (spyware) removal tools (www.lavasoftusa.com) and run these ensuring you've got the latest updates.

    De-install any apps you don't use. Stop unwanted services (Windows starts a whole host of memory-eating services that you probably don't need - after all, Windows is trying to be all-things to all people). One memory hungry service to stop is the Windows Automatic Updates service. Stop the service, and just manually visit the window update site every now and again.

    Install a good firewall (Zonelabs' ZoneAlarm is my pref, www.zonelabs.com), and a good virus s/w (www.grisoft.com for a good free one, look for the free v6 edition, not the pay-for-it v7), and keep both up to date.

    Finally, get a copy of diskeeper de-fragmenter (their dk lite v7 is free) and defragment your hard-disk every now and again.

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    74
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    disk keeper defrag is good u can set it to defrag auto, i have 6 partitions and i defrag each drive every day at 4am

  6. #6
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,277
    Thanks
    292
    Thanked
    838 times in 474 posts
    Two virus scanners would seem a bit ott and we all know my opinion of s/w firewalls

    Anyway, house keeping routines are good, but I've found the only true way to keep a computer running fast is to not install anything on it. Sad, but true. I try to plan carefully what I want to install so I don't have more than i need to, but of course, over time that ideal is lost.
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  7. #7
    sugar n spikes floppybootstomp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Greenwich
    Posts
    1,159
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked
    34 times in 30 posts
    • floppybootstomp's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P8Z68-V Pro
      • CPU:
      • i7 Sandybridge Quad Core 3.4Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 8Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Corsair 128Gb SSD; 1Tb for games; 500Gb for data
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA Nvidia 1Gb GTX 560
      • PSU:
      • Corsair Modular 620W
      • Case:
      • Antech 900 Gamers Case
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Ben Q EW2730V 27"
      • Internet:
      • Zen as ISP; Linksys Wireless Router; 4 machine network
    Grisoft AVG; Spybot Search & Destroy; AdAware; RegCleaner; Diskeeper 7.0 Workstation edition and manual pruning. That usually keeps things sweet

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Cheers for all the responses Guys.

    What Firewall do ya reckon I should get? I took what I had on, off, because, for some reason, it was slowing my connection.

  9. #9
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Also, is DisKKeeper the one through executive .com?

  10. #10
    sugar n spikes floppybootstomp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Greenwich
    Posts
    1,159
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked
    34 times in 30 posts
    • floppybootstomp's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P8Z68-V Pro
      • CPU:
      • i7 Sandybridge Quad Core 3.4Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 8Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Corsair 128Gb SSD; 1Tb for games; 500Gb for data
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA Nvidia 1Gb GTX 560
      • PSU:
      • Corsair Modular 620W
      • Case:
      • Antech 900 Gamers Case
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Ben Q EW2730V 27"
      • Internet:
      • Zen as ISP; Linksys Wireless Router; 4 machine network
    Quote Originally Posted by The 47th Ronin
    Also, is DisKKeeper the one through executive .com?
    Yep, that be the one.

  11. #11
    Drop it like it's hot Howard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Surrey, South East
    Posts
    11,731
    Thanks
    14
    Thanked
    42 times in 39 posts
    • Howard's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5B
      • CPU:
      • Core2Duo E6420 2.13GHz
      • Memory:
      • 2x1gb OCZ DDR2 6400
      • Storage:
      • 250GB & 500GB Seagate
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Inno3d iChill 7900GS
      • PSU:
      • Antec SmartPower 500W
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster Elite 330
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x AG Neovo F419
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media 20mbit
    As long as you don't keep installing and uninstalling crap, including device drivers and other stuff that clogs up the registry and fragments the drive. Your computer will run beautifully for years if you follow this practice
    Home cinema: Toshiba 42XV555DB Full HD LCD | Onkyo TX-SR705 | NAD C352 | Monitor Audio Bronze B2 | Monitor Audio Bronze C | Monitor Audio Bronze BFX | Yamaha NSC120 | BK Monolith sub | Toshiba HD-EP35 HD-DVD | Samsung BD-P1400 BluRay Player | Pioneer DV-575 | Squeezebox3 | Virgin Media V+ Box
    PC: Asus P5B | Core2duo 2.13GHz | 2GB DDR2 PC6400 | Inno3d iChill 7900GS | Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 | 250GB | 500GB | NEC DVDRW | Dual AG Neovo 19"
    HTPC: | Core2Duo E6420 2.13GHz | 2GB DDR2 | 250GBx2 | Radeon X1300 | Terratec Aureon 7.1 | Windows MCE 2005
    Laptop: 1.5GHz Centrino | 512MB | 60GB | 15" Wide TFT | Wifi | DVDRW


  12. #12
    sugar n spikes floppybootstomp's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Greenwich
    Posts
    1,159
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked
    34 times in 30 posts
    • floppybootstomp's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P8Z68-V Pro
      • CPU:
      • i7 Sandybridge Quad Core 3.4Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 8Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Corsair 128Gb SSD; 1Tb for games; 500Gb for data
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA Nvidia 1Gb GTX 560
      • PSU:
      • Corsair Modular 620W
      • Case:
      • Antech 900 Gamers Case
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Ben Q EW2730V 27"
      • Internet:
      • Zen as ISP; Linksys Wireless Router; 4 machine network
    Hmm, I detect an edit. Can't help but feel I have leper status sometimes....

  13. #13
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    I have run every cleanup mechanism in Adaware, Spybot, Virus Chcker, Quickclean & System Mechanic.

    However, I am still getting these popups (that vary in their content, but are often smileys). They occur as long as my computer is connected to the internet, and not when I am browsing necessarily

    What the hell should I do?

  14. #14
    Put him in the curry! Rythmic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Twyford, Berks
    Posts
    758
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Get a firewall

    Seriously - message popups are usually due to the messenger service (not MSN Messenger!). They can be blocked by any firewall, or you can disable the messenger service (Start>All Programs>Administrative Tools>Services, double click Messenger, then choose startup type>manual, click stop, and hit OK).

    Try here to check your processes:
    http://www.kephyr.com/filedb/index.php or just google it
    Looking, you have an nvidia graphics card and an hp printer. You run ICS, a cisco VPN client and a Zoom DSL modem.

    You can kill digstream as well. (auto web updater rubbish)

    Get to know your registry important paths are HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/Run and HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/Run
    though if you don't know what these mean - you're probably best off leaving well alone

    Worries me that you have wscript.exe there, means you've got a vbs file running all the time....
    Now go away before I taunt you a second time.

  15. #15
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    OK, which (Free) Firewall should I use?

  16. #16
    "Are you local?" Ravens Nest's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Royston Vasey
    Posts
    1,653
    Thanks
    39
    Thanked
    77 times in 45 posts
    • Ravens Nest's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z270 Gaming K3
      • CPU:
      • Intel i5 6600K
      • Memory:
      • 16gb DDR4 3200mhz
      • Storage:
      • 1tb Crucial 500 SSD, 256GB Micron M550 SSD, 2TB Hitachi HDD.
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte NVIDIA GTX 970 G1 Gaming Edition
      • PSU:
      • 550W Corsair
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Home 64bit
    I know this might sound obvious but a good way to keep a PC running smoothly is to make sure every time you want to remove a program\game is to use the control panel ADD\REMOVE program to remove the offending item and then check the hard drive for any redundent folders and delete them.

    I know quite a few people who just delete the folder and dont use ADD\REMOVE this is a no no as your windows registry will be filled with links to files & folders that dont exist anymore (Serious slow down, and probably problems)

    Here's what i use to keep the PC running fast a lot has already been suggested though.

    Programs i use are as follows :-

    Ad-aware & Spybot - For removing spyware
    AntiVir Personal edition - For Virus detection & removal
    System Mechanic - To clean the registry and delete junk files & folders

    And after i remove games and utilities i dont use anymore & a good clean up of windows using the above programs i then use a defragmenter to re-organise the HD

    Personal favourite is :- Perfect Disk

    Obviously only do this every month or two.

    Also to check what runs when you start your PC goto START - RUN
    and type msconfig press the tab for startup and take any ticks off for any programs you dont want to start when you switch on your PC

    And then restart
    "Mmm... I want you for my wife!"
    "Autom...Sprow...Canna...Tik banna...Sandwol...But no sera smee?"
    "Of course you can. We would love for you to join us."

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Building a computer
    By Rexoar in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 04-02-2004, 04:56 PM
  2. Network issues with win98/win2000
    By bluephi1914 in forum Networking and Broadband
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 27-01-2004, 05:57 AM
  3. 1800+ running at 1.1ghz
    By atifds9 in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 11-12-2003, 07:49 PM
  4. My Spooky computer...
    By paradidle in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 09-11-2003, 08:04 PM
  5. p4 2.8 800fsb retail running very hot?
    By _bobby in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 23-09-2003, 06:35 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •