Someone help a Non Techie

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bagelred

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Hey,

Wanted to ask a questions to the Tech folks...

What basic maintenance tasks should I be performed for my computer in order to keep it protected/running fast/preventing problems?

Currently, the things I have in place so far are:

I use Windows XP with the firewall installed to help prevent attackers
I have McAfee AntiVirus running live
I use both Ad Aware and Spybot on a semiregular basis
I run CCleaner to clean up crap and occasionally as registry cleaner
Once in a while, I run Disk Defragmenter


Are there any other procedures that are low cost/free and easy to do that a nontechie like myself should be doing? Remember, I'm not a techie so anything semidifficult I don't want to really be bothered with. Would love to hear any suggestions, or freeware links, or whatever....

Thanks for the help.

Also, are there any free or easy diagnostic tests online that can show me how my system is performing and possibly ways to improve it?
 
Software maintenance is important, but hardware maintenance is equally as important.

1.) One mistake that a lot of people make is putting their desktop towers in cabinets with-out proper ventilation. There are a lot of PC desks that have small cabinets with doors to store towers in. But, this is one of the worst places to put a tower due to the lack of ventilation and heat build up. The area that your tower is in should be well ventilated and free of obstruction.

2.) Do not have your PC on the floor or Rug. (Most important, do put your PC on the floor next to were your feet are under the desk or table. These areas are loaded with dust, dirt and debris that accumulates from shoes and feet. Electronics (PC'S) are dust magnets.

3.) It's impossible to prevent all dust and debris from entering your PC. But, following rule 1 & 2 plus routine internal cleaning of a PC will greatly prolong it's life. If you feel comfortable opening your PC, buy a car of compressed air and give it a GOOD cleaning. Areas to focus on are (Fans both case & CPU), (Power supply fan) (bottom floor of the case) motherboard, videocard... ETC...

Overheating is one of the main causes for SLOW PREFORMANCE....
 
run disk clean up once in a while too. and also check for errors on your hdd by my computer > right click on local disk(C) > tools > error-checking > fix errors automatically check all the boxes > fix or whatever > yes > restart > watch it go (may take about 1-2 hours depends)
 
HAVOC2k5 said:
Software maintenance is important, but hardware maintenance is equally as important.

1.) One mistake that a lot of people make is putting their desktop towers in cabinets with-out proper ventilation. There are a lot of PC desks that have small cabinets with doors to store towers in. But, this is one of the worst places to put a tower due to the lack of ventilation and heat build up. The area that your tower is in should be well ventilated and free of obstruction.

2.) Do not have your PC on the floor or Rug. (Most important, do put your PC on the floor next to were your feet are under the desk or table. These areas are loaded with dust, dirt and debris that accumulates from shoes and feet. Electronics (PC'S) are dust magnets.

3.) It's impossible to prevent all dust and debris from entering your PC. But, following rule 1 & 2 plus routine internal cleaning of a PC will greatly prolong it's life. If you feel comfortable opening your PC, buy a car of compressed air and give it a GOOD cleaning. Areas to focus on are (Fans both case & CPU), (Power supply fan) (bottom floor of the case) motherboard, videocard... ETC...

Overheating is one of the main causes for SLOW PREFORMANCE....


Great tips dude.

I would shut down unnecessary programs that automatically start when you load windows. The easiest way to do this is through "msconfig". Start/Run/ type "msconfig", go to start up tab and disselect all except antivirus, video card or anything you always want running in the background....

Go to Pcpitstop.com and run a free system analysis, only works with internet explorer.

Stop using internet explorer. (dont try uninstalling it though) Although i have been finding it slow lately, if you are worried about spyware/viruses etc, Firefox is by far the best tool against it.

oh and i would rec a defrag at least once a week, i do it every 2-3 days.
 
Well this is a very vague question.

1. Always run spyware and adware checks. These suckers are so annoying.

2. Have a virus scanner or use the one that comes with SP2. Either will do.

3. Do a disk cleanup about once or twice every month.

4. Do a disk defragment about once every 2 weeks.
 
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