con_tester
Journeyman
Source : PC World Mag.
Windows picks up lint like my aunt’s wool sweater.
But before you clean up, scan your system for viruses,
spyware, and other interlopers. Then remove the
Windows components and applications you don’t need. And
finally, make sure you have the tools and settings in place to keep
digital detritus from reinsinuating itself into your PC.
Eliminate Pests___
start by visiting the Windows Update site to make sure you
have the latest patches for your version of the OS. Next, check
your antivirus and antispyware utilities for updates, and then run
a complete check of your system with each tool.Once the scans come up clean, disconnect from the Internet and any local networks you might be on, and shut down each of the utilities’ autoprotect features. This will make it easier to spot the CPU-cycle robbers on your system.
Zap Unwanted Programs___
many of the programs that came preinstalled on your computer
automatically launch helper programs when Windows
starts, often doing little more than adding to the flurry of applets
swirling around in the Windows atmosphere.First, jettison unneeded Windows components. In XP, click
Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs, and choose Add/
Remove Windows Components in the left pane. (The steps are similar
in older versions of the operating system.) Two prime candidates
for deletion are Games (click Accessories and Utilities
Details Games Details, and uncheck those you don’t want) and
MSN Explorer (simply uncheck it and step through the wizard).
When you’re done, click Next and Finish.You can remove well-behaved applications by using Control
Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet, but if the program has
its own undelete option (likely on its submenu in All Programs),
use that. If the program still appears in Add or Remove Pro-grams after you do so, or if it doesn’t have its own undelete function,
select it in the list of ‘Currently installed programs’, click
Remove or Change/Remove, and follow the instructions (as shown
below left). Some security programs have only a ‘Change’ option,
requiring removal by their own uninstall component.
Click Show updates at the
top of this window to see
the various Windows and
Office patches that have
been added to your system.
If you delete a Windows or
Office patch here, however,
Windows concludes that
you want to undo the patch,
rather than just remove the
files. Rolling back patches
is risky. Sometimes programs remain in the Add or Remove Programs
list after they have been uninstalled. Others insist on running
components even after they’ve been removed, and icons for
some removed programs may continue to appear in your system
tray (next to the clock), the Ghosts of Applications Past.
When you encounter such a spectral program, click its Remove
or Change/Remove button again. Windows XP with Service Pack
2 may recognize your second try as an attempt to remove the
entry from the Add or Remove Programs list, and fix the problem
automatically. If that doesn’t work, shift Windows into Safe
Mode: Restart your computer, hold down the <F8> key, and
choose Safe Mode. Use the Remove/Change option in Add or Remove
Programs once again. If that doesn’t work either, haul out
the heavy artillery. While you can manually remove stuck entries
by editing the Registry.Microsoft
has a much more thorough and less dangerous option called
the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. Download that from Microsoft.
Poke Autostart Porkers___
once you’ve deleted all the programs you can live without,
look for cycle-stealing apps that run unnecessarily in the background
on your system. The majority of self-starting Windows
processes, inscrutable though they may be, serve vital roles. For
example, if you press <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Del> to bring up the
Windows Task Manager, you may see ten copies of
the file svchost.exe among your processes. Don’t
worry. Svchost.exe is a wrapper a program that runs
other programs and having half a dozen running all the time is
common. If you read somewhere that Windows runs blazingly
fast if you just disable one of these Windows services, be skeptical, and think twice before you stop any Windows service without
knowing for sure that you don’t need it.
Whip Disks Into Shape____
having plenty of empty space on your hard drive is important
for good Windows performance, as it allows room for virtual
memory.Fortunately, clearing space on a
drive is usually pretty easy. For example, few people need anywhere
near the hard-disk space that Windows sets aside for the
Recycle Bin the default is 10 percent of the drive’s total capacity.
That’s 3GB of a 30GB hard drive. To make some room, rightclick
the Recycle Bin, choose Properties, swing the slider down to
3 percent or less, and click OK. That would still give you almost
a gigabyte to temporarily store deleted files on our example 30GB
hard drive, which should be plenty under most circumstances.
Another storage profligate is Windows’ System Restore,
which uses a ton of hard-drive space
to hold restore points that you will
never need. To trim them, right-click
My Computer, choose Properties System
Restore, drag the slider down to 3
percent or less, and click OK (see
image at right). That should be sufficient
for at least two restore points
on my example 30GB drive.
Now you should run Windows’
Disk Cleanup: Click Start Run, type
cleanmgr /sageset:99, and press <Enter>. Check each type of file
you want to look for (I check them all), and click OK. Right-click
the C: drive in My Computer and choose Properties Disk Cleanup.
You’ll see a list of a dozen or so kinds of files that you can delete.
Check the categories you don’t need, click OK, and then click Yes
You may want to leave some entries unchecked, however. The
contents of your Temporary Internet Files folder, for example, can
help speed up Internet Explorer by reducing the amount of data you have to download to view Web
pages that you return to frequently.more.) Also, if you delete
your Office Setup files, some Office 2003 updates may not function
properly.Once you’ve emptied the trash, restart
your computer, right-click your
C: drive in My Computer, and choose Properties Tools Defragment
Now. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click Analyze. If the
Analyzer reports that you need to defrag the drive, wait until you
can afford to leave your computer alone for a few hours before
proceeding. In fact, there is some disagreement as to whether
defragging actually improves your system’s performance. The
consensus at present, however, is that defragging your hard drive
periodically does indeed result in faster data accesses.
Automate Your Registry Scrubs__
you could spend the next ten years fiddling with Registry
keys, cache parameters, menu delay settings, and a thousand
other minute Windows details. Or you can take advantage of the
years of work that other folks have devoted to the cause of achieving
a more shipshape Windows. Two of my favorites are Macecraft’s
$30 jv16 PowerTools (30-day free trial) and the Registry scanner in Iolo Technologies’ $50 System
Mechanic utility suite (30-day free trial).Both programs make it easy to clear the crud from your
Registry. (Note: The Registry is a terrible thing to muck up, so
avoid no-name Registry cleaners like the plague.)
Thats all. I hope this all can make ur computer fast enough like old times.
Also if u know a lot about computers, I suggest to format drives and reinstall everything at least once in 5 months.
Windows picks up lint like my aunt’s wool sweater.
But before you clean up, scan your system for viruses,
spyware, and other interlopers. Then remove the
Windows components and applications you don’t need. And
finally, make sure you have the tools and settings in place to keep
digital detritus from reinsinuating itself into your PC.
Eliminate Pests___
start by visiting the Windows Update site to make sure you
have the latest patches for your version of the OS. Next, check
your antivirus and antispyware utilities for updates, and then run
a complete check of your system with each tool.Once the scans come up clean, disconnect from the Internet and any local networks you might be on, and shut down each of the utilities’ autoprotect features. This will make it easier to spot the CPU-cycle robbers on your system.
Zap Unwanted Programs___
many of the programs that came preinstalled on your computer
automatically launch helper programs when Windows
starts, often doing little more than adding to the flurry of applets
swirling around in the Windows atmosphere.First, jettison unneeded Windows components. In XP, click
Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs, and choose Add/
Remove Windows Components in the left pane. (The steps are similar
in older versions of the operating system.) Two prime candidates
for deletion are Games (click Accessories and Utilities
Details Games Details, and uncheck those you don’t want) and
MSN Explorer (simply uncheck it and step through the wizard).
When you’re done, click Next and Finish.You can remove well-behaved applications by using Control
Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet, but if the program has
its own undelete option (likely on its submenu in All Programs),
use that. If the program still appears in Add or Remove Pro-grams after you do so, or if it doesn’t have its own undelete function,
select it in the list of ‘Currently installed programs’, click
Remove or Change/Remove, and follow the instructions (as shown
below left). Some security programs have only a ‘Change’ option,
requiring removal by their own uninstall component.
Click Show updates at the
top of this window to see
the various Windows and
Office patches that have
been added to your system.
If you delete a Windows or
Office patch here, however,
Windows concludes that
you want to undo the patch,
rather than just remove the
files. Rolling back patches
is risky. Sometimes programs remain in the Add or Remove Programs
list after they have been uninstalled. Others insist on running
components even after they’ve been removed, and icons for
some removed programs may continue to appear in your system
tray (next to the clock), the Ghosts of Applications Past.
When you encounter such a spectral program, click its Remove
or Change/Remove button again. Windows XP with Service Pack
2 may recognize your second try as an attempt to remove the
entry from the Add or Remove Programs list, and fix the problem
automatically. If that doesn’t work, shift Windows into Safe
Mode: Restart your computer, hold down the <F8> key, and
choose Safe Mode. Use the Remove/Change option in Add or Remove
Programs once again. If that doesn’t work either, haul out
the heavy artillery. While you can manually remove stuck entries
by editing the Registry.Microsoft
has a much more thorough and less dangerous option called
the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. Download that from Microsoft.
Poke Autostart Porkers___
once you’ve deleted all the programs you can live without,
look for cycle-stealing apps that run unnecessarily in the background
on your system. The majority of self-starting Windows
processes, inscrutable though they may be, serve vital roles. For
example, if you press <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Del> to bring up the
Windows Task Manager, you may see ten copies of
the file svchost.exe among your processes. Don’t
worry. Svchost.exe is a wrapper a program that runs
other programs and having half a dozen running all the time is
common. If you read somewhere that Windows runs blazingly
fast if you just disable one of these Windows services, be skeptical, and think twice before you stop any Windows service without
knowing for sure that you don’t need it.
Whip Disks Into Shape____
having plenty of empty space on your hard drive is important
for good Windows performance, as it allows room for virtual
memory.Fortunately, clearing space on a
drive is usually pretty easy. For example, few people need anywhere
near the hard-disk space that Windows sets aside for the
Recycle Bin the default is 10 percent of the drive’s total capacity.
That’s 3GB of a 30GB hard drive. To make some room, rightclick
the Recycle Bin, choose Properties, swing the slider down to
3 percent or less, and click OK. That would still give you almost
a gigabyte to temporarily store deleted files on our example 30GB
hard drive, which should be plenty under most circumstances.
Another storage profligate is Windows’ System Restore,
which uses a ton of hard-drive space
to hold restore points that you will
never need. To trim them, right-click
My Computer, choose Properties System
Restore, drag the slider down to 3
percent or less, and click OK (see
image at right). That should be sufficient
for at least two restore points
on my example 30GB drive.
Now you should run Windows’
Disk Cleanup: Click Start Run, type
cleanmgr /sageset:99, and press <Enter>. Check each type of file
you want to look for (I check them all), and click OK. Right-click
the C: drive in My Computer and choose Properties Disk Cleanup.
You’ll see a list of a dozen or so kinds of files that you can delete.
Check the categories you don’t need, click OK, and then click Yes
You may want to leave some entries unchecked, however. The
contents of your Temporary Internet Files folder, for example, can
help speed up Internet Explorer by reducing the amount of data you have to download to view Web
pages that you return to frequently.more.) Also, if you delete
your Office Setup files, some Office 2003 updates may not function
properly.Once you’ve emptied the trash, restart
your computer, right-click your
C: drive in My Computer, and choose Properties Tools Defragment
Now. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click Analyze. If the
Analyzer reports that you need to defrag the drive, wait until you
can afford to leave your computer alone for a few hours before
proceeding. In fact, there is some disagreement as to whether
defragging actually improves your system’s performance. The
consensus at present, however, is that defragging your hard drive
periodically does indeed result in faster data accesses.
Automate Your Registry Scrubs__
you could spend the next ten years fiddling with Registry
keys, cache parameters, menu delay settings, and a thousand
other minute Windows details. Or you can take advantage of the
years of work that other folks have devoted to the cause of achieving
a more shipshape Windows. Two of my favorites are Macecraft’s
$30 jv16 PowerTools (30-day free trial) and the Registry scanner in Iolo Technologies’ $50 System
Mechanic utility suite (30-day free trial).Both programs make it easy to clear the crud from your
Registry. (Note: The Registry is a terrible thing to muck up, so
avoid no-name Registry cleaners like the plague.)
Thats all. I hope this all can make ur computer fast enough like old times.
Also if u know a lot about computers, I suggest to format drives and reinstall everything at least once in 5 months.
