Streamline your computer

[HaloRacer]

What's a "fast" system when your computer is bogged down with loads of crap? And I'm not talking just junk files, but useless programs, fragmented drives, fragmented registry files, file distribution and much more.

I keep my computer very streamlined and clean. I run Vista with no problems and it is the fasted OS I have used to date (haven't used Win7, that's not what this is about though). Most people who use Vista and complain just don't know how to keep it running well. I thought I'd just share what I do to keep everything running at the top.

I do this routine about once a week:

1. Open your browsers, delete ALL temp stuff (cookies, passwords, temp files, history, cache).

2. Right click on Drive C in Computer, go to Properties, and do the Disk Cleanup. Check everything, kill it all.

3. Organize all files. Put your music in one music folder (iTunes, Zune, whatever). Picture in the pictures. All files in Documents organized in a manner that suits you. NO files on desktop, ONLY SHORTCUTS to folders and programs. It can hurt speed to have loads of crap on desktop, especially during start up time.

4. ONLY essential start-up programs. You don't need Steam, AIM, iTunes, Xfire, Yahoo Messenger, Live Messenger, Adobe, etc all running at start up. This KILLS start up time. It does not suffice to "kill" background tasks. Figure out WHAT those tasks are, find the program and stop it from running at startup. Most programs have preferences that allow to check or not "Start with Windows". Also just uninstall programs that you don't use.

5. Run SpyBot S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html). Kill anything that you do not recognize. Sometimes things you do want may show up, so just make sure you look down the list before you delete.

6. Run CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/). Run both the Cleaner AND the Registry Cleaner.

7. Run Auslogics Registry Cleaner (http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/registry-cleaner/download). Good program that really cleans up junk from the registry.

8. Run Windows Update and get any updates that are available.

9. Run Auslogics Disk Defrag (http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download). Another good program that defragments well.

10. Reboot computer and enjoy the speed.

I've been doing this same routine more or less unchanged for a couple years. I do not run any Anti-Virus on my computer. Windows Defender is disabled. Only Windows Firewall. I'm not saying you should run your computer without an AV though. Please just KNOW where you are getting something from and THINK before you download or click some weird link.

If you have a real serious malware or virus problem this may not be the way to solve it, however if you do this routinely after a reformat, I can almost guarantee you'll be running a lot smoother for a long time.

Hope this helps!

 

[DragonD]

for the most part, i agree. HOWEVER, i would not recommend just "blanket" deleting anything the spy doctor (or whatever you use) finds. Know what your deleting first.

I also don't recommend most people NOT run a constant anti-virus protector. It's just WAY to easy now a days to get something..specially if you tend to visit..umm..certain types of web sites. This is even MORE true, if your not the only one who uses the computer.

 

[HaloRacer]

Right, well I wasn't recommending that people not use an AV. I was just stating I don't. :tongue: Everyone uses their computer differently and yes, sometimes SpyBot will find programs or files that you do want to keep but that it considers malware. I did say "kill anything", but I would hope that most people would at least look over the stuff... edited anyway though. Thanks!

 

[genpatton7]

Be careful using registry cleaners as well, I've had CCleaner delete some vital registry files for one of my games in the past.

 

[Passerby]

i do things a bit different i just made a disk image of my windows partition after i installed and set it all up with my applications and if i dont like how it running just one console command later and it is all how it was.

 

[GBear]

Great thread!

 

[Pizza Steve]

Hmm I just wipe my computer every 3 months or so but for those people that don't want to do that these are some good things to do. Also start-up delay is a good program to use as it allows you to still have programs run when you start the computer but you can delay them for a few min so login isn't as bad. Firefox bootup time has a lot to do with how much history you are saving so setting the save time to a lower number can help that.

 

[Passerby]

im luckier than most when it comes to this because windows is not my main operating system and because i only use it for games it has almost nothing installed on it except for steam, vent and games. so i can get away with no virus scan or spy ware scan or even a firewall because everything passes through the firewall on my server anyways. My main operating system SuSE Linux well never got infected with anything for over 10 years, there is no registry to get clogged up. has way better memory management than windows, and it's files system ext3 is self repairing and doesn't get fragmented.

 

[Pizza Steve]

im luckier than most when it comes to this because windows is not my main operating system and because i only use it for games it has almost nothing installed on it except for steam, vent and games. so i can get away with no virus scan or spy ware scan or even a firewall because everything passes through the firewall on my server anyways. My main operating system SuSE Linux well never got infected with anything for over 10 years, there is no registry to get clogged up. has way better memory management than windows, and it's files system ext3 is self repairing and doesn't get fragmented.

I would love to dual boot but it's just a pain to have to restart my computer if I want to switch from playing video games to anything else. I feel it just easier to run a complete windows system rather than switching every time.