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ImCammers
12-07-2009, 12:49 AM
Hey Guys And Gals,

I have decided to create a topic with instructions on how exactly to maintain your computer, I know some of you may know exactly how you want to keep your computer up to date, I thought this would be helpful to others who are unsure or hesitant to try things. I would recommend the tools I list here to be carried out regularly; depending on how often you use your computer.

My Top Tips:

*Use Firefox over Internet Explorer, even if it requires you to re-learn how to use the software, I can’t stress that enough. Internet Explorer has several major and known floors, but Microsoft as we know aren’t the quickest people in the world to resolve these issues. As a whole Firefox is far more secure.

*A Regularly maintained computer is a happy one. I know that you can pay £££ to get your computer serviced at a Computer shop. But A) that costs money and B) what they do, is often no different from what you yourself can do.

*There is often a ‘Windows Update’ Myth which has developed, and I see it a lot. Windows Updates has ‘hot fixes’, Additional software And Drivers. This additional software is not necessary, because most users have software which does the same as what Microsoft software does? But because people think ‘oh Microsoft are saying I need it I must’ this is definitely not the case, and I don’t want people to fall into this trap. Same goes for the ‘Drivers’ I would trust with manufactured drivers, over ones which Microsoft recommends. (Had problems with wireless devices, install a recommend driver, the device doesn’t work, they refer to back to the internet. But of course I can’t use the internet because the wireless device doesn’t work…..its a horrible vicious circle). Major problem is the more software that is installed, the more processes the computer needs to do in order to function, and this in turn slows the computer up.

Software that I would recommend:

C-Cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/download)
Avast Home Edition (Only If You Need An Anti-Virus Protection) (http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html)


avast! antivirus Home Edition is FREE to use but it is necessary to register before the end of the initial 60 day trial period. Following the registration you will receive by e-mail a license key valid for a period of 1 year. After you have downloaded and installed the program, the license key must be inserted into it within 60 days. The registration process is very easy, and it will take you only a couple of minutes. Register Here (http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php)
Ad-Aware Free (Lavasoft) (http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php)

Note Before Starting The Maintenance Schedule

If you have recieved documents via email which you have worked on, edited, removed, added things too. And its stored under 'My Recent Documents' please remember that if the document came from an email, and you have done work to it, and pressed 'Save' it means that it will be saved in the 'Temporary Internet Files' folder and do not proceed further

I Cant Stress Enough If This Sounds Like You DO NOT Proceed.

If your unsure, please ask before you do anything, and i will try to assist you the best i can. The Last thing i want anyone to do, is remove somthing they needed for work etc.

Step 1: Fixing The Registry

A program i would strongly recommend, http://www.ccleaner.com/download Theres no hidden rubbish with this program, its simple to do and easy to understand.

Remember when your installing the program, there is a tick box which says 'Install Yahoo Toolbar' its not malicious, but unless you use Yahoo search engine alot, its not particularly needed. (Just thought id bring that to your attention since we were talking about toolbars earlier in this thread)

*Once you've downloaded and installed the program, it should look like the following.

http://www3.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/94ec6f2edb38ff820abd783e543bbc0f6g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=i4wznzggnmz&thumb=4)

*We want to repair Registry files within windows, so we need to click the 'Registry' on the program and this will show somthing similar to this.
*We then wish to 'Scan For Issues' this will then do a process, depending on how many problems your computer may have, will vary how long this will take.

http://www3.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/a7b85ef4aed3d02576fcc0fc07e431106g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=zgcyjztmony&thumb=4)

*After the program has finished doing, it shall display all the known issues with your registry. To demonstrate what this will look like, i have simulated how the registry errors will be displayed, like below.

http://www4.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/d318f338ad449fefbaf052e8ab323b626g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=jfyeyhkym2g&thumb=4)

* You will then need to attempt to repair these, when you click 'Fix Selected Issues' it will ask you if you wish to take a backup. Although i have never had any issues with this for the purpose of this, i would like you to take a backup entitled 'Backup [Todays Date]'. When you click yes, you will need to save it somewhere, choose a destination that your going to remember.
*After this, we want to 'Fix All Selected Issues', Again depending on how many and computer spec's it may take a while to repair these.

Step 2: Cleaning Temporary Internet Files

*Once you've downloaded and installed the program, it should look like the following.

http://www2.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/68b115cc9788ae9632df0eae80e6d7436g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=mztywgh4ym2&thumb=4)

*All you need to do is click 'Run Cleaner' and this will clean all temporary internet files, all search history but should leave 'Password' fields alone. So you should be able to use these just like normal.

http://www4.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/d8c68cff47ce10ec816369f5ed57150e6g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=mzqmhmoyqtt&thumb=4)

Step 3: Scanning For Virus

Although this may vary from computer to computer, this should be pretty straight forward across computers, normally you can right click on the drives you wish to scan in My Computer.

Step 4: Disk Defragment

Why Bother?

Well there is considerable reason to bother, computer hard drives scatter data across them, Disk Defragmentation organises this information so the hard drive doesn't need to work as hard to find the data that you request when your on the computer. By not having this demand to find the data, the hard drive will inturn last longer. Although i havn't had any hard drive failures on me *touch wood* i know they do happen, and it is at most inconvient times when it happens. This will then require you to find somone who can recover hard drives.

Can i back my data up?

Yes, you can, there are a number of ways you can do this, on CD-R's/DVD's/Flash Drives/External Hard Drives/ Various File Hosting Sites.

File Hosting Site i would recommend for users who wish to back there data up would be MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com). (The Service is pretty easy to get to grips with)



Whats offered in the 'Free' Account Service?

Unlimited Storage
Unlimited Bandwidth
Upload Files Up to 100mb (quite considerable compared to others)
Share or set your files to private
No Annoying Pop Ups



How do I defrag my computer?

Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > 'Disk Defragmenter'

It will appear something similar to this, it will be similar process for Windows Vista users.

http://www0.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/0d478f99bbabb9dd2e3cef7530f381446g.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=kq3mo0yw2ng&thumb=4)

You can either, click 'Analyze' and windows will tell you if the drive needs to be done? I would just do the drive anyway, but please consider that this may take a while depending on how many files you have on your computer, and how big the drive is. (So Leave a good couple of hours)

Step 5: Scanning For Spyware

Again, depending on which program you use for this, it will vary but they are all normally pretty straight forward, if you have an existing program you are familiar with use that, since it will be easiest that way.

Well I hope this may help a few people who are new to computers; i understand that not all people are computer friendly. So if you have any questions that you wish to ask me please post them in this topic and i shall try to response to you as soon as i can.

Hope this may help someone

Cammers.

Gt_Tdi_rich
12-07-2009, 10:36 AM
I would never use C-Cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/download) as it the worst program to use :zx11:

ImCammers
12-07-2009, 11:30 AM
I would never use C-Cleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/download) as it the worst program to use :zx11:

If you dont understand how to use it, it could be the worse program in the world, much like any other?

Its simple to use, and easy (well for me) to understand. Its does its job and i like products which do exactly what they say on the tin, as to speak.

Its alright to say you dislike it, but atleast give reasons, you've obviously had a bad expirence with it in the past?