Top 5 Weekly Computer Maintenance to dos

Forums › Desktop computing › Top 5 Weekly Computer Maintenance to dos

1 | 2 | 3

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1151846 11-Oct-2014 15:11

Yip, upgrade to SSD and 8Gb RAM, use private mode browsing, delete crapware initially, and monthly remove unused programs/crapware you installed since, and 'treesize' for data hogs!

These days I browse on iPad/iPhone, so only 'work' on the Win7 box...

Elpie

1304 posts

Uber Geek

#1151866 11-Oct-2014 15:45

nathan:
IE InPrivate Browsing, Firefox private window, or Chrome incognito mode could save you from having to remove traces of browsing history every time browsers are closed

I don't rely on this as I've found artefacts even from private browsing sessions. Some of the browsers still cache DNS entries, some let flash cookies through. It's just easier to set up a batch file to wipe (not just delete) anything remaining when a browser closes.

My browsing history wouldn't excite anyone but I loathe any invasions of my privacy so don't intend to make it easy for anyone to collect data. Once a batch file is set up there's no further work involved.

gnfb

2609 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1151993 11-Oct-2014 20:33

Interesting...........

Firstly of course you have me at a disadvantage, as my technical knowledge and understanding is limited. I 'm a consumer of computer technology. Having just read the replies (by the way thankyou for taking the time) I am trying to put into words what I gleaned from them.

1. The people who do nothing to there computers. What does nothing mean? Nothing? No cleaning of caches no registry checks no defragmenting of disks. You don't have any problems with browser ad-dons you don't get any male-ware or virus's .
What do you do all day?where on the net do you go ? that you dont get anything bad?

and what about the billion s of dollars that are spent on computer maintenance are they really all having a lend of us?

I know for a fact that after a week of use if i run the Registry First Aid program after completion the system is smoother it must be doing something?

Actually no I'm sorry I know you all will be able to come back with technical answers and reasons as to this and that.

I will leave it at that

I guess I was expecting

Run CCleaner , Run Malwarebytes , Remove programs that you tried and are unlikely to use, Run Mydefrag

or

Maintenance tasks that improve performance

I guess you are taking what one would call the obvious solution as an example

When a maintenance guide suggests "remove unused programs" you would say why put them on in the first place! ?

Thanks again as always its a experience!

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

gnfb

2609 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1151995 11-Oct-2014 20:38

johnr: @gnfb you could make sure all the prawn sites you visited are cleared from the history on a weekly basis :P

Prawn sites?

I presume you are refering to

"I download liitle progams that look intresting then forget to remove them I go to dodgy sites I do all the things i shouldn't do."

Its not only the prawn sites that are dodgy not that i would actually know as i never go to sites on fishing??

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

Batman

Mad Scientist
29769 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1152000 11-Oct-2014 21:13

gnfb: Interesting...........

Firstly of course you have me at a disadvantage, as my technical knowledge and understanding is limited. I 'm a consumer of computer technology. Having just read the replies (by the way thankyou for taking the time) I am trying to put into words what I gleaned from them.

1. The people who do nothing to there computers. What does nothing mean? Nothing? No cleaning of caches no registry checks no defragmenting of disks. You don't have any problems with browser ad-dons you don't get any male-ware or virus's .
What do you do all day?where on the net do you go ? that you dont get anything bad?

and what about the billion s of dollars that are spent on computer maintenance are they really all having a lend of us?

I know for a fact that after a week of use if i run the Registry First Aid program after completion the system is smoother it must be doing something?

Actually no I'm sorry I know you all will be able to come back with technical answers and reasons as to this and that.

I will leave it at that

I guess I was expecting

Run CCleaner , Run Malwarebytes , Remove programs that you tried and are unlikely to use, Run Mydefrag

or

Maintenance tasks that improve performance

I guess you are taking what one would call the obvious solution as an example

When a maintenance guide suggests "remove unused programs" you would say why put them on in the first place! ?

Thanks again as always its a experience!

you won't get many bad things if you have avast free. so nothing to do weekly.

nathan

5695 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1152003 11-Oct-2014 21:24

I literally do no cleaning/optimising of my PC. Some of those optimisers/cleaners etc are malware in themselves. Your registry shouldn't need to be "cleaned"

I'd recommend then running as a standard user instead of a local admin

what operating system do you have and what are the specs of your PC?

You may want to reinstall and start again, if you've really been compromised by malware or a virus, that PC isn't yours anymore and malware bytes/antivirus blah blah can't guarantee to remove everything.

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1152027 11-Oct-2014 22:13

Indeed, you asked about WEEKLY tasks, and specified you weren't prwpared to change your 'dodgy' habits of installing crapware... Best practice, as mentioned by several different people, is to not install extra 'fluff', or do so in a VM environment.

I personally take the INNITIAL step of being more careful what I click, ALWAYS 'custom' install and uncheck the random extras of programs I pre-vet before installing.

And personally made a decision some years back that the Christmas holidays / January break always include a spring cleaning of my finances, reevaluation of my power/gas/insurance/phone/broadband [etc] contracts, and a FULL wipe and reinstall of my operating system and core programs (from scratch). Occasionally I have done this mid year too, when needed.

Data lives on separate disks and is backed up, but windows never lasts more than a year without being scrubbed and reloaded, and is always seen as a working environment.

Your actual best bet is to change your habits, vet all programs you download, and run your day-to-day browsing in a 'limited' user account or Virtual Machine.

Hope this helps!

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Yabanize

2350 posts

Uber Geek

#1152038 11-Oct-2014 22:42

I don't touch registry cleaners since XP, messing with the registry can just stuff more things up.

It is still important to defrag a Hard Drive, However Windows 7 and above usually do this automatically with the built in Disk Defragmenter program unless your computer isnt on at 1am on wednesdays (the default time)

It is likely installing all of these extra programs to try and make your computer faster will just make it slower. The built in stuff is good, but the only other one I would really trust is Ccleaner.

Use a good antivirus and perhaps run malwarebytes occasionally

Check startup programs

Reformat every so often

Get an SSD and more ram maybe

Coil

6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1152051 11-Oct-2014 22:55

Blow dust out every 4 months for me.

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1152086 12-Oct-2014 09:16

TimA: Blow dust out every 4 months for me.

You living in the garage with that fancy car TimA? :)

Dust is no longer an issue for me once I moved the PC off the floor and into the house...

gnfb

2609 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1152090 12-Oct-2014 09:58

Hmmm I have discovered that I may have issues outside of general maintenance on my main machine
I have (apparently by the amount of comments on Google) the "windows 7 8gb (3gb usable) showing in control panel

My windows 8 machine shows full 8gb

so off to find a solution
The other thing I will do today if I get a chance is go through all the comments and extract the actual suggestions of things to do rather than the "I do nothing" advice

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

gnfb

2609 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1152092 12-Oct-2014 10:04

gnfb: Hmmm I have discovered that I may have issues outside of general maintenance on my main machine
I have (apparently by the amount of comments on Google) the "windows 7 8gb (3gb usable) showing in control panel

My windows 8 machine shows full 8gb

so off to find a solution
The other thing I will do today if I get a chance is go through all the comments and extract the actual suggestions of things to do rather than the "I do nothing" advice

ok it sounds like the main machine is running windows 32bit which apparently is limited to 4gb of ram so if i want to run 8gb i need to change it to 64bit does that sound right?

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

Andib

1364 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1152095 12-Oct-2014 10:16

gnfb:
gnfb: Hmmm I have discovered that I may have issues outside of general maintenance on my main machine
I have (apparently by the amount of comments on Google) the "windows 7 8gb (3gb usable) showing in control panel

My windows 8 machine shows full 8gb

so off to find a solution
The other thing I will do today if I get a chance is go through all the comments and extract the actual suggestions of things to do rather than the "I do nothing" advice

ok it sounds like the main machine is running windows 32bit which apparently is limited to 4gb of ram so if i want to run 8gb i need to change it to 64bit does that sound right?

Correct, Not only will a format benifit you with a fresh instal, that extra ram will make your pc sing along

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1152517 13-Oct-2014 08:20

Just turning off the unnecessary start-up programs can make a big difference things like Skype who by default set themselves to start with windows turn it off

also as others have said use Avast, I have it installed and really don't see much in the way of system slow down with it running in the background and I only have a RAID0 array of two HDD's I also use a decent defrag program O&O Defrag set it forget it it defrags in the background when the machine is idle but other than that pretty much zero of anything else maybe a disk clean up once a month to empty the temp folder and delete other misc stuff that's not needed

gnfb

2609 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1152590 13-Oct-2014 10:48

So I took a round about approach I am yest to see if it works out

I created a dual boot on my system and installed windows 8.1 64bit in the second partition

The theory being I now have my 8meg of ram (well 7.9 to be exact)

I have a super fast stem running that I wil just install the graphics programs i use

I will then boot to the other windows where i can do as i wish and maybe just reformat and install once in awhile

Hmmm I am aalready starting to doubt the logic of it ....but we will see

Is an English Man living in New Zealand. Not a writer, an Observer he says. Graham is a seasoned 'traveler" with his sometimes arrogant, but honest opinion on life. He loves the Internet!.

I have two shops online allshop.nz patchpinflag.nz
Email Me

1 | 2 | 3