Cleaning Your Computer?

Got spyware, junkware, and any other bad kind of ware on your pc? Or does it just load really really sloooowwwwww?

I’m definitely no expert, but this is what I do, in no particular order…(should work with both windows xp and vista)

1. Click on Start/Control Panel and either add/remove, or uninstall a program. Then simply get rid of everything you don’t think you need!
2. Go over to PCPitstop and on the left side, click on “Full Tests”, then “Test This System”. You’ll need Internet Explorer to do this. Not Firefox. Once you complete the tests, you should have all checkered flags. If not, click on whichever needs to be fixed (system, memory, disk, video, etc) and they will give you detailed instructions on how to fix/solve the problem. Then keep running the tests again until you are satisfied with the results.
3. Time to run a couple of anti spyware programs. Personally I use Spybot Search and Destroy and once in a while I use Ad Aware.
4. Anti Virus: I personally use AVG. Some other good free ones would be Avast and AntiVir.
5. Popup Blocker: I personally prefer Firefox with the built in blocker. Just click on Tools/Options/Content and check the box if it isn’t already. Firefox also has some really cool add-ons and plugins. For Internet Explorer, click on Tools and you can change the pop up blocker settings and turn it on or off. Simple.
6. Windows start up. This is where the fun begins. For XP users, click on Start/Run and type in msconfig. For Vista users, just click on Start, and search for msconfig. Once it opens, click on Startup and you’ll see the list of programs that load once your computer starts. If you know for certain what the program is and don’t want it to run when your computer starts, uncheck the box. If your not sure, don’t mess with it…..OR…..you can always Google the startup item to see what it is. It’s better to do some research before blindly unchecking stuff.
7. System Tray: You know those million little icons on the lower right hand side of your computer? Most people know this, but there are a few that don’t. Simply right click and close whatever you dont need.
8. Windows Task Manager: This one is NOT for the faint of heart, as you may shut down a necessary file for your operating system. So use extreme caution when you want to end a process. Hold down CTRL+ALT+DELETE to bring up your task manager. Click on Processes. Now you’ll see everything running on your computer and how much memory it uses. This is where Google is DEFINITELY your friend.
9. On mine for example, one of my system processes is a file called dwm.exe. After searcing google, I learned that it belongs to Windows Vista for 3D graphics. So i’ll leave it. I also found a process called KeNotify.exe. It looks like a Toshiba help file that I don’t need to run, so i’ll end the process on it to free up a little more memory. You get the point. Another thing is when your computer starts up, if you havent unchecked some startup files (number 8 above), all of the processes will load again. Another good site to see what each process is for is called Process Library.
10. Defrag! Click on Start, then accessories, then disk cleanup, then disk defrag.

Here is a user submitted idea too. Thanks Beth

EasyCleaner 2.0 . Its from the MajorGeeks website,which is awesome!
“EasyCleaner is a small program which searches Windows’ registry for entries that are pointing nowhere. Deleting these entries will speed your computer up.”

I think thats about it. If I can think of more, i’ll add them. Or whatever you can think of.

And thanks Melodie for these…