# "Cleaning up the PC"



## CoRoMo (Sep 4, 2007)

I was on a Dell Chat session, talking to their support about upgrading memory when the chat went this direction...



> Me: "I've barely used this PC since buying it. Why has the computer gotten slower over the years?"
> Agent: "Sir, your computer stores files over a period of time. This slow down the system access times."


What files!?!  Can I get rid of these things?!?! 

Always heard the phrase "cleaning up the hard drive", but never really knew what was involved with that. I'm an absolute beginner, and my home PC has all of those programs on the hard drive that came with XP. Dozens of programs that I never ever use, or maybe I am using them and I don't know. Programs like...

Modem Helper
Quicken
Smart FTP
Broadcom Control Suite
I.R.I.S. OCR Registration
Outlook Express
Windows Messenger
Resume Creator
ArcSoft Panorama
Digital Line Detect

... and the list goes on.

My home PC is used very little since it has a dial-up only connection (Free NetZero). Mainly use it for pictures, music, videos, etc. I always wonder if I even need the anti-virus software that I've subscribed to or if I'm safe to just have ZoneAlarm Firewall.

So TSG, what do you think I can do? Will I be better off taking the OS to the butcher block and removing all the programs that I haven't ever opened once? Is there a good way to go about this?

About all I know to do is to use the Disk Cleanup, Defragmenter (when it says I should), and the System Configuration Utility to keep things from starting up at boot.

Advice please.


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## KMW (Apr 1, 2004)

hiya, I'm not a techie by any means but I see you do have an internet connection, which means it would be good to go here http://www.lavasoft.com/ and download the free version of adaware and scan your computer, there will be things that will have crept onto your comp from the WWW that me thinks will be slowing things down. The lavasoft site will tell you what it does. It's part of the weaponry used to keep our computers safe from the bad guys.

I wouldn't delete any of those programs you mentioned myself. Hopefully one of the techguys will come and advise you further on them. Cheers


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## Nesjemannen (Nov 9, 2007)

Having an antivirus is highly recommended!
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/downloads-products/us/frt/0?prd=aff

You could try Ccleaner to clean up your hard drive? Temporary files, etc.
http://www.ccleaner.com/


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## CoRoMo (Sep 4, 2007)

Thanks guys.

Nesjemannen... are you kidding me? Free antivirus software?
If is it free, does that mean it is of low quality? Never heard of it, and have a hard time believing in it.
Anyone use this exclusively and have anything positive, or more importantly, negative to say about it?

Also, if anyone could tell me if it is okay to trim off all the excess software that came with XP, or tell me why I shouldn't, I'd be grateful.

Thanks again.


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## Nesjemannen (Nov 9, 2007)

Almost everyone on this site, using a free AV, is using AVG free.

It's a totally fine product, and I would not recommend it, if I did not know what I was talking about. This is one of the (best) few good free antiviruses out there.

Yes, I know it sounds weird. But it is on the !"top ten best antiviruses" list, amongst other *PAID* Av's.

So absolutely no, AVG is not a bad product even if it is free! ( The only thing you don't get is good service on free product, wich you don't need when u got TSG. ) I intalled AVG on my father's job PC, and he hasn't had a virus problem since.

It's safe, and recommended by almost every experienced TechSupportGuy member.
Give it a try!

Happy holidays!


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## n2gun (Mar 3, 2000)

CoRoMo said:


> Thanks guys.
> 
> Nesjemannen... are you kidding me? Free antivirus software?


Yes its free and a good one.


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## Nesjemannen (Nov 9, 2007)

And also yes, you can take away the programs that came with your PC if you don't need them. Just don't remove critical windows-files!


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## Nesjemannen (Nov 9, 2007)

And when we are talking about free=bad quality. 

Take Tech Support Guy for example! It is encredible - FREE HELP!
It doesn't cost you a dollar, pund, NOK, AUD etc. It is totally free! You get expert help for none, zero, 0.

That's one example that free does not neccecary means bad quality (Like my writing skills).


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## Old Rich (Jan 17, 2003)

I have AVG free running on about 200 client machines ( and 5 of mine ) and no one has had a problem with it yet . . . two years and no virus/trojan attacks it could not handle


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I use ..
AVG free Antivirus ... http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/
Zone Alarm free firewall ... http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html
WinPatrol Free Intrusion prevention ... http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html
CCleaner free cleanup ... http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Had a neighbor once complain of a slow Laptop.
I ran CCleaner .. It removed well over a gig of trash ... 
Then I ran Winpatrol and shut down all the unnecessary startup programs ...
Then Defragged ... And she thought she had a new computer.


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## CoRoMo (Sep 4, 2007)

Thanks guys!!

What should I have configured to start up at boot anyways?
Nothing? Security software only?

What starts up on your PC?


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

CoRoMo said:


> ... What starts up on your PC? ...


Everything .. Unless you shut down all the unnecessary junk.

The startups can be researched here to see if they're needed ... 
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

If it's needed ... Windows will start it later.
Here's all I allow to run at startup .. or as seen in msconfig ...


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## CoRoMo (Sep 4, 2007)

Thanks!!
After I get the 1Gb of RAM upgrade tonight, things should start getting a lot better for this machine!

Is there any better free alternative to the NetZero Free dial-up? I have high speed at work, so I just keep the home PC running for free.


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## gomes (Dec 24, 2007)

You have to understand, and I'm not trying to sound mean in anyway shape or form, HAVE to take care of a computer in order for it to run efficiently. It's just like taking care of a car, or taking care of a house. You have to clean it out and possibly "upgrade" a few things.

Everyone already gave you an answer but yeah, just clean your computer out with programs like
disk clean up, disk defragger, anti spyware, anti virus, etc.

If you have a lot of annoying things starting up when you boot that slows your computer down, try going to Start -> Run -> MSConfig, and then uncheck any of the items that don't look familiar or don't seem necessary to have when your computer boots up. If it looks complicated, then don't touch it at all.

If you can't find anything at your nearest Best Buy or Cicuit City, here's a website that can help you out with better modems -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=modem&x=0&y=0


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi in addition to gomes post.

Check link below for suggestions on Pc Maintenance.

http://computercleanup.blogspot.com/
List includes..
Scan For Viruses.
Scan for Spyware.
Microsoft updates.
-----------------------------------
Disk Cleanup.
Check Hard Drive for Errors.
Defragment Your Hard Drive.
-------------------------------------
Registry Cleanup is in their list but
Cleaning the registry may cause you more problem than you started with..
so it would be best to skip that one.


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## luvduvs (Jul 8, 2007)

CoRoMo,

Whether you're offline or online (especially the latter), your computer is generating files. When you go to a site and look at its pages for example, you're downloading files. Do you clear your cache and/or delete your cookies on a regular basis?

Like others have said, there are some really good anti-nasty softwares out there, and yes they're free and they do a good job. Just because there are off-the-shelf products, doesn't mean they're any better (in fact some of them cause more problems than free ones). I personally don't think its necessary to have them all running on start up - just manually run them at least once a week and you'll be fine.

And of course be careful of the sites you visit, opening unknown attachments etc.


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## CoRoMo (Sep 4, 2007)

Okay guys, got another question for you.

See, I've uninstalled a lot of software that I've never used and never needed.
Looking through the registry, I see a lot of entries for the software that I've uninstalled.
I don't suppose it is doing any harm, right?
Can I just delete everything that I don't want in there?

Here are the examples of software that I've uninstalled, but I find entries listed in the registry.

America Online 8.0 Tray Icon
McAfee
Webshots
ICQ Lite
PopUpStopperFreeEdition
Winamp3

I don't really want to see it in the registry if it's been uninstalled, so would there be any harm in deleting every entry that has something to do with the uninstalled software?

Thanks again.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, there's no harm in leaving it, but if you get careless deleting it, you can do a LOT of harm. 

Don't fix stuff that ain't broke!©


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## Mubashar (Jun 3, 2005)

Do a nano scan on www.infectedornot.com from Panda AV.


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