Podcomplex PC Guide | Computer System Maintenance
Maintaining Your System
Particularly when using the Internet, PC systems tend to accumulate a myriad of tools, utilities and programs
(which may be used once and then forgotten about) - as well as the usual complement of spyware, adware, viruses,
trojans and so on - all of which can contribute to a significant decay in performance.
To minimise unwanted infections, make sure you have a Firewall and Antivirus software enabled at all times. For
more information about virus protection, see the section on Internet Usage
and Virus Protection.
This section covers a few things you should do on a regular basis to keep your machine running smoothly.
Check for Windows Updates
Go to Microsoft's Windows Update site to get Windows security updates.
Update your Antivirus Software/Run a Virus Scan
Visit your antivirus software website to get regular virus protection updates. See the section on Internet Usage and Virus Protection for more details.
Run a Spyware/Adware Scan
There are a number of Spyware/Adware/Malware removal products available - here are some you should try:
Ad-Aware
CCleaner
Spybot Search & Destroy
Microsoft Windows Defender
A-Squared Trojan Removal
Browser Hijack Prevention
There are a huge number of programs which claim to remove spyware or other rogue items, but which are either poor
imitations of decent programs or actually contain spyware/malware themselves. For a guide to suspect programs,
check out the 2-spyware website.
Uninstall Unused Programs
Over time, you will inevitably install programs that you try once or twice, but then forget about. You should periodically ensure that nothing is installed on your system that you don't actually need - go to Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and uninstall anything superfluous.
Clean Out Startup Group
This step should be performed in conjunction with step 4 above. Many programs configure themselves to start
automatically when your PC boots up, and will therefore be consuming processing resources in the background even
when you are not using them. The icons in the toolbar at the bottom right of your screen indicate programs that
are currently running - if you don't know what they are, the chances are you don't need them.
There are a number of ways to clean out your startup group - step 4 will take care of some items straight away.
However, to view the Windows startup manager, go to Start>Run, type in 'msconfig' (without quotes) and hit enter.
Here you can view and uncheck any startup items you don't need to start automatically with Windows.
There are other, more powerful, tools you can use to sort out your startup programs, such as Autoruns.
To make sure you don't disable any essential Windows components, go to the 'Logon' tab, select 'Options' and
click the 'Hide Microsoft Entries' box. You can then go and uncheck any third-party programs, which means they
won't start up automatically with Windows.
Defragment Hard Drives
As time goes by, the files on your hard drive inevitably become fragmented - that is, different portions of the
same file are stored at different locations on your hard disk, rather than in contiguous sectors. This means that
your hard disk will have to work harder to stick the file together - moving from one end of the disk to the other
- which slows down your access times.
Therefore, you should periodically defragment your drive. You can do this using the Windows defragmenter -
right-click on your hard drive, select 'Properties' and go to the 'Tools' tab. Select the defrag tool to clean up
your drive. Remember that this may take a while (depending on the size of your drive) and you shouldn't use your
PC for anything else whilst the defrag is underway.
Another thing worth trying is
PageDefrag which will defragment your
pagefile (a file used by Windows as 'virtual memory' - sometimes referred to as a swap file). This pagefile needs
to be defragmented separately to the rest of your drive.
Although the built-in defrag is the best free tool for the job, you may want a more advanced defragmentation
program such as
Diskeeper.
You can download a 30-day trial from the website, and it is well worth a look if you are serious about keeping
your drive in optimal condition.
Back Up Your System and Important Files
This is something you should do as often as possible. Remember - no matter how careful you are in maintaining
your computer, your hard drive could just die at any moment with no warning and all your data would be lost.
That is, unless you have a backup on a separate hard drive, or a separate PC, or, ideally, in a completely
different physical location altogether (remote server, data storage unit)!
For most people, having a remote file server dedicated to backing up their vital files is not really a viable
option. So, you should at the very least have a second hard drive in your system for backup purposes - you can
buy a large external FireWire/USB hard drive and use that if you like.
For creating an image of your system (a complete copy of every bit of data on your hard drive, including the
operating system) you will need to use some decent imaging software. The most popular choice here is
Norton Ghost.
If you want a simple but effective (and free) backup solution, try
Back2zip.
Also, Windows XP Professional has its own built-in backup solution which can be accessed by right-clicking on
your hard drive, selecting 'Properties' and then you will find the backup option in the 'Tools' tab.