What are the must have programs for maintinance

[retina]

What programs do I have to buy for maintaining my system in optimal
conditions... Any list suggestions....?

thanxs in advance...

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Perform the maintenance as recommended:

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"retina" wrote:

| What programs do I have to buy for maintaining my system in optimal
| conditions... Any list suggestions....?
|
| thanxs in advance...
|
|
| --
| retina

 

[Phillips]

Depends what you understand by 'maintenance'... dusting inside the box is
necessary every 6mo or so, for ex.
If you are a light user, have no 'valuable' files to backup, you only need
to defrag now and then; if you are a heavy user - Internet,
software/hardware upgrades, updated drivers, new apps etc - you pretty much
should prepare for the worst: lost files, unbootable system etc.

For the later, you need:
Diskeeper Pro 9.0 - about $50: speeds up file access if you move/erase many
files, 'real-time' defragmentation, boot defrag.
Acronis True Image 8.0 - for imaging the system partition.

The rest is mere preparation: personalized XP Install CD, partitioning,
backup, batch files for cleaning (ex. http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm)

Of course, you need antivirus (AVG free, Nod32 ~$40), firewall (Zone Alarm
Free or Pro~$30), antyspyware (MS Antyspy, AdAware, SpyBotS&D all free).
Also, get a router plus card ($30 each and up)

Stay away from "integrated utilities" - "all iin one" solutions.

Michael




Diskeeper 9.0 (about $50) or less.
Acronis True Image 8.0 (about 30 online) - not exactly maintenance but
backup.

 

[Biffidus Digestivum]

Depends what you understand by 'maintenance'... dusting inside the box is
necessary every 6mo or so, for ex.
If you are a light user, have no 'valuable' files to backup, you only need
to defrag now and then; if you are a heavy user - Internet,
software/hardware upgrades, updated drivers, new apps etc - you pretty much
should prepare for the worst: lost files, unbootable system etc.

For the later, you need:
Diskeeper Pro 9.0 - about $50: speeds up file access if you move/erase many
files, 'real-time' defragmentation, boot defrag.
Acronis True Image 8.0 - for imaging the system partition.

The rest is mere preparation: personalized XP Install CD, partitioning,
backup, batch files for cleaning (ex. http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm)

Of course, you need antivirus (AVG free, Nod32 ~$40), firewall (Zone Alarm
Free or Pro~$30), antyspyware (MS Antyspy, AdAware, SpyBotS&D all free).
Also, get a router plus card ($30 each and up)

Stay away from "integrated utilities" - "all iin one" solutions.

Michael

What about CCleaner or Tuneup Utilities 2006? Are these safe to use?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi,

Prevention is the best policy!!!

Other than antivirus software, (and there are some good freebees out there) I have never
found it necessary to purchase any software to clean my system's. In fact, I would suggest
avoiding them. With the proper prevention, you will never need them.

Start off with a good Antivirus program and keep it up to date. Set it to update
automatically at least once a day. I would avoid Norton and McAfee products.

Install Spywareblaster, and keep it up to date.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Install all Windows critical updates and Service Packs. Make sure Automatic Updates is
selected.
Right click My Computer - Automatic Updates tab.

Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File.
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Make sure the WindowsXP firewall is turned on.
Why you should use a computer firewall
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/fwbenefits.mspx

If you are connect to broadband, install a router. I suggest D-Link or LinkSys.

Keep System Restore Healthy, just in case.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/healthy.html

Use System Restore to create a restore point before installing any new hardware, software
or making changes to system settings, or registry changes.
Create a manual Restore Point in System Restore
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/createrp.html

Scan the system regularly with Ad-aware from Lavasoft
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

Here is a combination of utilities that I have found that works very well in the removal
and prevention of virus infection, spyware, parasites, malware and the like
Run Disk Clean-up once a month, then run defrag.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/spyware.html

Check Internet Explorer 6 Security Settings.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/using/howto/security/settings.mspx

And don't forget to BACKUP any data you don't want to loose.

 

[peterk]

Computer Security Sites

Grisofts AVG anti virus
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

1. ZoneAlarm Security Suite (latest version 6.0.631.003)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

2. PopUpCop
http://www.popupcop.com/

3. Ad-Aware SE Professional ver 1.06
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

4. SpyBot Search and Destroy 1.04
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

5. Microsoft Anti Spyware beta ver 1.0.615
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A2-6A57-4C57-A8BD-DBF62EDA9671&displaylang=en

It has been so long since I have even seen a popup that I forget what they
look like. I have not had a virus - SpyWare - Trojan infection (that caused
me more than 2 minutes of scan time) in over a year.

maintenance

I perform my maintenance on a weekly basis, I would recommend at the very
least do it monthly.

Download, install, and update before running, Ad Aware 6 SE. You can get it
at http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ . They offer a free version,
that is excellent.
Be sure and update the definitions before running, and update the
definitions before running it each time. Set it to run a full system scan,
and delete what it finds.

Disk Cleanup : You will see that in the Start/All
Programs/System/Accesseries tab. Run disc cleanup, and let it delete all
uneeded temporary files. I also select the " delete restore points except
for the latest" option, as long as my system is running good. This cleans up
extra hard drive space, and keeps system restore from eating up too much
hard drive space with uneeded restore points.

Delete Temporary Files: While disc cleanup gets many of these, it does not
get all. In explorer, or my computer, browse into your c: documents and
settings- < your user name> - local settings - temporary internet files
folder. Go ahead and delete these items in this folder. You may get a
message that a certain file cannot be deleted, as it is in use - that is ok,
go ahead and delete the remaining files that you can delete.
Then, in the same local settings folder, go into your temp directory. Delete
the files in there.
Then, go back to your desktop, and empty your recycle bin.

Defrag: You will find this in the same section, titled Disc Defragmenter.
Defrag your C drive, and any other volume labels you may have if it is
partitioned into more than one partition. I do this after running disc
cleanup.
peterk

 

[Phillips]

Cannot tell... depends what you have on your system.
Easy Cleaner - free - does a nice job. Better's macerat's reg supreme ($20
or so) - see their website.
Michael