NIM Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 Microsoft has these suggestions for Protecting your computer from thevarious things that could happen to you/it:Protect your PChttp://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/Outfitting a new computer for the Nethttp://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/u...ewcomputer.mspxGetting started with a new PChttp://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/yournewpc.mspxAlthough those tips are fantastic, there are many things you shouldknow above and beyond that. Below I have detailed out many tipsthat can not only help you clean-up a problem PC but keep it clean,secure and running at its best.I know this text can seem intimidating - it is quite long and a lotto take in for a novice - however I can assure you that one tripthrough this list and you will understand your computer and theoptions available to you for protecting your data much better -and that the next time you go through these steps, the time ittakes will be greatly reduced.Let's take the cleanup of your computer step-by-step.Yes, it will take up some of your time - but consider what you useyour computer for and how much you would dislike it if all of yourstuff on your computer went away because you did not "feel like"performing some simple maintenance tasks - think of it like takingout your garbage, collecting and sorting your postal mail, payingyour bills on time, etc.I'll mainly work around Windows XP, as that is what the bulk of thisdocument is about; however, here is some places for you poor soulsstill stuck in Windows 98/ME where you can get information onmaintaining your system:Windows 98 and 'Maintaining Your Computer':http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/usingwindows/maintaining/Windows ME Computer Health:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/using/c...ealth/articles/Pay close attention to the sections:(in order)- Clean up your hard disk- Check for errors by running ScanDisk- Defragment your hard disk- Roll back the clock with System RestoreAlso - now is a good time to point you to one of the easiest ways to findinformation on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:Search using Google!http://www.google.com/(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )Now, let's go through some maintenance first that should only have to bedone once (mostly):Tip (1):Locate all of the software you have installed on your computer.(the installation media - CDs, downloaded files, etc)Collect these CDs and files together in a central and safeplace along with their CD keys and such. Make backups of theseinstallation media sets using your favorite copying method (CD/DVD Burnerand application, Disk copier, etc.) You'll be glad to know that if youhave a CD/DVD burner, you may be able to use a free application to make aduplicate copy of your CDs. One such application is ISORecorder:ISORecorder page (with general instructions on use):http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htmMore full function applications (free) for CD/DVD burning would be:CDBurnerXP Prohttp://www.cdburnerxp.se/DeepBurner Freehttp://www.deepburner.com/ImgBurn (burn ISO images)http://www.imgburn.com/Final Burnerhttp://www.protectedsoft.com/products.phpAnother Option would be to search the web with Pricewatch.com orDealsites.net and find deals on Products like Ahead Nero and/or Roxio.Ahead Nerohttp://www.nero.com/Roxio Easy Media Creatorhttp://www.roxio.com/Tip (2):Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to asize between 128MB and 512MB..- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do thefollowing:- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" tosomething between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger rightnow.)- Click OK.- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10minutes or more.)- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open InternetExplorer.Tip (3):If things are running a bit sluggish and/or you have an older system(1.5GHz or less and 256MB RAM or less) then you may want to look intotweaking the performance by turning off some of the 'resource hogging'Windows XP "prettifications". The fastest method is:Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and younow have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off most of the annoying"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the lastthree checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of theother annoyances. You could also grab and install/use one(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspxAnother viable (decently inexpensive) option is to increase the amountof memory (RAM) your computer has. You can get an idea of what youneed by visiting:Crucial Memory Advisor live insurance info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bretwt Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Thanks a lot for this post. It is really helpful.With this post i get more knowledge that how to protect my pc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Brown Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 You know, this is inappropriate context to say this in, because everything you said I agree with absolutely 100% but since learning how to be a tech I haven't gotten a single virus. The really big BIG thing you can do is simply knowing how to use Google, and knowing how to find credible sites and information sources. Only one Antivirus, a good one, and if you manage to get infected I would remove it before scanning. I always run Combo first. I usually don't go snooping around for new freeware programs, but I'm glad I did tonight (for fun on a Saturday night) because I cant wait to try out the Wintoolkit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsenellenelvian Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Considering recent revelations about the Xbox one, FBI and NSA I think the only way to be safe is to back up to xp and not use the next gen systems. OH snail mail, and cell phones are out to if you want to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooms Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Do you really think XP is "safe" ?The only way to be safe is to use Open source OS and apps, and blocking all majors US sites....then you are - maybe-, a little "safer".Smartphones are even worse, the perfect spy indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphlpt Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I think Win2K, and Office 2K, were the last two MS products of their type that didn't "phone home" in any way. Cheers and Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsenellenelvian Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 XP is easy to lock down and harden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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