BACK TO THE BASICS
Basic computer maintenance
everyone should do regularly
Computers tend to bog down over
time. Some simple maintenance every 2-4 weeks (depending on computer use and programs installed) will only take 10-30 minutes,
can be performed at any knowledge level and will keep your computer running smoothly. With this guide, and two downloads,
you will see a noticeable improvement. This is fairly basic and something all computer users should do.
Remove
programs you no longer use or knew about:
Over time, you may have installed
games or utilities that you forgot about or no longer use. Why waste the space? Go to your control panel, Add\Remove programs
(or Programs and Features in Vista) and uninstall anything you no longer use. Occasionally you will find a toolbar or other
item you were unaware was there!
Cleaning your hard drive of unneeded files:
One of the biggest problems is hard drive useage. Your hard drive has more moving parts then any other
in your computer and is constantly adding, deleting and reorganizing files. Because of this, you want to clean your computers
hard drive. A great tool for this is CCleaner: http://majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_...ish_d4191.html
Simply open CCleaner, and the cleaner section should be open.
Click run cleaner and wait. Thats it, your
done.
It is a very safe tool and has never damaged any of the hundreds of computers I have run it on.
Remove
invalid registry entries:
Next up is the registry. Frankly, the registry
is overrated as a speed tweak, in general, but it does get large and can contain many invalid references. The registry is
not an area for even the average computer user to be playing around in. The good news is CCleaner has a safe registry cleaner
built in, so why not clean out old, invalid entries?
Click the issues button.
Click scan for issues.
Click fix selected issues.
Thats it, your done, a safe, fast registry clean.
Startup items:
Here is a HUGE culprit on the average PC. See all those icons in the lower right
corner of your screen? Those are all being loaded on startup, and those are not all of them either! If your wondering why
you have to wait a minute to use your computer after startup, it is because all of those items are loading after Windows has
started. They also use up memory just sitting there. Removal takes a bit more knowledge, or research, then the previous two,
but you can do it!
First off, if you know what these items in the tray are and do not need them running, you
can either right click an icon and look for options or a "run with Windows" option. Otherwise, you can double click
any icon to open the program and look for options from there. Some are easy and common. Quicktime, AOL and RealPlayer are
good examples of items that do not need to be there.
CCleaner also has a startup manager. Click tools, then startup.
You can delete any unneeded items from there. Be careful, there is no backup, so either look up the program on Google or ask
on our forums if you want to know what an item is for. Because the startup loads drivers and some programs you may need, be
careful removing items you are unsure of.
Defragment your hard drive
Now that you have removed all of this garbage, you have defragmented files all over your hard drive. Reading and
writing data on a heavily fragmented hard drive is slowed down because the time for the heads to move between fragments on
the disk surface can be substantial. The files on your hard drive now probably look like a box of tacks after I open them
and toss them on the ground. Defragmenting your hard drive would be like the box of tacks still sealed. All neat and tidy
and easy to get at.
Microsoft includes a disk defragmentor, but it is widely known that it is not very good. Luckily,
quite a few free alternatives are available:
IObit SmartDefrag is a newer, free program that works great:
http://majorgeeks.com/IObit_SmartDefrag_d5318.html
JKDefrag does simple one click defragmention:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/JkDefrag_d5542.html
Lexun DrvCareXP is popular, though abandoned and unsupported:
http://majorgeeks.com/Lexun_DrvCareXP_d2715.html
Diskeeper Lite is good for a heavily used computer:
http://majorgeeks.com/Diskeeper_Lite_d1207.html
You should also use a malware scanner occasionally just to be sure you did not pick something up. Again,
download from a trusted site like Majorgeeks.com and consider using known programs such as SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot, Spyware Doctor, Spy Sweeper, etc.
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Why can't Windows shut down or start promptly?
Back in the old days when TVs and radios had tubes, it took a couple of minutes for a set to warm up before you could watch or listen.
But even then, you could turn it off instantly. That's not true with Windows PCs. Not only does it sometimes
take seemingly forever for them to boot, but it can take several minutes for one to shut down. Even worse,
if a program stops responding, you may or may not be able to shut it down. And even if it does terminate,
it may take awhile. And
by the way, I'm not just talking about Windows XP and Vista. I'm having the same problem with Windows 7 though,
to be fair, the new operating system is still in beta so it's possible that Microsoft could amaze and
delight me by fixing this in the final version.
I
can understand why it takes at least some time for a PC to boot from a power-off situation because the operating
system and some software and drivers have to be copied from storage into memory. But I can't understand
why it takes more than a few seconds for the computer or one of its applications to shut down. I realize that sometimes
there is a bit of housekeeping to do in the form of closing files but--give me a break--should that really
have to take up to five minutes? And there have been countless times in my experience when it simply never shuts
down, forcing me to hold the power button for several seconds. I've even had laptops that were so stubborn that I had to remove the battery to turn them off.
I'm
particularly annoyed at how Windows often fails to terminate programs that have crashed. In theory, pressing Ctrl
Alt and Delete to bring up the Task Manager followed by clicking End Task should simply stop the program
and return you to the operating system. But that doesn't always work. Sometimes the program just hangs there
forever, sometimes it quits after a random period of time and sometimes the entire computer just crashes.
Imagine if you had a lamp in your house that was malfunctioning and the only way to turn it off was to turn off all
the power to your house from the main breaker.
I
haven't raised this particular issue with people at Microsoft, but a couple of years ago- when I was researching
a story for The New York Times on technology energy hogs, the standard response from folks in Redmond was to blame third party applications and drivers for the fact
that Windows machines often fail to properly go to or wake up from from sleep mode. Third party applications
may very well be to blame, but it's no excuse. One of Windows strongest selling points is its ability to work
with software and hardware from thousands of sources so it seems to me that a company with the resources
and experience of Microsoft should have by now figured out how to handle errant programs and drivers.
I do like many of the improvements in Windows 7 and appreciate that it boots a little faster and--at least on my
machine--seems better at going to sleep and waking up. Now all I want is the ability to turn off the darn machine
and terminate a misbehaving program without having to dedicate my entire afternoon to the task.
HELP -- I CAN'T GET ONLINE!
Can't connect? Having pangs of the Interneticus
withdrawicus disorder? Read
on...
So you say you can't get online, eh? It happens to all of us; I was landlocked
just last week.
There could be lots of reasons. Instead of tearing your hair out or spending hours trying to figure it out yourself,
how about trying some of this week's troubleshooting tips It may be a good idea to save this message (uh, offline), so
you can refer back to it when disaster strikes.
Are You Attached?
When you can't connect to the Internet, you can point your finger at a few things.
I'll start with the easiest thing to check, but first I'll make a prediction. You're going to say,
"nope, not me" right after I tell you what to do. Look at all the cables going to and from your modem and your router
if you have one, and make sure they're all plugged tightly into their connectors. Listen, boys and girls, this has happened
to me, much to my chagrin; it's also a common theme on many of the PCs I'm called in to troubleshoot.
BTW, monitor cables are notorious trouble-makers -- if the cable isn't tightened, there's
a video problem.
Tech editor Carey Holzman suggests unplugging each end of a cable and then plugging it back in again to ensure
a proper connection at both ends. He says that's substantially better than the unreliable and unscientific "wiggle
and pull test."
Hello, Are You Working?
If
you still can't get online, it could that your cable or DSL service provider is having a bad day. Or someone might have
smashed a car into a nearby service box, cutting off access for everyone in the neighborhood.
So
the first thing I do is check the lights on my modem (yours may be a DSL modem; mine's Charter's
cable service).
How do you know everything's kosher? Right now, while you're online and happy
as a lark, make a note of the lights on the modem; see which indicator lights are flashing and which are solid. (A
digital picture is even better.) That way when you go offline, you can compare your picture to
the current state of the modem's lights.
In my case, the modem's LAN line was flashing.
That was unusual, so I called Charter. In 2 minutes flat, I heard the announcement that they were having trouble throughout
Michigan, with no ETA on when the service would be up. I had a nice non-computing break; I got caught up on laundry and took
a long walk.
If all the lights look normal, reset the modem by unplugging it from the power source, then wait 5 minutes before
plugging it back in. If you know your modem has batteries (which is fairly common if it has VoIP phone services), take out
the batteries before unplugging the modem.
Chances are good that resetting the modem will solve
your problem. If it doesn't, and you have a router, follow the same steps: Unplug the router and let it sit for 5 minutes.
(Go fold the laundry.)
Quick
Tip: A friend has a router with cables going to four PCs. He wraps different-color electrical tape on both
ends of each cable so he can quickly figure out where each cable goes -- and which PC it belongs to.
Oh, No, It's the Software...
I
wish I could say hardware is the only connectivity issue you'll face. It isn't. Software can
do a number on your connection, and so can something amiss in the operating system.
There are a host
of tricks for combating software problems and firing up your connection. I'll show you the ones I've had
the most success with.
Depending
on how elaborate they are, home networks can be complicated. Unfortunately, because of this complexity, problems
occasionally happen. Fortunately, you can usually solve these problems yourself. In most cases, finding
the problem is a matter of going through a series of steps to eliminate potential issues one by one until
you find the source of the problem. This article walks you through isolating your problem, troubleshooting the problem, and, if necessary, contacting the
right organization for support.
If you are setting up your home network
for the first time, refer to Set up a wired network or Set up a wireless network. The guidance in this article assumes that you were previously able to use your network, although the information
here might be useful for troubleshooting setup problems, too.
Sometimes just setting up the network connection again does the trick.
The first step is to think back to anything new you might have done, say, installing a new antispyware
tool, or playing with a program that needs access to the Internet. For instance, I often upload and download files to RapidShare,
a file storage service. Their RapidLoader software is poorly written (make that "an atrocious piece of junk") and
often temporarily blocks every other program needing Internet access.
If you did install something, uninstall it using Revo Uninstaller. Revo is free and the best uninstaller I've ever used. That alone may put you
back in business. But if it doesn't, do a System Restore (from Start, Programs, Accessories, System
Tools).
At this point, you may still be disconnected from the Internet and really suffering.
But first, let's take a break.
More Software Fixes
If
you're using any version of XP, grab a copy of Dial-a-Fix and run it. One important caveat: Dial-A-Fix’s author has abandoned the program, so
if you have Internet Explorer 7 installed, do NOT check the option to fix Internet Explorer, as this was designed to work
only with IE 6. There's no need to reboot your PC.
No luck? Download WinSock XP Fix, a free utility that resets Registry settings that manage the Internet connections in Windows.
If your computer has a static IP address, make a note of it before running this software. If you don’t know what a static
IP address is, you probably don’t use one. After running WinSock XP fix, reboot when recommended. I encourage you to
grab a copy of these programs before
you desperately need them.
Vista users have a built-in Winsock reset
function. From the Start menu, type Cmd in the Start Search text box. Type netsh winsock
reset into the Command Prompt shell (the DOS box) and press Enter.
You'll need to restart the computer.
Chances are quite good that at
least one of these tricks will get you cooking again. Unfortunately, if it doesn't, you're going to have
to bring in a professional who can look at your PC and diagnose the problem. 
