Hi everyone,
I am not very technical and I just bought a new laptop Dell Inspiron 1501. There is no place in the manual for how I should keep my computer running like new. before I ruin it could someone help me? On my old computer everytime I am done, I clear history of visited sites,delete cookies,tempory internet files and so on. Then I do disc cleanup for c drive then I dfrag c drive. I do not save anything to my computer for obvious reasons!!! I save everything to my yahoo folders. Should I be doing all this cleanup stuff on my new computer?? please tell me what I should do everytime I am done for the day. I mainly use it for email, websites,surveys,myspace etc. thank you all in advance
Craig
2007-02-06 03:27:22 · 6 answers · asked by Craig C 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
A clean computer is key to a faster computer. Run the 3 scans below.
Run a virus scan weekly.
Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from CA.
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Run Spybot and Adaware weekly.
Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/ . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.
Download, update and run Adaware---http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/products/select_your_product.php
Now lets clean up your registry.
Run RegScrubXP weekly. Run Cleanup every time you log off.
Download RegScrubXP--http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?d...
Safely cleans junk out of the Windows 2000/XP system registry. All changes made to the registry are fully restorable to it's original condition. You can make an exclusion list of registry entries that RegScrubXP will not display as problems. You can sift through a list of file extensions, company names, run upon startup programs, Internet Explorer history, and uninstall programs to delete what you think is junk.
Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...
Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!
Now lets clean up your disk.
Run a Disk Cleanup 2 times a month. Run Disk Defrag. monthly.
Do a Disk Cleanup and Disk Defrag. You can find both of them by following the path below.
Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup. Let it do its thing. You can check every box that has something to delete.
Now follow the same path and do a Disk Defrag. Again just let it do its thing.
Now lets tweak your connection.
If your speed is good I would not mess with it by trying to tweak it. If you do tweak once it is done you should not have to do it every again.
There are many programs out there to do this. I will give you 2 of them.
The first one is TCP Optimizer.
Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.
http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php...
You can get support for the best way to set it up right from their forum http://forums.speedguide.net/
The second one is Cablenut.
Windows XP tested and approved
CableNut is a tool for optimizing your Internet Connection. We have provided a way to tweak any option you may want to in the adjuster. You can load "CableNut Custom Setting" files that are included with the program to tweak your Internet connection.
http://www.cablenut.com/
Again support is available right from their forum.http://www.broadbandnuts.com/index.php?p...
All programs are FREE!
After applying the suggestions above you will have a clean and faster computer. Enjoy.
2007-02-06 03:56:22 · answer #1 · answered by rlh242424 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First, it sounds like you already have a few best practices in place. Second, go to Internet Options and under the Advanced tab, scroll down to Security and make sure "Empty temporary Internet files when browser is closed" is checked off. Also, check the box "Do not save encrypted pages to disk".
Make it a habit to never download programs if possible. That being said, there is a great free program called ccleaner which will help you in some of the things you are doing already. It has a great registry cleaner and can also clean up your temp file, history, cache, cookies, etc. http://www.ccleaner.com
Generally, you do not need to do this every time you shut down. In fact, there is a risk of damaging your hard drive, since you will constantly be writing and erasing only a small portion of it over and over again. The risk is minimal, but still there. Once a week should be fine.
Defragging really only needs to be done once a month or so - if that.
2007-02-06 03:35:52 · answer #2 · answered by wyntre_2000 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd think you wouldn't keep it running *exactly* like new, else, why have it? It's a tool! Use it! If you ever install new software, that changes your tool, but you'll want to install new software. If you ever save a file (a photo of your uncle Herbert or your girlfriend Mimi or your dog Ruffles) that'll change your computer, but you might want to do it, que no? What about the email from the King of Binzania that says you've won recognition as the Greatest Person in the World? Save it!!! Change your tool! Use it!
2007-02-06 03:43:34 · answer #3 · answered by fjpoblam 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can quite happily clean your web cache, cookies etc after every online session. Disk Cleanup only really needs to be run once a week, and defragging once a week/month at most. I use a piece of software called CCleaner which I use every time I finish using my web browser. It can also scan and clean your registry of eroneous entries. I also recommend scanning for spyware daily and scanning for viruses once a week.
Incidentally, if you have Windows Vista it automatically defrags your hard drive for you on a regular basis aswell.
2007-02-06 03:42:01 · answer #4 · answered by Gooner 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Install Anti-Virus, Ad Aware and SpyWare Protection software. Depending on your internet connection you might want to also install a firewall.
Don't keep installing and removing programs.
Every once in a while run disk defrag to clean up your disk drives if needed.
Michael
2007-02-06 03:37:27 · answer #5 · answered by PrayerRequestBox 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To keep running it like new always, you can do either of these:
a) Oil your laptop regularly - there are some pores on the sides and top
b) Get a swiss bank private account and lock it up there.
2007-02-06 03:40:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋