Blimey! What do you do to ensure that your computer is regularly maintained and tuned-up for peak performance?

Question

As the happy owner of a new laptop I thought I'd star this question and work out a schedule for myself, download some more anti spyware and look after my new toy.

I started to cut and paste some of the better "thumbed" answers then realised that with 1578 answers I would be at it for days and at the end might still have dozens of conflicting opinions.

So should I just wait until the question closes for a best answer?

Should I just pick up on the more frequently mentioned actions/programs? (spybot & c cleaner etc.)

Should I stick with what came pre-installed and just cross my fingers?

Whilst I (usualy)love sarcasm and a flippant answer, I'm hoping one of the big brains will come across this and take pity on me by giving me a clear, succinct answer (with links attached)
for which I will be very, very grateful!

Thank you sooooo much for reading this far.

Answer 1

All for free:

Firewall = ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp;jsessionid=GsqtChbrUA40rFiO9xBM1EW1SjV1AbQ1bybIlbIY2QZnSBLoHJmD!-1686359649!-1062696903!7551!7552!NONE?dc=56pus&ctry=GB&lang=en

Anti-Virus = AVG

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Additional Security - Winpatrol

http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html

Further checks for spyware/malware = Spybot Search & Destroy.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

That lot should keep you surfing safe.

As for "tuning up" your pc - Have you ever heard of the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Unless you know what you're doing, and more importantly, what to do when it doesn't work the way you planned, then leave it well alone.

Answer 2

hi properly. you could attempt each and every utility which you could imagine to settle in this occasion, you will by no potential gain the outcomes you certainly need. there'll continually be some portion of the OS that those utility utilites will the two omit all mutually or grant a sloppy answer. So the techniques-blowing thank you to maintain your pc appearing at its height is: initiate throughout. a minimum of as quickly as 300 and sixty 5 days, (or consistent with possibility even 2 or thrice a 300 and sixty 5 days) basically backup your archives, format your annoying stress, and re-deploy the OS. of direction do no longer forget to stay with your OS Updates. And as a income, you study something new interior the approach, you will study what utility to no longer deploy, and what utility you will possibly definetely have interior the destiny. regrettably it is the final answer well-known. Microsoft, basically does not have from now on useful answer, today. you could play around with the present time-honored utilities, this might in basic terms preserve some coherence for a limited time. finally, you will finally end up back to sq. one. P.S. you could attempt the equipment fix decision (in case you could study a thank you to apply it) after which you get into the placement the place it does not continually paintings a hundred% or does no longer allow you to fix the OS back to its unique production facility Default. (there is often an argument - no longer something is desirable) i wish this solutions your question.

Answer 3

Windows can schedule tasks for you. Pearl control panel, scheduled tasks.

The maintinaence you need depends on how you use your puter. But make sure that you have ONE antivirus that is reputaable (Kapersy, trend, mcafee, norton, of the paid ones, or avg, avast of the free. The paid ones have the advantage of tech support, the free ones dont and you can get the paid ones for free after rebate anyway) You can have more than one Antispyware but keep it at only 1-3. The usual names apply here. These AntiV and AntiS programs need to be updated DAILY. A defrag should be done once every 3-4 months or more depending on what you do. If I edited video, photos or music, I'd do it more often. Like when you got over 2% fragmented

Answer 4

I use disk defragmenter every week and scandisk. I check registry problems with eusing registry cleaner (www.eusing.com), Adware with www.lavasoft.com, Spybot Search & Destroy (Spybot.com). Ran all in Safe Mode.

Answer 5

i regularly do scandisk and a defrag (usually about every two weeks) and as others have said use avg 7.5 it is excellent and free. i also do an internet options every day to clear my temp folders and cookies. hope this helps lol

Answer 6

download an anti virus i suggest avg (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1) do weekly scans and disc defrag everyweek (start>control panel> performance and maintenance> rearrange items on your harddrive to make programs fun faster) aswell as emptying your recycle bin and deleting unwanted files ....hope this helps:)

Answer 7

I'd suggest a software utility to maintain the system.
tuneup utilities or something similar

Answer 8

try trend micro housecall this is a free and safe site which will remove any nasties.it works for me,good luck

Answer 9

get windows onecare it do'es everything
firewall
virus detection
tune ups
copies allyour files in case it crashes
all without bothering you very much
brillient .try it you get 3 months free.

Answer 10

to keep my machine running smoothly

i avoid the mistake you make of downloading porn