How To Perform General Maintainance On Your PC (Guide)

[Olsfaer]

[b]NOTE READ FIRST![/b] I made this guide a little while ago, I know it's dated and I know it probably should go in the PC forum, but people who lurk there generaly know what they're talking about so I guessed it'll help more people here. If it truely doesen't belong here then could a mod please lock and let it die :)

[b]DISCLAIMER![/b] i am not responcible for loss of data due to you following this guide, this guide was written entirely by me, printscreens were taken by me etc etc, feel free to incluse this guide on your blog/site but by link to this thread ONLY, thanks!

XP and Win7 Version will be written soon!

Okay, alot of people don't seem to know what to do when it comes to keeping their PC in tip-top shape. I have written this little guide to show you how to do these "simple" tasks and a little explanation of what they do so we should all learn something here i hope
Things that will be covered in this guide are:

[b]Disk Clean-up[/b]

[b]Disk Defragmenter[/b]

[b]Making Windows boot faster[/b]

This is where to find the programs featured in this guide:

[url]http://www.ccleaner.com[/url] - the better system cleaning tool

[url]http://www.defraggler.com[/url] - the better disk defragmenting-thing tool

This is where to find the basic tools in windows Vista:
[img]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/41/l_51c3f74895bf435aa4d24be60f87a375.jpg[/img]

Note: it is a good idea to remove old programs and perform disk cleanup befor defragmenting your disks.

First up is [b]Disk Clean-up[/b]
This is a handy tool which you can use to clean old temp files, stored webfiles and old downloads that have been stored and are clogging uo your PC.
Using this tool is simple! in Vista go Start>all programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup

once you've clicked it then you will get the following window appear, do not be alarmed :):
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/19/l_64c42b90149748b2ba31e50dc0e9d57b.jpg[/img]
after a few seconds, windows will have finished scanning your PC for files it can delete and you will get to the next stage of cleaning your PC:
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/29/l_2132d418a6204edaa5a648137955f423.jpg[/img]
This is a very informative window it shows you what it can delete, if you click an option then a definition will appear explaining excatly what it is, the size of what will be deleted and the maximum space you will gain.
what you must do next is choose what to delete and what to keep, i generally delete everything [b]you will NOT lose any important data[/b] (unless you don't want to delete something in the recycle bin, but why would you put it there?)

[img]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/3/l_df009ab819b64c21a3050cb6061a58e1.jpg[/img]
the "more options" tab has another good feature where you can delete old system restore files and shadow copies, this is recomended as system restore files are HUGE! [b]make sure you make a recent system restore point![/b]

[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/2/l_2a718b25416a4623b4f641a200edfa43.jpg[/img]
after you've done that, go back to the "disk Cleanup" tab and hit "ok"
Windows will then double check that you are sure, go for it, click "delete"
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/48/l_1a1c295f33ca4b569530483b5fb0cdcb.jpg[/img]
you will then get this window appear:
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/34/l_d17207a7427c4b54ae4fef2597282957.jpg[/img]
that's windows working it's magic, this should take no longer than a few mins and after that, you're all done!

if you wish to use the extended version of Window's Disk Clean-up, look here: [url]http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/158356-extended-disk-cleanup.html[/url]

Now this is the better version of Windows Disk Cleanup, it's called Ccleaner and its 100% free, get it here: [url]http://www.ccleaner.com[/url]

to get started with this, double click the icon on your desktop (providing it's installed)
[img]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/63/l_2f0f8f57aef246ebb9ab8909b2399a71.jpg[/img]

the following window will open with a range of options to choose from, but [b]WAIT[/b] don't go trigger happy just yet!
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/45/l_bc318822ae9b406ebb0b63e81b472c34.jpg[/img]
first you click the "cleaner" tab (it should be open by default) and select all that you want to delete, i just go for everything but its worth reading through to make sure you know what you're deleting [b]you will NOT lose any important data[/b]. next click Analyze.

the cleanr will then start to scan your PC for files based on the boxes you ticked one step befor, as you can see, it shows you excatly what it's doing with a nice progress bar :)
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/21/l_caabe42549894e3087cf4fc298393232.jpg[/img]

once the cleaner has finished analyzing, you are presented with a very nice window featuring lots of information. you are shown how long it look scanning, the size of what can be deleted, all the files are then broken down so you can see excatly what will be deleted, if you are happy with what is about to be deleted, click "Clean". If you are not, then untick/tick some boxes and re-click "Analyze"
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/52/l_3baf70bf259946bc8d898f2dac25d100.jpg[/img]
Now that's the cleaning done but there is another thing you can do with Ccleaner, you can remove old programs that you do not use, now this is very important as it can free up loads of disk space on your drive and not bog down your machine!
what you do is click the "tools" tab as shown and from there it's pretty self explanatory:
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/23/l_1a6f09055865420aa43a99acc553ce67.jpg[/img]
Select the program you wish to remove and click "Run Uninstaller"

Next is [b]Disk Defragmenting[/b]

say your working on a word document, lets call it file 1. you get bored and download some porn, call this file 2. you go back to do some more exciting stuff on file 1 and save it.

so far the files on your HDD go 121

next you down load some more porn (file 3) and get an add-on for your first bit of porn (file 2).

and you do some more to your word document (file 1) now you file system looks like this: 121321

you see overtime this can build up and it takes your HDD time to locate and load all the little "fragmented" files.

What disk defragmenter does is move all the relating files together.

so if your file system is 121321 then it will TRY and move it into order 111223, this gives the HD a little boost in finding all these files THUS making them load quicker.

Now onto how to use this tool, in Vista go Start>all programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter

Click that now you should see the following screen:
[img]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/2/l_6ac56ae801534172afcd8d2afda94309.jpg[/img]
Windows will say "analysing drives" and if you don't have SP1, then this can take some time. after a short (or long) wait, the window should look like this:
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/19/l_d42f8c9fd1d14f88a85150dff6635ade.jpg[/img]
if the window does not look like that, god knows what you have done.
anyway, it will almost 100% of the time say that your file system is fine, it lies so ignor it and press "defragment now"
this can take a while so it's wise to leave it overnight or whilst at school/work.

a better disk defragmenter program is Defraggler! this is free and you can download it from the link at the top. now this is slightly more "complex" but i have some screenies to aid you:

first double click the icon that should be on your desktop:
[img]http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/33/l_8781dff2a8e24d668f6befc742f5d17d.jpg[/img]

This window should appear:
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/41/l_aed24d8c8d164d49a1c9a760879bfd00.jpg[/img]

Click on the drive that you wish to defrag at the top and click "analyze":
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/38/l_e43e1bf79977487b9171181142aa075c.jpg[/img]

After about 10 seconds the window should appear with pretty colours:
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/58/l_437969690e794a799a8f00649c86cfc6.jpg[/img]
click either "view files" or "file list" to continue.

now you check all of the files by ticking the top box (or if you are extreme, you can tick them individualy) and click "Defrag checked"
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/63/l_febc6e8b2c9040658e2c69439b250918.jpg[/img]

it should now take long to defrag the disk but you should see this screen currently:
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/48/l_5fc01c97a88946bb953d5c41458dd1fa.jpg[/img]

after that, you're all done and your disks should be happy and healthy!

Lastly [b]Make your PC run faster at startup![/b]
when you install a program such as steam or windows live messenger, it's defulat is to run as soon as windows boots up, this can drastically slow your machine down and here is how to stop it from doing so. Don't worry! you'll still be able to run your programmes no problem atall! this will just make your PC boot faster.

Under the vista start menu, type "msconfig" and hit enter, OR click the icon that appears at the top:
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/31/l_1b7c7cda0b5a4be1a4919296bbba56b2.jpg[/img]

Next click the "start up" tab at the top of the window:
[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/22/l_fb626e50c81e4799959e650c53ca29d0.jpg[/img]

now from here you are able to select what is loaded at start up, PLEASE makesure you do NOT untick "Microsoft Windows Operating System" because that's just dumb, also do not tick your display drivers (both in green)

[img]http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/2/l_8bc84cba20eb4d05ae7dde27a11d9980.jpg[/img]

all you have to do is from the list, uncheck what you do not want running at start up and hit "apply".

Another feature of msconfig is to enable multi-cores/cpu when windows boots, [b]this is a myth but some people claim improved performance[/b] so you can still give it a try, it'll do no harm

to begin click the "boot" tab as pictured then the "Advanced options" button (NOTE:you can also hit the "no GUI" tick box under boot options prior to hitting the "Advanced Options" button, this will give you a slight increased boot time:
[img]http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/60/l_b6bdd546d17c4ca69a74839ed05aa79f.jpg[/img]

next tick the box thay says "number of processors" and from the drop-down box choose the amount you have/want to use when booting:
[img]http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/28/l_05966596581f478a801ed57b1955e146.jpg[/img]

You will be asked to reboot, confirm and your bootup should be somewhat faster!

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

Well, that's the end of my guide so far, i will be adding more shortly altho i think this will be software based maintainance? If i have missed anything and/or am incorrect, please do say so :) I hope this guide has helped many people with general maintainance of their PC.

[Nyaos]

My friend actually reformats his hard drive when anything begins to slow down. He does this like every month. He has OCD.

[Olsfaer]

I had that >_< doesn't do it alot of good removing and re-installing an operating system lots of times due to the MASSIVE read and write cycles :/

[kobilica]

Wow, Awesome!

[mrmr]

Already knew all this but its a good guide and will help anyone who need to clean up there PC. Informative

[Benie]

Pretty good thing. But you forgot to mention an antivirus scan.
Spybot - Search and Destroy is also very useful for keeping your PC from being fucked up.

[ChaosUnleash]

Nice guide, I'd do the disk defrag but it takes like 12 hours for me :(

[MachiniOs]

I always do this but I recently lost my External HDD so I can't back anything up (I have a lappy).

[shipkiller]

nice guide for non- tech savy people

[hl2poo]

One time, in computer class, I disconnected a monitor in the classroom to prank some student who will sit there. The kid came in, tried to turn on the monitor but couldn't. He was told to sit at an empty seat. The next day, they were opening up the PC and shit trying to figure what was wrong.

[wonkadonk]

This is actually kind of useful, thanks!

[Take_Opal]

CCleaner does the same job that Disc Clean Up does.

[Within]

Glad to see some effort, captain. Good job.

[DainBramageStud]

[QUOTE=hl2poo;18921666]One time, in computer class, I disconnected a monitor in the classroom to prank some student who will sit there. The kid came in, tried to turn on the monitor but couldn't. He was told to sit at an empty seat. The next day, they were opening up the PC and shit trying to figure what was wrong.[/QUOTE]

Did you paste that from the computer illiteracy thread?

[Olsfaer]

[QUOTE=Take_Opal;18921717]CCleaner does the same job that Disc Clean Up does.[/QUOTE]

I gave two options, using the windows version is for people who general don't like to download thirdparty applications

[QUOTE=Benie;18921586]Pretty good thing. But you forgot to mention an antivirus scan.
Spybot - Search and Destroy is also very useful for keeping your PC from being fucked up.[/QUOTE]

I avoided mention AV as this would have sparked epic battles about what's the best AV out there, and also everyone shpuld be doing that anyway if their PC's arn't doing it automaticly

[evilking1]

Nice guide Ollie.

[SGorilla]

Shouldn't this be in Hardware/Software?

Nice guide though.

[Olsfaer]

[QUOTE=evilking1;18921998]Nice guide Ollie.[/QUOTE]

I wish people would stop doing that, it scares me >_<

[Take_Opal]

[QUOTE=Olsfaer;18921884]I gave two options, using the windows version is for people who general don't like to download thirdparty applications

I avoided mention AV as this would have sparked epic battles about what's the best AV out there, and also everyone shpuld be doing that anyway if their PC's arn't doing it automaticly[/QUOTE]

Oh, sorry. You should add something about Defraggler like the guy above me said.

[backfoggen]

Thanks for the guide Ollie, I appreciate it

[Olsfaer]

[QUOTE=Take_Opal;18922101]Oh, sorry. You should add something about Defraggler like the guy above me said.[/QUOTE]

pretty grids?

[QUOTE=SGorilla;18922016]Shouldn't this be in Hardware/Software?

Nice guide though.[/QUOTE]

I mentioned that people that lurk in Hardware/software would know all this and not many people dare venture there due to jargon

[Ordnas]

I use RegCleaner to delete unused registry entries and delete startup programs.

[Quality Control]

This is exactly how I clean my computer,

Awesome guide!

[anarchy366]

this is a great guide Ollie.

[GreenDolphin]

[QUOTE=Nyaos;18921465]My friend actually reformats his hard drive when anything begins to slow down. He does this like every month. He has OCD.[/QUOTE]

That's a bad idea if he does it every month.

[Vextrom]

Great guide although I usually do most of this.

[Van Gogh]

[QUOTE=ChaosUnleash;18921610]Nice guide, I'd do the disk defrag but it takes like 12 hours for me :([/QUOTE]

I recommend Auslogics disk defrag. it only takes like 20 minutes

[wowsers]

Good info, didn't know the msconfig thing.

[fightnight22]

Someone needs to make a program that basicly deletes your whole windows.old folder. Dont feel like spending half a day deleting 500 Gigs of stuff.

[Libertas]

[QUOTE=GreenDolphin;18922657]That's a bad idea if he does it every month.[/QUOTE]

I do it about every 10-12 months. Though this year was mostly moving from W7beta->RC->RTC and then retail.