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[Guide] Computer maintenance

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty [Guide] Computer maintenance

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:19 am

Here I'm going to tell you about some great computer maintenance tips. This will be updated, and will eventually get kind of long, so stay focused. I will be covering stuff from general maintenance to encrypting data.


ALL LINKS ARE IN BLUE

Table of Contents:
Post 1 - Table of Contents
Post 2 - General Tips
Post 3 - Virus, Malware, Spyware, Adware
Post 4 - File and Registry Cleaning
Post 5 - Hard Drive Cleaning
Post 6 - Reserved
Post 7 - Reserved
Post 8 - Data and File Encryption/Decryption
Post 9 - Other Programs
Post 10 - Close


Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:43 am; edited 4 times in total

TheKing

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Join date : 2009-12-19

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty General Tips

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:20 am

Here are some basic tips that everyone should keep in mind while using computers. These are in no particular order, but might be put into sections later:


    Never turn your computer off with the power switch in back unless the hard drive is not functioning. [If the hard drive is not functioning, then the hard drive light will not be blinking.] This can lead to serious data loss if you are not careful.

    Use name brand power supplies and CPU coolers.

    Backup/encrypt data you cannot afford to lose.

    Defrag and Deep Virus/Malware scan AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH!

    Make sure your firewall is ALWAYS fully operational and up to date. Don't allow any programs that you are suspicious about through the firewall.

    Always keep your software/hardware/drivers up to date.

    Disable the pesky startup items that you don't need.

    Clean the dust out of your case, fans, keyboard, mouse, and hardware with swabs and compressed air.

    Mount your hard drive flat, and keep it near a well circulated area.

    Keep your case well circulated.



More to come in this section and other sections later.

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 1 time in total

TheKing

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Virus, Malware, Spyware, Adware

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:21 am

Virus Removal:
Well, viruses can seriously mess up you computer. It is pretty easy to get one to, so I highly recommend an antivirus. I believe that Avira's free antivirus is the best. It can also get rootkits and torjans, besides the everyday viruses. It's pretty simple to use, and you are going to want to run a quick scan once a day/every two days, and a full scan once a week. Quick scans are around 15 minutes, while full scans can take uo to about one hour.

Avira AntiVirus


If you don't like Avira, here are a few other good free products. I still recommend Avira over them though:
AVG
Avast!


Malware/Spyware/Adware Removal:
Malware/Spyware/Adware is some nasty stuff. It can slow down your computer and give you lots of popups, but those are just about the only noticable signs that you have malware, unless you are very experienced. I highly recommend Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware over all of the others. Quick scans take around 3 minutes, and scan almost 100,000 files. Full scans can take 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how much you have on your hard drive, and how much malware you have.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware


If you don't like Malwarebytes, here are a few other good free products. I still recommend Malwarebytes over them though:
IObit Security 360
Ad-Ware
Spybot - Search and Destroy
SuperAntiSpyware

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 3 times in total

TheKing

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty File and Registry Cleaning

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:22 am

File and Registry Cleaning:
CCleaner will remove any unneeded files, and fix any Registry issues. A lot of people have said that CCleaner has messed up their registry, so use the registry cleaner at your own risk. It has never done any harm to me though, but that is because I make sure I don't need what it is about to delete.
CCleaner


Some other software similar to CCleaner is:
Advanced System Care Free
Glary Utilities


I use CCleaner, Advanced System Care, and Glary Utilities. There are certain times when each triumphs the other two.


More coming soon to a theater near you...

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 2 times in total

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Hard Drive Cleaning

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:24 am

Defraging and Checking Hard Drive:
Smart Defrag is a program that defrags any drive it can read. You can "Defrag Only" which defragments only fragmented files without file placement optimization. You can also "Fast Optimize" which defragments and fast organizes drive data to eleminate blank space for optimal disk performance. Finally, you can "Deep Optimize" which defragments and intelligently organizes drive data for maximum program performance and long-lasting data contiguity. It also takes about an hour to and hour and a half, depending on how bad your hard drive is.
Smart Defrag



I also want to add Error Checking. What this does is if your computer has been crashing unusually, run this about every month or so to check the hard drive out for any problems. If you have a lot of errors, it's time to get a new hard drive or risk possibly losing all your data. This will take along time, so do it over night or when your computer is not in use. If you have errors, you should see a screen with a lot of numbers and crap. It'll been in there. If it has no errors, it'll start up just like usual and your problem is something else.

My Computer
Right-Click on the C: (Or any other drive)
Tools tab
Error-Checking
Check Now
Check Automatically fix file system errors
Check Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
It then will ask you if you want to schedule it the next time you restart.
Click Yes.

This will take along time, so do it over night or when your computer is not in use.

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 3 times in total

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Reserved

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:24 am

For future additions xD

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 1 time in total

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Reserved

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:25 am

For future additions xD

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 1 time in total

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Data and File Encryption/Decryption

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:26 am

Data and File Encryption/Decryption:
If for some reason you need to encrypt data and files...here is your answer. Encrypting data is an easy way to keep it safe if for some reason you got hacked, or if you don't want other people getting into your files. It is pretty straightforward with the programs, and doesn't take much to learn it. I would like to note that if you don't need to encrypt your data, then you probably shouldn't. It takes up space, and can sometimes be a pain to get into. I, for example, only encrypt a folder or two of files. Anyways, here are a few good programs that will help you encrypt files.

Androsa is an easy program to use, and will let you encrypt plenty of files in short amounts of time. There isn't really much to say about these, since it is all pretty much the same.
Androsa FileProtector


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If for some reason you don't prefer Androsa, here are a few other good ones:
TrueCrypt
MEO File Encryption


This is a short covered topic because if you really need to encrypt files THAT bad, you should probably buy the correct software. This is for an extremely casual encrypter.


Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 2 times in total

TheKing

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Other Programs

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:26 am

Other Programs:
CPU-Z is a great free program that will tell you your system specs. I use this almost daily if I forget something, or need to look at a spec. Not much else to say, so here is the download:
CPU-Z

CPU-Monitor is a great free program that will tell you your processor, system, graphic cards, etc. temperature. It also tell you the individual cores! I love it, and use it constantly to monitor my temperatures. Here is the download:
CPU-HWMonitor

EVGA Precision is a great tool to control the clock speeds and fan speed on your EVGA graphics cards. You can set them, and apply them at startup, so they always stay the same. I have been using it since I got my EVGA 8800GTS. Here is the download: [You have to register to EVGA site to download it from them.]
EVGA Precision

ATI Tool is an amazing tool that will overclock your ATI and Nvidia cards. Yes, it works with Nvidia cards too. It comes highly recommended as one of the top software products to overclock your video card, but I have never used it before. Here is the download:
ATI Tool

RivaTuner is another great free tool that will help you overclock your Nvidia GPU. It is highly recommended, although I have never used it before. Here is the download:
RivaTuner

More to come.

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Last edited by TheKing on Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:45 am; edited 2 times in total

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty Close

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:27 am

Well, that is it for right now. Like I said this will be updated continually, so check back once in a while. I am going to add in the sections as I complete them.

I hope you liked it, and I hope that it can help some people. Any suggestions are welcome, but I can't guarantee that I will put them in. I will have to test them out first.


Give credit where credit is due:
Joker of the DSI clan for input

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[Guide] Computer maintenance Empty What do you think?

Post  TheKing Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:47 am

Comments/suggestions/compliments lol xD

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