COMPUTERS-HOW TO CLEAN HOUSE

The internet has changed the last couple of years. We are now expected to take better care of our computers. Here is a list of computer maintenances from two computer gurus that needs to be done about once per week. If you are on the internet all day/night long, then the following needs to be done once per day/night.

When you run into trouble, always Reboot (restart your computer) before doing anything else. This nearly always will fix the computer problem.

If you are on the computer all day/night, you need to Reboot your computer about every four or five hours even if you are not having computer problems. This puts your computer's system back in good working order:

1. Disk cleanup:
Start,
Programs,
Accessories, slide over to System Tools,
Click Disk Cleanup
(if you have not done this in awhile, it will take several minutes, even an hour or so)

2. Defrag:
Start,
Programs,
Accessories, slide over to System Tools,
Click Defrag
(If you have not done this in awhile, it will take a long time. Do not do this in rain storms or lighting storms)

3. Spybot, or Ad-Aware (gets rid of spyware)
This is something that has been discovered recently.
http://www.spybot.com

4. Files that are in your computer that you do not even know about:
Click Start,
Click Run,
Type in %temp%,
Click OK.
A list of temp files will appear.
Click Edit in the top left hand corner,
Click Select All,
(A box will now appear that tells you about hidden files, just click OK, and forget about them.)
Click File in the top left hand corner,
Click Delete.

The delete will stop when it comes to a file that cannot be deleted. Make a mental note of the number. Click OK,

Now go to the number that could not be deleted,

Hold down the CTRL button, put the mouse arrow on the number and left click your mouse. This tells the computer not to include this temp file.

Go back to and click Edit in the upper left hand corner,

click Select All,

Click File in the upper left hand corner,

Click Delete.

Note: If you continue to get files that cannot be deleted, you will have to do the above over and over again until all are gone. You might have to delete each file one by one.

Don't forget to empty your Recycle Bin after you have deleted these files.

Do this everyday or at least once per week and the files will not build back up where it will be a chore to get rid of them.


5. Antivirus needs to be kept on automatic.

6. ScanDisk:
In Windows XP, click Start,
Click My Computer,
Right-click your hard drive (probably C, a box will open,
click Properties,
Select the Tool tab,
Click Check Now.
Select options to do as thorough a check as possible.

Most of the time, you will get a message that says this will be done for you when your computer is turned on next time. It is best to get it over with, go ahead and Restart your computer.

This takes a long time and even longer if you have never done it before. Do this at least once per week so that it will only take a short time. You will only see text and it might not look like it is doing anything, but it is. You can leave your computer and go do something else 'cause this will take awhile.

DO NOT do this during rain storms or lightening storms.

7. Gardener and a computer operator, Mamawjackson says, "Here's another program that I use daily."

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition 1.06

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Per ... l&tag=top5

Designed for Windows 98, 98SE, Win ME, Win NT 4, Win 2000, and Win XP
Ad-Aware SE Personal edition will comprehensively scan your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected Keyloggers, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. Here is the link: