Cleaning up my system

[pea33nut]

I want to clean up all of the junk on my hard drive to make it run faster. Here is a list of some things that I have done but I would love to hear some more suggestions.

Removed all temp files
Removed all cookies
Ran Spyware removal
Ran Norton Anti Virus
Defragmented the hard drive.

Thank you very much!!!!

 

[dunkster]

Clean and defrag/compress the registry.

Scan for trojans.

Clear internet history.

Immunize system with SpywareBlaster.

One spyware scanner is not enough.

Remove all unnecessary startup programs from the startup list.

Identify running processes and set unnecessary processes from automatic to manual startup.

Set your browser to block all third-party cookies and set script-handling permission/blocking for best security.

Check all programs frequently, particularly security programs, for latest available updates.

Hope this helps!

 

[jjm]

All good stuff. Run more than one spyware program. There are other posts here covering that. If you really want to "dig deeper," you can try cleaning up leftovers in the registry and so forth, but there is always a danger you can mess up something (speaking from painful experience!).

EDIT: By the way, I assume you are also running a good firewall. That's important too.

 

[pea33nut]

Clean and defrag/compress the registry.

Is that different than just a disk defrag. If so how do I do it?

 

[dunkster]

One utility program that does much of what I suggested is Ace Utilities - and it's also the SAFEST registry-cleaner I'm aware of. This program is free and fully-functional for 30 days. After purchase of Ace Utilities you can download their registry compactor utility free.

Ace Utilities, in default mode, uses a time-tested 'exclusion list' to reduce the likelihood of accidental removal of critical registry entries that might cripple your system. If you're knowledgeable about registry functions, you can set mode to 'expert'. I keep it set to default (stupid) mode.

I consider any other registry-cleaner potentially dangerous, but I also use JV16 PowerTools because it has an excellent registry-search function.

Hope this helps!

 

[Rottie]

For registry defragmentation by Elcor Software, it is good program and easy to use. Or you can use System Mechanic 5 to check everything for you on your system. It offers 30 days trail.

 

[funggorgor]

fine tune your windows