Transcript CAN I IMPROVE MY COMPUTER PERFORMANCE

CAN I IMPROVE MY COMPUTER
PERFORMANCE ?
OPERATING SYSTEM: PRE-WINDOWS 2000
COMPUTER SPEED: <800 MHz
RAM: <250MB
HARD DRIVE CAPACITY: <40-60 GB (less than 15%
free space –I prefer 30%-40%)
!!!!!NO!!!!!
MALWARE
 DO YOU HAVE A GOOD FIREWALL?
 DO YOU HAVE A GOOD ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM?
 DO YOU HAVE SEVERAL GOOD ANTI-SPYWARE
PROGRAMS?
 DO YOU KEEP THESE PROGRAMS UP-TO-DATE AND
USE AUTO UPDATE FEATURE WHERE AVAILABLE?
 DO YOU RUN FREQUENT COMPUTER SCANS?
FIRST THINGS FIRST
 CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
 BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER DRIVES
 CREATE A YARDSTICK
 BOOT UP YOUR COMPUTER
 MEASURE THE TIME IT TAKES TO REBOOT YOUR
COMPUTER BACK TO THE POINT WHERE YOUR
DESKTOP IS FULLY RESTORED AND YOUR
FIREWALL & ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM IS
OPERATIONAL.
• SCAN COMPUTER FOR MALWARE
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
• IDENTIFY AND REMOVE ITEMS THAT
AUTOMATICALLY START ON BOOTUP:
UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS
UNNECESSARY PROCESSES & SERVICES
NON CRITICAL PROGRAMS THAT CHECK FOR
UPDATES
CHECK
• Start/Run… “msconfig”/Startup tab.
• Task Manager (ctrl+alt+delete); check under
Applications and Processes, respectively, for
currently running programs.
• Start/All Programs/Accessories/System
Tools/System Information/Software
Environment; click on Startup Programs,
Services, Running Tasks respectively.
CHECK – (cont’d)
• Right click My Computer/Manage/open
Services & Applications, click on Services,
(tab at bottom of window should be
“Extended”), click on any service in right
pane to read description of service. Right
click on any service/Properties/General
Tab/Startup Type box and chose Automatic,
Manual, or Disable service.
CHECK – (cont’d)
TWO UTILITIES TO CONSIDER FOR THIS JOB
ARE:
• THE ULTIMATE TROUBLESHOOTER (TUT) from
www.answersthatwork.com
• AUTORUN (free) FROM SYSINTERNAL
(to be discussed later)
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(cont’d)
• MOVE ALL UNNECESSARY FILES TO AN
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
This should include those graphics files that you
don’t regularly use. To find out how much space
is used on your hard drive, left click on My
Computer. You can see how much disk space you
have total and free for each partition on your
hard drive. Write this information down so you
can compare numbers later.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(cont’d)
 UNINSTALL UNUSED APPLICATIONS.
 GET RID OF OLD, UNWANTED E-MAIL
MESSAGES.
 CLEAN YOUR MOUSE, KEYBOARD, AND
COMPUTER CASE.
 EMPTY THE RECYCLE BIN.
 REMOVE UNWANTED INTERNET BROWSER
PLUG-INS.
 CLEAN UP DISK SPACE AND RUN SCANDISK.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(cont’d)
 DISABLE INDEXING SERVICE (CHANGE FROM
AUTOMATIC TO MANUAL)
Indexing service in Windows XP is an unnecessary service
that can be stopped without affecting system stability.
However, if you use the search function of Windows XP a
lot you may prefer to leave it enabled. The indexing
service will help you to find your files faster when you're
searching for them on your computer. To disable
Indexing Service: Start/Control Panel/Administrative
Services/Component Services/Services (Local), right click
on Indexing Services, click Properties, General Tab:
Startup Type: change to Manual. Reverse these
instructions to return to automatic mode.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(cont’d)
 INCREASE VIRTUAL MEMORY SPACE.
Virtual memory is the space your computer uses when
it's short of RAM. On the Start menu, click My
Computer/View System Information/ Advanced tab.
Under Performance, click Settings. In the
Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced
tab. Find the Virtual memory area. Click Change. The
Virtual Memory dialog box is displayed. Here you
can change the page file settings. DO NOT exceed
the limit given in the properties box of your
windows system.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(cont’d)
• PERIODICALLY CHECK HARD WARE/
SOFTWARE MANUFACTURERS’ SITES OF
YOUR PC COMPONENTS FOR NEW DRIVER
UPDATES TO FIX PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED
WITH THEIR PRODUCTS.
• DEFRAG COMPUTER PARTITIONS.
• CLEAN UP YOUR REGISTRY.
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST
(contd)
• ADD MEMORY, HARD DISK CAPACITY, LARGER
MOTHERBOARD/ MICROPROCESSOR.
UTILITIES I USE
• CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
• BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER DRIVES
• CHECK FOR AND INSTALL MOST RECENT
UTILITY UPDATES
UTILITIES I USE (cont’d)
SECUNIA PSI ver 1.0.0.4
PERSONAL SOFTWARE INSPECTOR
Scans, detects, and identifies vulnerable programs for
missing security patches, later available versions, and
identify end-of-life programs and provides information
and links to correct vulnerabilities
 DOWNLOAD:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
 USER INSTRUCTIONS:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/screen
shots/
 readme.rtf after install in the Program folder. Also check
the Help screen accessed from the overview page.
PERIFORM UTILITIES
 ccleaner:
removes unused files, cleans
traces of your on line browser activities,
provides a fully featured registry cleaner,
cleans Temp and Temp Internet files from
Windows applications and log files.
 deflaggler:
defrags hard drives
 recuva:
recovers or securely overwrite
deleted files
PERIFORM UTILITIES
 DOWNLOAD:
http://www.piriform.com/
 DOCUMENTATION:
http://docs.piriform.com/ provides information
about how to use all three programs, along with
technical information and some notes for advanced
users who want to control the software using
scripting or tweak the power-user settings.
 Also check out Tour and Screenshot links and FAQs
ccleaner
ccleaner
deflaggler
recuva
UTILITIES I USE (cont’d)
GLARY UTILITIES
Cleans common system junk files, as well as invalid
registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage
and delete browser add-ons, analyze disk space
usage and find duplicate files. You can also view and
manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files
from unauthorized access and use, split large files
into smaller manageable files and then rejoin them.
Includes options to optimize memory, find, fix, or
remove broken Windows shortcuts, manage
programs that start at Windows startup and
uninstall software. Other features include secure file
deletion, an Empty Folder finder and more.
GLARY UTILITIES
 DOWNLOAD:
http://download.cnet.com/Glary-Utilities/30002094_4-10508531.html?part=dlGlaryUtil&subj=dl&tag=button or
http://www.glaryutilities.com/ and follow links.
 DOCUMENTATION:
After installing Glary
Utilities, launch program and on main page
click >Menu/Help (or click F1)
GLARY UTILITIES
GLARY UTILITIES
GLARY UTILITIES
GLARY UTILITIES
GLARY UTILITIES
GLARY UTILITIES
UTILITIES I USE (cont’d)
SYSINTERNALS SUITE
This file contains 66 individual troubleshooting
tools and help files developed by Mark
Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to manage,
troubleshoot and diagnose Windows systems
and applications. Microsoft acquired
Sysinternals in July, 2006. These Utilities fall
under the categories of File & Disk Utilities,
Networking Utilities, Process Utilities, Security
Utilities, System Information, and
Miscellaneous.
SYSINTERNALS SUITE
• DOWNLOAD:
http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/sysinternals/0e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120c47c5a693683.aspx
• USERS INSTRUCTIONS:
Click on any Utility listed on the download site;
e.g. Autorun documentation can be found at
http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
SYSINTERNALS SUITE
The Suite is a bundling of the following selected
Sysinternals Utilities:
PARTIAL LIST
AccessChk
AccessEnum
AdExplorer
AdRestore
Autologon
Autoruns
BgInfo
CacheSet
ClockRes
Contig
Coreinfo
Ctrl2Cap
DebugView
Junction
LDMDump
ListDLLs
LiveKd
LoadOrder
LogonSessions
NewSid
NTFSInfo
PageDefrag
PendMoves
PipeList
PortMon
ProcessExplorer
PsLogList
PsPasswd
PsService
PsShutdown
PsSuspend
RegDelNull
RegJump
RegMon
RootkitRevealer
SDelete
ShareEnum
ShellRunas
SigCheck
SYSINTERNALS SUITE - AUTORUN
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of
auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you
what programs are configured to run during system bootup
or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows
processes them. These programs include ones in your startup
folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can
configure Autoruns to show other locations, including
Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects,
Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more.
Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with
Windows Me and XP.
 Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option helps you to
zoom in on third-party auto-starting images that have been
added to your system and it has support for looking at the
auto-starting images configured for other accounts
configured on a system. Also included in the download
package is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV
format, Autorunsc.
SYSINTERNALS SUITE - AUTORUN
UTILITIES I USE (cont’d)
ERASER
Eraser is an advanced security tool which makes sure
all your passwords, personal information, financial
records, etc. are permanently removed and
deleted from your computer.
 DOWNLOAD:
http://download.cnet.com/Eraser/3000-2092_410231814.html
 DOCUMENTATION: See Help Topic (F1) on main
page of Utility.
ERASER
UTILITIES I USE (cont’d)
RAMBOOSTER
RAMBooster monitors the amount of RAM
your system is using and allows you to free
it up. This will let your PC run smoother and
faster, and you won't have to reboot as
often. It will monitor the memory at all
times, and if the amount of free RAM gets
too low, it will automatically boost it for
you, finding unused RAM and returning it to
the free pool. RAMBooster will also monitor
your CPU usage.
RAMBOOSTER
• DOWNLOAD:
http://download.cnet.com/RAMBooster/3000
-2086_4-10028673.html
• DOCUMENTATION: Click on FAQ & Help under
Help on the main page of the Utility.
RAMBOOSTER