Purge Your Windows XP Computer

Have you ever booted up your computer and wondered why doesn't it run as fast as it was when it was new? Overtime, systems tends to grow slow. This guide may provide you the right set of answers. Hopefully, a step by step approach will lead to smooth computing for you.

Steps

  1. The first step is always to remove all of the spyware ,viruses and registry errors that may be on your computer. This is because they cause the most harm, and they may also hinder the other steps of this guide. If you don't have a spyware virus scanner or cleaner, there are many free ones that can be almost as effective as retail ones, such as Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware) and AVG Antivirus (http://free.grisoft.com) and CNET respectively. But it is always advisable to read product reviews and buy products because they come with valuable service support.
  2. Delete all of your unnecessary files. Having your hard drive full, or nearly full, will severely slow down the speed of your computer. You need to Uninstall all of your programs using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. For everything else (documents, images, and music) that you want to delete, make sure you empty the Recycle Bin afterwards, or hold down Shift Delete to permanently delete files. Alternatively, you could burn the files to a disk to save a backup.
  3. Monitor your startup programs. Open the Start menu, and go to Run. Type in 'msconfig' and press Enter. Go to the Startup tab, uncheck any programs which you think is spyware/adware, and press OK. Run a search on any startup programs which you are unsure of. Warning: Do not uncheck items that belong to antivirus/antispyware scanners. This can cause an adverse effect.
  4. Monthly Run Disk Cleanup. Go to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System/Disk Cleanup. Run this utility for all of your drives to free up any remaining disk space and clear out useless files.
  5. Finally, run Disk Defragmenter. Get it in Start/All Programs/Accessories/System/Disk Defragmenter. This moves all of your files which have been split into pieces closer together so they can be accessed much faster. This process may take hours, so it's best to leave it on overnight or when you don't need to use your computer.
  6. Your computer is now (to an extent) clean, but you can help yourself by keeping it clean. Run virus,spyware and cleaner checks at least every week, and try to run Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleanup every month. Also you can download WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/) or a similar security program, which runs in the background and alerts you if any malicious changes are made to your computer.
  7. You can also activate your firewall. Go to Start/Control Panel/Windows Firewall and activate it. Allow exceptions for programs you recognize and trust, and refuse any unknown connections. Some alternative firewalls are also available such as the free edition of ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com/)



Tips

  • Remember, prevention is better than cure, so be careful.
  • Be sure to use a virus scanner to check all email attachments that you receive. Even if it's from a friend, a virus can automatically send so it might not be them!
  • Consider Linux to revive your PC.
  • If you leave your computer on all the time, schedule the virus scanners and spyware scanners to run during a time of day you never use the computer. Have it done everyday instead of every week.
  • McAfee SiteAdvisor (http://www.siteadvisor.com) can show you which sites are safe, and which are potentially dangerous. Still, it pays to be careful.
  • You can save yourself a lot of trouble if you stay away from 'dodgy' sites and don't open unknown programs.They are the number one cause of troubles.

Warnings

  • Try to re-purge your computer every month or fortnight. If you don't, your computer will get more and more congested, and it may be a hassle to fix.
  • Never give your e-mail address or personal details to a site you don't completely trust. That's just common sense. More often than not you will get loads of spam and malicious programs.

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Sources and Citations

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