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February 03, 2006--Maintenance
Maintenance
Computer maintenance 101
We've talked about temporary internet files before and how to delete them;let's have a look where
that is to be found;
Open IE; go to tools/internet options. In the middle of this window, you have
delete cookies, delete files; deleting temporary files is something I do often. I do it from this
window, but I also do it the way I showed you before and there is this way too:
go to start/run and type: %temp%; hit ctrl+A and click delete.If some cannot be deleted, hit ctrl
and click on the ones that can't be deleted and deselect them; then press delete again.
The button in front of internet files in that window under internet options is cookies.
Some people say delete them; some say don't.
Two things will happen if you delete all your cookies:
your pages will take longer to load the first time you visit them (if you're on high speed, you won't
hardly notice); and if you have sites where you have to enter an ID and a password, you will have
to enter them the next time you visit. So, it's not a big deal; I delete them from time to time.
In the same window, in the history section, you can choose to keep pages you visited for a certain
number of days in the history folder; this is so when you want to return to a page, all you have to
do is click the little arrow at the end of the address bar and the url will be there; all you have
to do is click on it and away you go.
So you can set it to whatever you want.I have mine set to "0".
That is because, I always work from my favourites or from a shortcut on my desktop, so I don't need
history. To each his own...
You can delete them also in the options window. Click "clear history".
ok so much for that; let's move on.
If you ever had to disable your firewall in XP, do you know where to go? Start/ control panel/ security
center; there you are.
If you need to disable it, click on "Windows Firewall"; a window will open;
change the radio button from "ON" to "OFF".
Now, of course, you would only do this if you had to.If
it ever comes up, you will know where to go; and of course you will go back as soon as possible and
turn it on again.
A firewall is very good for your protection, and if you have one, it should be on, except for short
periods of time when it is warranted.
In passing, let me mention again as I have in the past that your antivirus program and windows should
both be updated regularly.You may be set up for automatic updates; that's great; however, take charge
and check once in a while if you are truly up to date.It takes only a few minutes and I think it is
worth the effort.
Ever heard of scheduled tasks?
How many schedule tasks do you have anyway? Let's go see:
go to start/all programs/accessories/system tools/schedule tasks;see what is there.
OK if you wanted to schedule some other tasks, like disc defrag and disc cleanup, you can click on
add schedule task; the schedule wizard will come up. Browse through your programs and find the one you
want, set it for the time you want...etc....
If you don't want to set these as a schedule task but would rather do it manually, you can do that too.
Both disc defrag and disc cleanup are under system tools; go there and follow procedures.
I think I've mentioned Lavasoft ad aware and spybot before. These are 2 recommended programs to clean
your computer of spyware and any other tracking items.
Ask Google for them.Read some reviews on Computer Guys
about them.Decide what you want to do about that. This is just my opinion. Get some
others.
I've left the biggie for the end:
We have talked about programs in startup before.
If you have a lot of programs running in the background
it slows your computer down, and you will be more prone to crashes.Let's go back to where startup is;
remember? No? ok... start/run and type: msconfig; click ok.
At the top of that window, click startup.
Look at all the programs that are checked; if there are a lot, try to uncheck some; do not uncheck something
you don't recognize; you can uncheck printers, chat programs, cameras...stuff like that but nothing that could
affect the running of your computer.
If you're afraid of this, the next time you are talking to a computer
tech, bring a list with you and ask them what you can uncheck.
I have 5 checks there, and there is one
that wouldn't have to be checked, but I keep it checked only because I want to.
Now, in XP, if you uncheck something,it will ask you if you want to restart; well you have to restart if you want it
to take effect. Then when it restarts, it will ask you something about selective start.Answer whatever you want
there. It doesn't really matter; you won't hurt anything.
Ok, I think I covered everything I wanted to in this entry.
There is a lot of information here.
Take your time;
it doesn't all have to be done today. It'll hold until you understand it.
Ciao for now. | |
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