GO FASTER STRIPES 

Tips for getting more out of your PC

We all use and increasingly rely on our PCs, but they seem to have an irritating habit of getting slower with the passage of time.  This is not something programmed in to simulate human behaviour but rather a by-product of how Windows XP works.  Like an unruly teenager, XP is not good at clearing up its own mess, and like a good parent, we have to, cursing and spitting, do its clearing up after it! 

There follows a few tips I have learned along the way for getting more out of a PC.  These tips apply only to PCs running the Windows XP operating system. 

While every effort has been made to ensure that the information below is correct and each procedure has been tested on my own PC, NO RESPONSIBILITY CAN BE ACCEPTED FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ON ANY THIRD PARTY'S PC AS A RESULT OF RUNNING ANY OF THE PROCEDURES BELOW.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPLY THE TIPS BELOW IF YOU DO NOT USE XP!

Regular House-keeping

There are a number of jobs that should be performed on a regular basis to keep your computer at its best and most secure. Follow the links to learn more.

Daily

Backup files added or changed today (ideal world!)

Run your Spy-Ware removal program (Ad-Aware?)

Run Internet Eraser (or equivalent)

Weekly

Daily tasks (above) plus

Full system back up

Run Virus Checker

Monthly

Daily and weekly tasks (above) plus

Empty recycle bin

Empty 'Deleted' folder in Outlook Express (orequivalent)

Clear Prefetch

Clear Temporary Files

Run Stinger

Run Windoctor

Run Disk doctor

Run Check Disk

Run Defragmenter (It may tell you your disk is OK but run it anyway!)

Run Speed Disk

Useful House-keeping products

There are a number of easily available (many of them free!) products that make the job of managing your PC much easier.  that should be performed on a regular basis to keep your computer at its best and most secure. Useful products include the following:

Ad-Aware

This is free software from a company called Lavasoft which removes Ad- and Spy-ware.  It should be used daily when using the net regularly.  To get the software do a Google search for Lavasoft+AdAware  

 

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Internet Eraser

This is available free (do a Google search to find it) and cleans up after you've been on the internet, getting rid of all the temporary files created by web pages, etc.

 

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Stinger

This is an anti-virus program from McAfee which seeks out and removes about 50 very specific viruses.  It is not an alternative to more usually found virus checkers like Norton or McAfee Antivirus software but should be used as well as those.  I had a virus once which rendered my PC unusable while I had Norton antivirus on my PC.  I removed the Norton software but then found I could not re-install it.  I downloaded and ran Stinger which sorted out the virus, allowing me to install the Norton Antivirus program again, and restored my PC to normal again.

 

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Virus Checker

There are a number of these available (Norton, McAfee, etc.), but get one and use it.  Most will perform checks on incoming data from the web as you go along, but run a full system check periodically.

 

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Windoctor and Disk Doctor

These are two of the Norton Utilities which are well-worth having. They check on the integrity of the file structures and components, repairing and restoring missing register entries and the like.  Disk Doctor works in the same way as Check Disk

 

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Check Disk (CHKDSK)

For one reason or another, Windows XP (or any other operating system for that matter) can lose track of some data on disk, causing loss of integrity and/or stability.  This program will attempt to repair any such instances, but can only run properly when nothing else is running on the PC.  To achieve this, the program lets you schedule a disk check after your next reboot (restart).  Bear in mind that it takes quite a long time to run - very much depends on disk capacity and how much is stored on it, but will certainly take at least 1 minute per gigabyte (60Gb=1 hour)

 

To find and run this program perform the following sequence:

Double click on 'My Computer'

Click (single) the 'C' drive (or whichever is your system drive)

Click 'File'

Click 'Properties'

Select 'Tools'

Click the 'Check Now' box under 'Error-checking'

Tick the box 'Automatically fix file system errors'

Tick  the box 'Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors'

Click 'Start'

Click 'Yes' on the next panel to schedule a disk check.

Next time you reboot, the Disk Check will run

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Defragmenter

When a folder is first created, Windows puts it all  in one neat little bit of your hard drive all to itself, even leaving a little bit of space for expansion. 

 

But having saved your document initially with 2 lines, you save it again when it is a whole page long.   There is not enough space to put the new bits you have written next to the original text and so it is put somewhere else, with the operating system (Windows XP) remembering which bits of which folders live where. 

 

Over a period of time the whole hard drive can become fragmented in this way and so loading a document into memory is no longer a simple job of finding and loading, it becomes finding bits whereever they are, pasting the whole thing together and then presenting it to you, the user, all of which takes time.

 

Worse, as the disk fills up with odd bits of file, it becomes harder for the operating system to find working space or space for new folders, which adds to the performance problem.

 

There is a program called 'Defragmenter' which will completely re-organise your hard drive, putting all the bits of files scattered all over the place together where they belong and leaving great tracts of pristine, unused disk like unwalked snow for use by the operating system.  

 

'Defragmenter' can generally be found by clicking 'Start', then selecting 'Programs', then 'Accessories', then 'System Tools', then 'Defragmenter'.  When it runs it shows a graphic rendering of what your disk contents looks like, with files in different colours according to usage.

 

By its nature, 'Defragmenter' takes a long time to run, and cannot be interrupted, and so is best run overnight or at some other time when the computer can have undisturbed usage for a number of hours.

 

ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE BEFORE RUNNING THIS!

 

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Speed Disk

While 'Defragmenter' (above) reorganises your disk contents into contiguous and more efficient chunks, it does not necessarily put everything in the optimum place for fastest operation, focussing more on just putting everything together that needs to be together.

 

After running 'Defragmenter', run this program 'Speed Disk' to again re-arrange the contents of your disk, but this time optimising for speed.  The most accesses files need to be in the most accessible places (think of your own cupboards at home - the things you use most tend to be at the front where you can get them easily, with things you use only now and again lurking in the dark recesses at the back. 

 

'Speed Disk' can generally be found next to 'Defragmenter' by clicking 'Start', then selecting 'Programs', then 'Accessories', then 'System Tools', then 'Speed Disk'.  When it runs it also shows a graphic rendering of what your disk contents looks like, with files in different colours according to usage.

 

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Backup

Backing up (making copies) of the data on your hard disk can be done using proprietary backup software or just by dragging and dropping files.

 

Backing up is a means of protecting your system (i.e. yourself) from a catastrophic failure of your hard drive or damage by a virus and is achieved by making a copy of everything you would want to keep onto another physical device - if your hard drive is split into Partitions, say C: and D: then there is no point in backing up C: on D: as if the drive fails, both partitions will be lost.

 

Backup onto another hard drive (and these are readily and reasonably cheaply available now), CD- or DVD-Rom, a memory stick, or even diskette if you must, BUT DO IT!  One day, your PC will die on you and you will not receive advance information to that effect. You will call your PC helpline (or just pray!) and will receive the advice, "You must reformat your drive - you will lose everything on it."  That is when most people realise the value of backing up.

 

It is essential that you know what folders are used by the various programs you use for storage of files (e.g. documents when running Microsoft Word or spreadsheets when running Excel), because if you do not, then you can hardly expect to back them up!  It is worth having all the folders your system uses regularly into one place.  Generally XP achieves this by putting everything you use into a folder called 'My Documents'.

 

Other folders you may wish to back up would include your internet 'Favourites' and your Email address book if you use a product like 'Outlook Express' (you do this by exporting it - go to 'File' then 'Export') 

 

In simplest form, just drag the folder you want to back up (My Documents) to another device and wait for it to go.  Once the copy has finished, check using 'My Computer' that the copy is there and has on it what you were expecting to find.

 

Proprietary backup software works in a more sophisticated way, and can back up incrementally, (i.e. only those things added or which have changed since your last backup) which will take less time and when it comes to backups, less time is better, because you are more likely to do it!

 

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Prefetch

If your PC takes a long time to start up you are probably falling victim to Prefetch.  Microsoft, in their undoubted infinite wisdom, concluded that if you use a program today, the chances are you will want to use it next time you start up your PC and so they put the program name into a folder called Prefetch, and when you start up your PC, as well as everything else it HAS to do to get your system going, it also opens up everything in your Prefetch folder, which, if you have never cleared it down, will be every program you have ever run, even if in error.  This also explains why, when you check Windows Task Manager (Press Ctrl, Alt and Del all at the same time), you will have literally dozens of processes running even though you did not start any of them.

(I have seen a number of explanations of the Prefetch function but this one makes most sense to me!)

To clear the Prefetch folder,

Double click on 'My Computer'

Double Click the 'C' drive (or whichever is your system drive)

Double Click the 'Windows' folder

Scroll down till you find a folder called 'Prefetch'

Click on the first object in the folder

Hold down the 'Shift' key and double click on the last object

Press the Right Mouse button

Scroll down to 'delete'

Press the Left mouse button

In the little pop-up window that says 'Confirm Multiple File Delete' click the 'Yes' button

Don't worry if not everything goes as long as most of it does, you will see a huge difference in the time your PC takes to start up.  Just to prove to yourself that it does what I say it does, next time you restart your PC, check it again and it will have another bunch of programs in there. Have a look at them, because chances are you don't want them starting up and so you need to edit your Startup folder.

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Clear Temporary files

As part of its normal operation in running programs your computer will create many temporary folders for all different purposes.  It is important that there is lots of space available and easily accessible to facilitate this.  If the PC cannot find the space it needs for a temporary folder, it has to hunt around on the hard drive till it does.  This will cause delay in starting up and/or running programs, and inevitably lead to your PC running slower.  It is thus important to keep your hard drive clear of all unwanted junk.

There are a number of ways to achieve this.

To remove temporary files, perform the following sequences:

Double click on 'My Computer'

Double click the 'C' drive (or whichever is your system drive)

Double click the 'Temp' folder (if there is one!)

Click on the first object in the folder

Hold down the 'Shift' key and double click on the last object

Press the Right Mouse button

Scroll down to 'delete'

Press the Left mouse button

In the pop-up window that says 'Confirm Multiple File Delete' click 'Yes'

THEN

Double click on 'My Computer'

Double click the 'C' drive (or whichever is your system drive)

Double click the 'Windows' folder

Scroll down till you find a folder called 'TEMP'

Click on the first object in the folder

Hold down the 'Shift' key and double click on the last object

Press the Right Mouse button

Scroll down to 'delete'

Press the Left mouse button

In the pop-up window that says 'Confirm Multiple File Delete' click 'Yes'

THEN

Double click on 'My Computer'

Double click the 'C' drive (or whichever is your system drive)

Double click the 'Documents and Settings' folder

Double click the folder called your user name

Double click the 'Local Settings' folder

Double click the 'Temp' folder

Click on the first object in the folder

Hold down the 'Shift' key and double click on the last object

Press the Right Mouse button

Scroll down to 'delete'

Press the Left mouse button

In the pop-up window that says 'Confirm Multiple File Delete' click 'Yes'

THEN

Close all programs you may be running

Click on 'Start'

Click 'Search'

Select 'For Files or Folders'

When the Search window is displayed, select 'All files and folders'

In the 'Look in:' box click the arrow and then select your C: drive

In the 'All or part of the file name' box enter *.tmp'

Click 'Search'

Click on the first object in shown in the search

Hold down the 'Shift' key and double click on the last object

Press the Right Mouse button

Scroll down to 'delete'

Press the Left mouse button

In the pop-up window that says 'Confirm Multiple File Delete' click 'Yes'

Don't worry about any files that cannot be deleted

 

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