virtual housecleaning
I've spent the past few evenings cleaning up and tuning my computers, using this very helpful page as a guide. It's amazing just how much maintenance Windows XP requires to keep it running reasonably well. It has always been my experience that systems like Linux and BSD have required more hands-on maintenance, while rewarding you with a much more stable and secure computing platform. But XP, while technically easier to use, is also a lot more complicated, which explains in part its security vulnerabilities-and the need to periodically send it to the day spa, so to speak.
So I've been working on that, and have come across some nifty tools along the way:
Trend Micro HouseCall: This free online scanner will detect viruses, spyware and malware. I recommend using the Java version as it seems to be quicker than the ActiveX-based scanner.
avast! Home Edition: A free anti-virus package for non-commercial use. I installed this on my desktop PC since my old Norton AV subscription lapsed long ago and there is little point in buying anti-virus software for a computer I rarely use. The interface is slick and updates are always free.
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner): This utility lives up to its name. The first time I ran it I was astounded to find that it had removed nearly half a gigabyte of assorted detritus scattered around my hard drive. It will also look through your registry and remove old and non-functional keys, and even scrub temporary files from your other applications. A couple of caveats: it will happily blow away your cookies, even for sites you visit regularly, and there's an option on the Windows tab to clean up "old prefetch data". Be sure to uncheck that. The prefetcher helps improve XP's performance; deleting its contents will slow program load times considerably. Apparently this is a persistent meme on the 'net.
Ad-Aware SE and Spybot: I'm of the opinion that anti-spyware software are largely identical in function and performance, but it doesn't hurt to have ready access to more than one program. I've used Ad-Aware and Spybot and they both work well. Spybot gets the edge simply because it's free as in beer, while Ad-Aware is free as in light beer: you have to pay for the full version.
Autoruns: This nifty utility will show you which programs start automatically when you boot or log into Windows, and allows you to disable programs you don't need. I found this very handy for getting rid of the useless (to me) Real Player and QuickTime agents in the system tray.
Cacheman: A disk cache and memory management tool. Use the wizard and accept the defaults, and Cacheman will optimally configure your disk cache and make a few settings tweaks that will boost overall performance.
Other tweaks to speed up your system:
Although not strictly performance-related, I still recommend that you drop Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as your web and e-mail clients and switch to Firefox and Thunderbird.
My public service announcement for the week.
So I've been working on that, and have come across some nifty tools along the way:
Trend Micro HouseCall: This free online scanner will detect viruses, spyware and malware. I recommend using the Java version as it seems to be quicker than the ActiveX-based scanner.
avast! Home Edition: A free anti-virus package for non-commercial use. I installed this on my desktop PC since my old Norton AV subscription lapsed long ago and there is little point in buying anti-virus software for a computer I rarely use. The interface is slick and updates are always free.
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner): This utility lives up to its name. The first time I ran it I was astounded to find that it had removed nearly half a gigabyte of assorted detritus scattered around my hard drive. It will also look through your registry and remove old and non-functional keys, and even scrub temporary files from your other applications. A couple of caveats: it will happily blow away your cookies, even for sites you visit regularly, and there's an option on the Windows tab to clean up "old prefetch data". Be sure to uncheck that. The prefetcher helps improve XP's performance; deleting its contents will slow program load times considerably. Apparently this is a persistent meme on the 'net.
Ad-Aware SE and Spybot: I'm of the opinion that anti-spyware software are largely identical in function and performance, but it doesn't hurt to have ready access to more than one program. I've used Ad-Aware and Spybot and they both work well. Spybot gets the edge simply because it's free as in beer, while Ad-Aware is free as in light beer: you have to pay for the full version.
Autoruns: This nifty utility will show you which programs start automatically when you boot or log into Windows, and allows you to disable programs you don't need. I found this very handy for getting rid of the useless (to me) Real Player and QuickTime agents in the system tray.
Cacheman: A disk cache and memory management tool. Use the wizard and accept the defaults, and Cacheman will optimally configure your disk cache and make a few settings tweaks that will boost overall performance.
Other tweaks to speed up your system:
- Defrag your hard drive regularly.
- Turn off some of the eye candy on the Windows interface, such as menu and window animations and screen font smoothing (anti-aliasing).
- Keep your drivers updated.
- Stop visiting the goat porn sites and picking up 3,325 trojans in the process.
Although not strictly performance-related, I still recommend that you drop Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as your web and e-mail clients and switch to Firefox and Thunderbird.
My public service announcement for the week.