This post if for:
Anyone with any kind of computer problem.
Anyone who wants their computer never to crash again.
Anyone who wants their computer to be fasters. WAY faster.
Anyone who wants their internet to run faster.
People are having a tough time with computers these days. It's hard to keep up with things. Many people wonder why their computer ran so much better when they bought it, but now runs like crap. They don't know that your computer should run exactly like it did the day you bought it ALL the time. How you ask? Read on!
Spyware: Small programs which hide in the background of your system and record your actions on the computer, sending them to various companies and people.
It is legal: Some of it is. You know that big liscensing agreement you click yes to whenever you install a program, but never actually read? They hide a bunch of legal garbage in there allowing them to legally install spying software in your system should you agree and click "yes".
Not all spyware is legal though. Most of it violates basic right to privacy. Plus, it is unwanted, and detrimental.
Spyware is the biggest intrusion epidemic in computing history. It has mutated into countless forms. It changes forms everyt single day. Never before has so much preformance been sacrificed to tiny little programs which hide in the user's backgound. Spyware comes from installing software, and surfing the internet. It takes up your a portion of every resource your computer has. If you have too many pieces of SpyWare, your computer will slow waaaaay down.
Ad-aware is your basic line of defense. It is easy to install, and run. BUT, MAKE SURE YOU UPDATE IT EVERY TIME YOU RUN IT! I can;t stress this enough. Updating your software is absolutely crucial in computer security. New attacks come out every day, and the new ones are the ones to worry about. Most programs are very easy to update. AdAware is one of them. All you do it click "check for updates now" once it loads up.
I have Ad-aware it's ok, but it doesn't find everything.
No it doesn't. BUT, do you update it every single time you run it? New spyware definitions come out every day. If you don't update it eeverytime you run it, it doesn't work very well.
SpyBot Search and Destroy is a companion program that no ad-aware user should be without.
I've had to pull spy-ware out myself through the system which it didn't pick up on.
Then again, I think it's a worm...Atiphexx, somewhere in regedit or something, and BET.exe.
Sounds like one. If you are using Norton anti virus, throw your computer out the window. If you are using AVG anti virus, congatulate yourself on a good choice, but DO NOT stop there. The best virus scanner for worms these days is a program called "eScan" made by MicroWorld. I can hook you up with the full version if you...oh wait, I mean, talk to me privately and we can discuss full versions. Infact, I actually recommend you buy this program from the website. It will find and remove virus's, trojans, and worms better than any other prpgram I have found.
AVG anto virus found two worms on my computer, but didn't remove them. eScan found four, and removed them all. The scary thing is that two of them were key loggers. Luckily I don't do any banking over the internet.
Along with Ad-aware, and SpyBot search and destroy, there is a third essential program you must have. It is called SpySweeper. It is your third line of attack, as it finds things that the other two don't. Use these three programs in conjuction with eScan, and you will be spyware free. Note: The average person gets at least 10 pieces of spyware on their computer a day, mainly due to inproper security, and poor surfing habits.
While I'm on the subject, I might as well tell you about the rest of the "essential" software every computer user needs. And when I mean essential, I mean that even my computer doesn't run properly without it. And I never have crashes. Never. Only thanks to this combination of programs.
And I guess my experince plays into it a little bit too *wink wink*
Executive Software DiskKeeper: Used to defragment your hard drive. Very nessesary if you do any downloading at all. 1000 times faster than windows defrag. 100 times faster than norton. 1000 times less glitchy then both of them put together. You can set it up to the long process of defragmenting takes place only during the night time hours. I recommend setting it up to defrag once a week.
O&O Clever Cashe Pro: It manages your computers Cashe. Just download it and install it. You don't really need to know exactly how it works. But it is worth having regardless!!! Trust me.
Empty Temp Folders: A program that empties your temporary folders. Useful for streamlining preformance, and freeing up memory.
Refresh The System: A MUST HAVE. It's a very simple program. It flushes your cashe, memory, and temp files. If your computer seems to suddenly be running funny, use this. it takes 5 seconds. Also, if your computer is making noises even while you are not using it, use this.
OLE CLean: Cleans junk files that you don't need. A great program to have. trust me.
RegScrub: THIS IS A MUST HAVE! The average user has at least one registry error a day. Soemtimes more. If you get a dozen or so of these babies, your in for a heap of trouble. Registry errors count for 75% of all your computers problems. Although, with this internet how it is these days, and with intrusionware like spy ware, this figure might be alot smaller. In any case, run Reg Scrub anytime you computer crashes, or is running strange.
RegClean: a super easy program to use. You just press "next" "Next" "fix" and "finish". Painless. Use it in conjuction with regscrub. They are a great team.
TweakXP: For the power user only. This is a very powerful tweaking program that can unleash the preformance beast your computer was meant to be! Be careful though: If you don't know what one of the settings does, DON'T MESS WITH IT, or you cans eriously screw up your system. In the hands of a power user however, tweak xp is the holy grail. It can be used to get, oh, I would reason 25% better preformance total out of your various computer components. My favorite tweaks are for my CD drive, my harddrive and it's swap files, and the memory tweaks.
Download every single one of these programs I have mentioned here (except tweak xp), learn to use them (which is easy) and your computer troubles will be a thing of the past. I gaurentee it.
Extra Info: Never click on banners, no matter how good they look. Never download anything like "bonzai buddy". Never click any banner that appears to be a game. If you surf onto a page, and the page asks you if ytou want to install a special extension, DON'T DO IT! EVER! If they ask you to install a certain activeX control, DONT DO IT!
Flash extensions are safe to download. Don't use Real Player though. It is better not to be able to play a rm file than to be able to see it.
Also, of you want to view a file, but your computer says you don't have the right software to view it, DON'T EVER DOWNLOAD A NEW PLAYER FOR IT!!!!!! Windows media player has the capability to play every single type of sile in existance. If it't playing it, it means you need to download what is called a "codec pack" for it. Search for a collection of codec for media player on google, or ask me to give you mine. I play everything with windows media player. I don't even bother with winamp. However, winamp is a great program, and very safe to use. Don't be afraid of it. I just personally prefer to have one player.
Also, don't ever turn off your computer or reboot it if you don't have to. Contrary to what your mother might say, it is BAD for the computer to reboot, and to be turned on and off. What am I talking about you say? Don't worry, if you install a program, and it says you have to reboot for it to work, that is totally fine. But some people think their computer will run better if they reboot it. This actually causes more errors. the reason your computer runs smoothly right after it is started up is because you memory is clean and clear. Use the above programs to achieve the same effect without rebooting.
Rebooting too often is wear and tear to your motherboard and your power supply. Avoid unnessesary reboots. Also, when you go to be, leave you computer on (You can turn the monitor off though.) Your computer takes up VERY little power, and it doesnt like to be restarted every morning. It will run better in the long run if it is left on (If you are not a computer savy person,a nd you computer doesn;t run that great ever, know that there are certain problems and registry errors that will only occur during the startup sequence. leaving your computer on longer will reduce the chance of these happening. However, if you use the programs I have talked about, you won't even have to worry about this.) Windows doesn't like to restart. neither does your computers circuitry. Don't worry, rebooting and restarting won't wreck you computer, but they aren't very good for it.
Another tip: Look in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. See all of those little icons next to the time? You should have no more than three of them there at any given time. I have seen people with dozens. This absolutely destroys your memory and system resources.
Nothing should EVER be there, except for the following exceptions:
The icon for O&O Software's Clever Cashe Pro.
The Volume Control.
The icon for windows update.
That's ALL of them folks. If you aren't actively using MSN messenger, GET RID OF IT"S ICON. Personally, I have over a gigabyte of ram (1000megs) so it doens't effect me that much. But I still keep that corner clean. If you have anywhere betweeh 12 and 768 megs of ram, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you disable everything thatr uns in the corner except for the exceptions I have stated.
"But wait a minute insight, whenever I restart my computer, the icons appear again!"
Well my friend, download "Startup Manager". With this simple program, you can see every program that it set to run when your computer boots up. Don't disable any system files (These will be the files that you probably won't recognize) but diable any and all programs from starting up by themselves when you reboot your computer. This will save your memory, and increase bootup speed. (If you have any questions about what you should or shouldn't disable, send me a screen shot of the Starup manager window, or a description of the programs in question, and I will help you out. brokenjohnnynofix@hotmail.com)
Here's another common problem: I tried to uninstall a programs using the add remove feature in the control panel, but it doesn't work!"
Fear not my friend. Programming has come a long ways since the crack squad at Microsoft wrote the uninstaller code. Download "Advanced Uninstaller Pro". it will take care of all your uninstalling needs!!
One last tip: Is your computer a bit old, but you don't have the money to get a faster one? The cheapest (and best) way to increase preformance is to buy more RAM. Ram is rediculously cheap these days. You can get 256 megs of Samsung RAM (A great RAM company) for 44 bucks Canadian. That that's the special DDR400 type. You probably don't even know what DDR400 means. If you don't, or you dont care, you can get 256 megs of RAM even cheaper than that. 20 bucks I reckon. And the increase in preformance you will get from a 20$ RAM upgrade will be COMPLETELY worth the money. Infact, you will actually swing your foot behind yourself and kick yourself for not doing it sooner. A good rule of thumb: You can never have too much ram.(I have so much RAM that I can actually use it as ROM (hard drive space).You wouldn't believe how fast a program can run when it is running from your RAM instead of you heard drive!!!!. RAM is all electronic and has no moving parts. You hard drive does. )
As far as I can think, those are all my tips for now. Treat them as law, and your computer troubles will be over. If you have any questions, please feel welcome to email me. I can solve and fix most any computer problem. Plus, I enjoy doing it. It's my field of business.