Hey all you PC gurus...

[Mr. Clean]

What's the best method to keep a computer running like new.

My step-dad got a new computer about a year ago and it was a good computer. Now it runs like piss and doesn't start half the time and all kinds of shit. It just gets eaten up with viruses very quickly. He has gotten like 3-4 different anti-spyware programs (which may be the problem in itself), but nothing really seems to keep it running good.


SO... any suggestions? he finally got fed up enough with this one that he bought a NEW one (LINK (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11334219&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|74668&N=4026404&Mo=9&pos=8&No=3&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=74668&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=) ) lol. so it will be here today and he wanted to try and keep it clean.

[The Ninja]

Thats all he has to do...keep it clean. Lol, people make it out to be the hardest thing in the world, but its not. Keep your folders organized. Music, Videos, Documents, etc. Vista damn near does it for you. Keep updated, with windows and your virus/spyware protection. DO NOT USE IE!

Wait what was that?

DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!

Damn near every site coded for use is coded for Firefox use, and a growing number for Chrome use. I use nothing but Chrome, and when a site doesn't operate as it should, I'll try Firefox, and if its a trusted site and still isn't working, THEN I'll use IE.

Don't download every damn thing you see that says it'll speed your computer up, because it won't. ie. internet/download accelerators. Its not that hard.

[Mr. Clean]

word. he's kinda old school so i just wanted to be able to tell him something that would make sense to him.

i told him not to use IE and he was like... "well i just downloaded the newest version. from microsoft, so it can't be messed up"

lol i don't think he got the point of a new browser. I will try and convince him to get chrome or firefox.

[TheProfiteer]

Fresh install of Windows once a year or so is what I do to keep everything run zip zap.

When I mean fresh install, i mean installation from a the retail CD. Recovery CDs are always full of crappy ass bulkware that slows down PCs

use only ONE spyware and anti-virus program. Do not use NORTON or MaCAFFE, they suck ass.

I use AVAST, and that shit is free.

[99hatch]

Its probably just junked up with spyware primarily. IE does have a lot of holes in it that allow malicious items in there to slow down your pc.

Go Download Malware Bytes. Its a free spyware program that I have found to be great. It has gotten several spyware/viruses off of many computers i have worked on. If you or your dad, or anyone else have had problems with Antivirus 09, or Antivirus XP Pro (or any name sounding similar), you know its hard to get off the computer, plus it looks just like a normal window from Microsoft. This program will take care of it. Malware bytes will get almost everything malicious off your computer. You can also purchase the full version, but all that allows you to do is schedule scans. The free one you can just run yourself and it works great.

Go to this link:

http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html (http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html)

Click Download Now.

Once it downloads install the file and tell it to run the update first. Once it updates the definition file, you can either run a quick scan or a full scan. Quick scan will take between 3-15 minutes to run, depending how slow or junked up your computer may be. If the computer is real messed up, i suggest the Full Scan which will take probably about an hour to run. Once it runs and tells you how man items it found. View them and click remove selected.

Run this every week or two to help keep your computer cleaned up. Make sure when you run it again you always run the update first. This will help keep it updated against new Spyware.

If it is too junked up or possibly has a service running in the back ground that will not allow any spyware program to recognize anything. Then you may need to boot up in Safe mode and then run the program. Which you can do by clicking F8 (click it a few times to make sure it caught it) when the computer is first booting up, then selecting "boot up in Safe Mode with Networking" (so you can run the updates.).

If that still doesnt fix it, you will probably need to reload, or have someone who knows what they are doing to repair it.

[BKgen®]

no pr0n

[Nismo]

no pr0n

Whats the point of a computer or the internet then?

[HeLLo iM iZzY]

Thats all he has to do...keep it clean. Lol, people make it out to be the hardest thing in the world, but its not. Keep your folders organized. Music, Videos, Documents, etc. Vista damn near does it for you. Keep updated, with windows and your virus/spyware protection. DO NOT USE IE!

Wait what was that?

DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!
DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!

Damn near every site coded for use is coded for Firefox use, and a growing number for Chrome use. I use nothing but Chrome, and when a site doesn't operate as it should, I'll try Firefox, and if its a trusted site and still isn't working, THEN I'll use IE.

Don't download every damn thing you see that says it'll speed your computer up, because it won't. ie. internet/download accelerators. Its not that hard.I've always wanted to try Chrome but kept putting it off until I read this post. I was one IE when I read this post, BTW. Now I'm on Chrome and holy shit what a difference. Everything loads faster, much simpler designs, I love it.

+reps.

[The Ninja]

You're welcome.


@OP: Don't download the shit that he just told you to download. *sigh*

Use Avast, or Kapersky, or CA. Those are good ones. They come with a virus scanner and a ad/spyware scanner. Occasionally check and see if your hdd needs defragging, other than that, you should be fine.

Chrome is only gonna get better, I mean, its a little inconvenient when it comes to bookmarks, but once they get that whole shit sorted out (probably with their next update/release) then it'll >>> All.

[The Ninja]

BTW: Toolbars are your enemy. Do not use toolbars, stop being a lazy fuck. Toolbars are basically spyware you use.

[gtrmonkey]

I agree with D-Ninja 100%. The only think I might add is to get a spyware app like spybot seek and destory.

If your computer savy then mirror your HDD after all the basic updates and drives to another blank hdd. Then unplug hard drive Number 2 and if there is a main problem with your main hdd. You have a nice clean backup, That all you have to do is pluggin and boot up your computer.

[4dmin]

run firefox + avg + spybot, do backups,and reformat every 6 months.

[99hatch]

You're welcome.


@OP: Don't download the shit that he just told you to download. *sigh*

Use Avast, or Kapersky, or CA. Those are good ones. They come with a virus scanner and a ad/spyware scanner. Occasionally check and see if your hdd needs defragging, other than that, you should be fine.

Chrome is only gonna get better, I mean, its a little inconvenient when it comes to bookmarks, but once they get that whole shit sorted out (probably with their next update/release) then it'll >>> All.

No you do need to download the shit i just told you to. It works wonders to remove spyware. I have Kapersky on my personal computer, as well as symantec coporate on my work pc and they still dont remove everything. I am a systems network administrator for a multi billion dollar company, So I know what I am talking about, but you can do as you please. But I assure you this will help your PC tremendously.

Plus Malware bytes is alot better than spybot seek and destory. Trust me i have tried them all including, ad-aware, spybot, malware bytes, xoftspy, and many many others. Malware bytes seems to work better than all of these. Look at the approval rating on download.com if you dont want to believe me. If you want your computer running clean this will remove spyware. IT IS NOT A ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM. IT IS A SPYWARE REMOVAL PROGRAM. YOU NEED IT IN ADDITION TO YOUR NORMAL ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM AND ITS FREE. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOOSE?