CAN I IMPROVE MY COMPUTER PERFORMANCE ?

1
CAN I IMPROVE MY COMPUTER PERFORMANCE ?

• OPERATING SYSTEM PRE-WINDOWS 2000
• COMPUTER SPEED lt800 MHz
• RAM lt250MB
• HARD DRIVE CAPACITY lt40-60 GB (less than 15
  free space I prefer 30-40)
• !!!!!NO!!!!!

2
MALWARE

• DO YOU HAVE A GOOD FIREWALL?
• DO YOU HAVE A GOOD ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM?
• DO YOU HAVE SEVERAL GOOD ANTI-SPYWARE PROGRAMS?
• DO YOU KEEP THESE PROGRAMS UP-TO-DATE AND USE
  AUTO UPDATE FEATURE WHERE AVAILABLE?
• DO YOU RUN FREQUENT COMPUTER SCANS?

3
FIRST THINGS FIRST

• CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
• BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER DRIVES
• CREATE A YARDSTICK
• BOOT UP YOUR COMPUTER
• MEASURE THE TIME IT TAKES TO REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER
  BACK TO THE POINT WHERE YOUR DESKTOP IS FULLY
  RESTORED AND YOUR FIREWALL ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM
  IS OPERATIONAL.
• SCAN COMPUTER FOR MALWARE

4
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST

• IDENTIFY AND REMOVE ITEMS THAT AUTOMATICALLY
  START ON BOOTUP
• UNNECESSARY PROGRAMS
• UNNECESSARY PROCESSES SERVICES
• NON CRITICAL PROGRAMS THAT CHECK FOR UPDATES

5

• CHECK
• Start/Run msconfig/Startup tab.
• Task Manager (ctrlaltdelete) check under
  Applications and Processes, respectively, for
  currently running programs.
• Start/All Programs/Accessories/System
  Tools/System Information/Software Environment
  click on Startup Programs, Services, Running
  Tasks respectively.

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8

• CHECK (contd)
• Right click My Computer/Manage/open Services
  Applications, click on Services, (tab at bottom
  of window should be Extended), click on any
  service in right pane to read description of
  service. Right click on any service/Properties/Gen
  eral Tab/Startup Type box and chose Automatic,
  Manual, or Disable service.

9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11

• CHECK (contd)
• TWO UTILITIES TO CONSIDER FOR THIS JOB ARE
• THE ULTIMATE TROUBLESHOOTER (TUT) from
  www.answersthatwork.com
• AUTORUN (free) FROM SYSINTERNAL
• (to be discussed later)

12
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• MOVE ALL UNNECESSARY FILES TO AN EXTERNAL HARD
  DRIVE
• This should include those graphics files that you
  dont regularly use. To find out how much space
  is used on your hard drive, left click on My
  Computer. You can see how much disk space you
  have total and free for each partition on your
  hard drive. Write this information down so you
  can compare numbers later.

13
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• UNINSTALL UNUSED APPLICATIONS.
• GET RID OF OLD, UNWANTED E-MAIL MESSAGES.
• CLEAN YOUR MOUSE, KEYBOARD, AND COMPUTER CASE.
• EMPTY THE RECYCLE BIN.
• REMOVE UNWANTED INTERNET BROWSER PLUG-INS.
• CLEAN UP DISK SPACE AND RUN SCANDISK.

14
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• DISABLE INDEXING SERVICE (CHANGE FROM AUTOMATIC
  TO MANUAL)
• Indexing service in Windows XP is an unnecessary
  service that can be stopped without affecting
  system stability. However, if you use the search
  function of Windows XP a lot you may prefer to
  leave it enabled. The indexing service will help
  you to find your files faster when you're
  searching for them on your computer. To disable
  Indexing Service Start/Control
  Panel/Administrative Services/Component
  Services/Services (Local), right click on
  Indexing Services, click Properties, General Tab
  Startup Type change to Manual. Reverse these
  instructions to return to automatic mode.

15
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• INCREASE VIRTUAL MEMORY SPACE.
• Virtual memory is the space your computer uses
  when it's short of RAM. On the Start menu, click
  My Computer/View System Information/ Advanced
  tab. Under Performance, click Settings. In the
  Performance Options dialog box, click the
  Advanced tab. Find the Virtual memory area. Click
  Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box is
  displayed. Here you can change the page file
  settings. DO NOT exceed the limit given in the
  properties box of your windows system.

16
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• PERIODICALLY CHECK HARD WARE/ SOFTWARE
  MANUFACTURERS SITES OF YOUR PC COMPONENTS FOR
  NEW DRIVER UPDATES TO FIX PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED
  WITH THEIR PRODUCTS.
• DEFRAG COMPUTER PARTITIONS.
• CLEAN UP YOUR REGISTRY.

17
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST (contd)

• ADD MEMORY, HARD DISK CAPACITY, LARGER
  MOTHERBOARD/ MICROPROCESSOR.

18
UTILITIES I USE

• CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
• BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER DRIVES
• CHECK FOR AND INSTALL MOST RECENT UTILITY UPDATES

19
UTILITIES I USE (contd)

• SECUNIA PSI ver 1.0.0.4
• PERSONAL SOFTWARE INSPECTOR
• Scans, detects, and identifies vulnerable
  programs for missing security patches, later
  available versions, and identify end-of-life
  programs and provides information and links to
  correct vulnerabilities
• DOWNLOAD http//secunia.com/vulnerability_scannin
  g/personal/
• USER INSTRUCTIONS http//secunia.com/vulnerabilit
  y_scanning/personal/screenshots/
• readme.rtf after install in the Program folder.
  Also check the Help screen accessed from the
  overview page.

20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
PERIFORM UTILITIES

• ccleaner removes unused files, cleans traces of
  your on line browser activities, provides a fully
  featured registry cleaner, cleans Temp and Temp
  Internet files from Windows applications and log
  files.
• deflaggler defrags hard drives
• recuva recovers or securely overwrite deleted
  files

23
PERIFORM UTILITIES

• DOWNLOAD
• http//www.piriform.com/
•  
• DOCUMENTATION
• http//docs.piriform.com/ provides information
  about how to use all three programs, along with
  technical information and some notes for advanced
  users who want to control the software using
  scripting or tweak the power-user settings.
•  
• Also check out Tour and Screenshot links and FAQs

24
ccleaner
25

• ccleaner

26
deflaggler
27
recuva
28
UTILITIES I USE (contd)

• GLARY UTILITIES
• Cleans common system junk files, as well as
  invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You
  can manage and delete browser add-ons, analyze
  disk space usage and find duplicate files. You
  can also view and manage installed shell
  extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized
  access and use, split large files into smaller
  manageable files and then rejoin them. Includes
  options to optimize memory, find, fix, or remove
  broken Windows shortcuts, manage programs that
  start at Windows startup and uninstall software.
  Other features include secure file deletion, an
  Empty Folder finder and more.

29
GLARY UTILITIES

• DOWNLOAD
• http//download.cnet.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-209
  4_4-10508531.html?partdl-GlaryUtilsubjdltagbu
  tton or
• http//www.glaryutilities.com/ and follow links.
• DOCUMENTATION After installing Glary Utilities,
  launch program and on main page click gtMenu/Help
  (or click F1)

30
GLARY UTILITIES
31
GLARY UTILITIES
32
GLARY UTILITIES
33
GLARY UTILITIES
34
GLARY UTILITIES
35
GLARY UTILITIES
36
UTILITIES I USE (contd)

• SYSINTERNALS SUITE
• This file contains 66 individual troubleshooting
  tools and help files developed by Mark
  Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to manage,
  troubleshoot and diagnose Windows systems and
  applications. Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in
  July, 2006. These Utilities fall under the
  categories of File Disk Utilities, Networking
  Utilities, Process Utilities, Security Utilities,
  System Information, and Miscellaneous.

37
SYSINTERNALS SUITE

• DOWNLOAD
• http//technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/0
  e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120-c47c5a693683.aspx
• USERS INSTRUCTIONS
• Click on any Utility listed on the download
  site e.g. Autorun documentation can be found at
• http//technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/b
  b963902.aspx

38
SYSINTERNALS SUITE

• The Suite is a bundling of the following selected
  Sysinternals Utilities
• PARTIAL LIST

AccessChk AccessEnum AdExplorer AdRestore Autologon Autoruns BgInfo CacheSet ClockRes Contig Coreinfo Ctrl2Cap DebugView Junction LDMDump ListDLLs LiveKd LoadOrder LogonSessions NewSid NTFSInfo PageDefrag PendMoves PipeList PortMon ProcessExplorer PsLogList PsPasswd PsService PsShutdown PsSuspend RegDelNull RegJump RegMon RootkitRevealer SDelete ShareEnum ShellRunas SigCheck
39
SYSINTERNALS SUITE - AUTORUN

• This utility, which has the most comprehensive
  knowledge of auto-starting locations of any
  startup monitor, shows you what programs are
  configured to run during system bootup or login,
  and shows you the entries in the order Windows
  processes them. These programs include ones in
  your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other
  Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show
  other locations, including Explorer shell
  extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects,
  Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and
  much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig
  utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
• Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option
  helps you to zoom in on third-party auto-starting
  images that have been added to your system and it
  has support for looking at the auto-starting
  images configured for other accounts configured
  on a system. Also included in the download
  package is a command-line equivalent that can
  output in CSV format, Autorunsc.

40
SYSINTERNALS SUITE - AUTORUN
41
UTILITIES I USE (contd)

• ERASER
• Eraser is an advanced security tool which makes
  sure all your passwords, personal information,
  financial records, etc. are permanently removed
  and deleted from your computer.
• DOWNLOAD
• http//download.cnet.com/Eraser/3000-2092_4-1023
  1814.html
• DOCUMENTATION See Help Topic (F1) on main page
  of Utility.

42
ERASER
43
UTILITIES I USE (contd)

• RAMBOOSTER
• RAMBooster monitors the amount of RAM your system
  is using and allows you to free it up. This will
  let your PC run smoother and faster, and you
  won't have to reboot as often. It will monitor
  the memory at all times, and if the amount of
  free RAM gets too low, it will automatically
  boost it for you, finding unused RAM and
  returning it to the free pool. RAMBooster will
  also monitor your CPU usage.

44
RAMBOOSTER

• DOWNLOAD
• http//download.cnet.com/RAMBooster/3000-2086_4-1
  0028673.html
• DOCUMENTATION Click on FAQ Help under Help on
  the main page of the Utility.

45
RAMBOOSTER