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Windows tweaks
Tweaking to improve your PC speed and stability
You need to run the following programs to optimise the hardrive. This will mean that if your PC runs out of RAM, then it can use the harddrive as Virtual RAM - these items will make your harddrive run smoother, and often makes a huge difference. If you don't run these programs regularly, then things can really slow down.
Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools
XP Tweaks
These XP tweaks are a bit more for an intermediate technical level, but I have had great success with them.
Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Systems > Advanced Tab > (Performance section ) Settings button
On the Visual Effects Tab set Radio to "Adjust for Best Performance" Then scroll to the bottom, and put a tick in Use visual Styles on windows and buttons. This will disable some other XP features like smooth fonts, fade in animations when you open folders etc, read through the other items, and if you want each feature be sure to tick that option, though to be honest I didn't notice any difference other than the PC being heaps faster.
Antivirus,
Antispyware, and Anti Malware..
If you go to Start > Control Panel > Security Centre
If there are any of the following items that are not green as pictured below, you really need to get these installed! One thing about ADSL connections is that they are always on, so they are much more vulnerable than dialup, as a hacker can attempt to break into your PC for 24 hours at a time, rather than just the 20 minutes that most people are online with dialup.
Of note, if you have a USB or Internal modem, then you are even more vulnerable, because the device that is connected to the world, is your vulnerable computer rather than a separate true ADSL router, that typically also has a hardware firewall.
It is a great idea to use some kind of Spyware Removal Software
the one I recommend is Stopzilla as they have won a few awards, but any of the main brands are fine too.
If you have not got green lights for all of these, I would recommend AVG
Antivirus for free, or
Kaspersky Anti-Virus
and they have a firewall as well. They
have a free option, or you can pay for the full version. Windows comes with
a firewall installed for free, but in my experience it is pretty poor, and I
have seen heaps get past them.
If Automatic Updates are not enabled, I REALLY don't know what to tell you - do it now! On average there have been test that show a PC that hasn't completed an update, they can be compromised within about 15-30 mins. You really should do this.
Identify Bodgy Programs [POWER GEEK USERS]
If you find that after completing these actions you may have spyware or some other dodgy programs running in the background just download and install this free program Hijack This which lists off all the programs that are running on your PC that could be causing problems.
You should watch the video on this page, that describes how to use it.
This is NOT a spyware detector, it is just a list of all the running programs. Just drop this resulting log into http://www.hijackthis.de/en to show you what these results all mean.
This description from Download.com: HijackThis lists the contents of key areas of the Registry and hard drive--areas that are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers. The program is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It does not target specific programs and URLs, only the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites.
As a result, false positives are imminent, and unless you're sure about what you're doing, you always should consult with knowledgeable folks before deleting anything. Version 2.0.2 includes unspecified updates.
Anti Spyware
If the above does or doesn't find any major problem programs, it is still a really good idea to have installed 1-3 anti Spyware programs, because not all of the Anti Spyware programs cover all the problem programs.
My suggestion would be http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Note: If you purchase some of these programs I may receive a donation to help me keep this site running. But I have ONLY recommended the best programs or free programs that I have used over the years.