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PC Troubleshooting Tips

(This page is always under construction)

General Computer Maintenance

Over time Microsoft Windows accumulates dust in crevices and folders. Over years of working on computers, I have found the following steps to be very helpful. What follows are general instructions for cleaning up a computer. It assumes that there is nothing fundamentally wrong like a bad virus infection or hardware failure. This applies to most versions (95, 98, XP, etc) but there will be some variation with version. The order is not set in stone. I tried to put it in a order that makes sense but I certainly don't always follow this exact order.

Backup

  • If you don't have a current backup of your data then you are a fool to continue on.
  • It's also wise to do a system backup using Sytem Restore in Windows ME and XP.
  • Exporting the whole registry using regedit is also smart. I've never had to use this backup.

Automation

A few times I mention automating a program in the following directions. Whenever I mention this, I mean that you can have the program automatically start by scheduling it using the Scheduled Tasks control panel or by placing a shortcut in the Startup folder.

Minimize the number of automatically starting programs

On Windows ME, Windows 98, and Windows XP you should use MSCONFIG to do this

  1. START->RUN, type MSCONFIG, click OK
  2. click on the STARTUP tab and deselect the programs that you don't need. This takes some expertise. Doing a Google search for the executable name is good way to figure out what they are and if they are useful.

On other windows like Windows 95 and Windows 2000, this has to be done manually by modifying the STARTUP folder and the RUN folders in the registry - not for the feint of heart. :) Or you can download msconfig and run it if you are using Windows 2000. It doesn't come with Windows 2000 but it will work if you use it.

Delete temp files.

  • 95, 98, ME: delete the contents of c:\windows\temp. I also recommend placing
    deltree /y c:\windows\temp
    mkdir c:\windows\temp
    set temp=c:\windows\temp
    set tmp=c:\windows\temp
    in your autoexec.bat so that the temp folder will be deleted every time the computer boots up.
  • On 2000 and XP delete the contents of
    • c:\documents and settings\user name\local settings\temp
    • c:\temp
    • c:\windows\temp
    • c:\winnt\temp

Empty the Internet Cache

  • start internet explorer, TOOLS menu-> Internet Options, Delete Files, OK.

Disk CleanUp

  • Automate removal of some but not all temporary files by using Disk Cleanup (START->All Programs-> Accessories->System Tools->Disk CleanUp). I don't recommend compressing files.
  • According to this Microsoft support document,  DiskCleanUp can be automated by by running cleanmgr /sageset:11 at the command line just once which allows you to specify which files to remove when you actually run it and then automating cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:11.
  • To significantly speed up Disk CleanUp this document explains that you should delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress Old files in the registry to make Disk CleanUp completely bypass compressing files. This is an amazing improvement.

Uninstall "bad" internet programs

Examples are

  1. Offer Companion
  2. Comet Cursor
  3. New.net
  4. Gator
  5. WebBates

Remove Spyware/Adware

See my Shareware page 

Viruses

You do have a recent copy of good Anti-Virus software like Norton, right?

  1. Update your virus definitions
  2. Do a full system scan unless you are sure that you don't have a virus. (optional)

Disable unneeded services in Windows XP and 2000

Click START. Click RUN. Type "services.msc". Use this program to configure the services. Be careful - this is the guts of the operating system. If you disable the "right" thing then many things will not work. The following services can be disabled (depending on your circumstances)

  • Messenger - This isn't Microsoft Instant Messenger. This is the equivalent of WinPopup from Windows 95/98 and it causes people untold headaches with popups if you don't have a firewall.
  • error reporting - There is no need to send error reports to Microsoft. There are plenty of other people sending error reports.
  • indexing - This facilitates faster searches for files. I find normal searching just fine and I don't my computer to waste time and disk space creating an index.
  • Server, Computer Browser, TCP/IP NetBios Helper, and NetLogon - These allow your computer to be on a LAN, share files on your computer to other users on the network, etc. If you aren't on a LAN then you don't need them.
  • Wireless Zero Configuration - You need this if you are using a wireless network card but otherwise it isn't necessary.
  • Themes - This isn't needed unless you crave the glitzy Windows XP interface.
  • Automatic Updates - I used to disable this one because I figured I could always update my system manually. But then I realized that it was important for my system to update itself quickly so that I would be protected against viruses that take advantage of recently patched bugs. However, if you are not frequently connected to the internet then you could disable this since it won't be doing you any good anyway.

Advanced

Consult www.blackviper.com for additional optimization techniques. These aren't required for general maintenance but they can speed up your system a little. Among other things it explains in detail which services are necessary and which aren't.

Download all Microsoft Updates

Download all critical updates via www.windowsupdate.com. I also like getting the non-critical updates but that isn't necessary.

Hard Disk Maintenance

In Windows 98 and ME this is done via the Maintenance Wizard which runs both ScanDisk and DiskDefrag.

  1. Reboot into Safe Mode by hitting F8 as the computer starts and selecting Safe Mode.
  2. Run the Maintenance Wizard. This could take as long as an hour.

In Windows 2000 and XP,

  1. you should run chkdsk c: /v /r /x at the command prompt to check the hard drive for integrity at boot time. Then reboot so that chkdsk will run. You should do this for all drives
  2. Run disk defragmenter. To automate this use the shortcut, defrag c: /v.
  3. Install PageDefrag from www.sysinternals.com. It will defrag your page file and registry on boot-up. Alternatively, you can buy a disk defragmenter like Perfect Disk which does what the normal disk defragmenter does plus more including defragmenting the page file on boot-up. But why buy it when the free stuff works almost as well?

Firefox

Don't use Microsoft Internet Explorer. Instead use Mozilla Firefox from www.mozilla.org. This works well and is much less prone if not immune to spyware.