Q. What are the essential things users need to do to maintain a windows based PC?
A. Computers are like cars- if someone doesn't
look after them, they gradually break down.
It keeps getting worse until they die. Some likely say 'I got a
bad computer'.
Occasionally it is true, but more often it was 'driven' into its
lamentable state.
These things apply to all operating systems in one way or another
because many problems are common to them all.
The guide below is written for those with Windows based (GUI)
operating systems.
Why do users need to do maintainance? It's a simple choice.
Either you learn to do the basics or pay a technician to recover
everything you depend on after a period of negligence results in
annoying or even serious problems.
The way you do the basic maintainance varies a little with the
operating system. In order of importance they are:
1)Scandisk
2)Cleaning out unused files
3)System file check
4)Anti spyware
5)Anti virus
6)Anti Trojan
7)Anti hijack
8)Root Kit scan
9)Defragmentation
10)Backup
Some of you might quibble about the order of doing
these.
For example, I chose to put defragmentation last, knowing many do
this first.
This was the result of very careful thought.
For example: Defragmentation is risky if all files are not in
perfect condition. That is why all these other steps are included
first (to make it safe).
Scandisk comes first, because it cleans up errors on the hard disk. Any other operations done where information is written to or read from sectors which have errors result in file damage. Repair operations that cause damage are defeating the purpose of maintainance. That's why the disk must be in good order before the files can be.
Cleaning out unused files is one thing
often overlooked. Lots of unnecessary files build up on your
system, especially with frequent internet use. After the first time
downloaded, they frequently serve no further purpose except to take
up space. Cleaning them out frees it up, and can remove some of the
bugs that arrived with them. Tools for this are usually among your
system accessories. Their job is to remove temporary files that are
no longer needed. Once used, they just take up extra space you
might want for other things, so why not remove them?
Note: Remember to empty out the Recycle Bin. It is not a place to
keep stuff until you need it (it is death row for unwanted
files).
System file check verifies the integrity of
windows system files and replaces any damaged ones (usually from
the CD). If the system is experiencing unexplained errors, or
working very slowly, this check is often required. The way it takes
place varies a little with different systems, but in each case, a
CD or a copy of the original system files is required to compare
with and find problems. This process is generally begun at the
command prompt. In Windows 98 you would go to Start, Run, then
type
SFC
After that, the process begins.When files are replaced, you may
have to make a number of choices about which steps are
required.
In Windows XP, a similar approach is used, but this time you might
use one of several commands, such as:
SFC /SCANNOW
Under XP the check and replacement process runs automatically to
completion.
Anti spyware is something we should all be
familiar with, since there are so many websites with suspect code
on them. Too much spyware will slow your system down as it tries to
do its own thing. Some types, like Alexa, will copy themselves to
other machines on your network and slow them as well. In most
cases, all you will find are some tracking cookies, but beware-
some programs report information back to their web masters. This
can be anything from which sites you visit, what products you buy
and so on. Having 2 or more good anti-spyware programs is a must to
manage this annoyance.
WARNING: There are many bogus anti-spyware programs
out there that are really spyware in disguise. Please ensure
you get good trustworthy ones. Two I recommend are Spywareblaster
and AdAware.
Anti virus- One copy of Norton will NOT do.
No single antivirus can effectively detect and remove all
infections on your system. At least 2 good programs are advised
(some have more). AVG is helpful but not thorough. Bitdefender will
slow your system somewhat while scanning, but is very thorough. All
must be kept up to date. Any whose virus definitions are not up to
date cannot protect you from the latest threats. Infections may
slow your system down, send out email, propagate over a network,
and do a wide variety of undesirable things. Some infections will
require professional removal once they get out of hand. Do you want
that?
NOTE: A firewall is a useful defence against those that probe for
vulnerable systems from outside. A NAT (Network Address Translator)
firewall often found in internet routers can be an effective
defence.
Anti trojan systems will find many things the anti virus won't. Trojans are different from virus infections. They more often have elaborate means of hiding themselves. They operate key loggers, and can send important information about you to the trojan writer. Such things have been known to gather login passwords, credit card numbers, or even turn over control of the system to someone else. There are also trojan diallers. These little things sit on your PC and use your modem to make long distance phone calls without your knowlege. You don't find out until you get the phone bill with heavy toll charges on it. If you don't want other people getting money from your internet experience, then ensure you have a way to remove them!
Browser hijacks are an unpleasant kink in the mix. With a utility like hijackthis, and some effort to learn what the scan results mean, you can prevent unauthorized programs from doing naughty things with your web browser, such as diverting it to other pages, or putting intrusive advertising on your screen.
Rootkit Detectors
It looks like stealth rootkits are starting to become mainstream,
by becoming standard parts of worms, viruses, and spyware/adware
(such as the ever-popular CoolWebSearch).
Like it or not, detectors for these things are becoming
necessary.
See the interesting article at http://www.thetechguide.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10984
).
I suspect that we may soon be seeing infected computers which MUST
be scanned by slaving the hard drive to another computer.
Stealth rootkit detectors: (Free beta until July 1)
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/rootkitreveal.shtml
http://research.microsoft.com/rootkit
About rootkits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit
Sadly, if rootkit activity is detected, about the only cure is to
re-format the hard drive and restore everything from backup (or
re-install the operating system etc).
The advent of rootkits makes backups more important than
ever.
Defragmentation is necessary once the
system becomes fragmented to a great degree. Fragmentation occurs
because from time to time files are edited, added to, trimmed,
created or deleted. When existing files are altered, their sizes
change. Often this means there is not enough room in the place
where the file was stored previously, so part of it is put somehere
else (in the next available free space). Over time it results in
large numbers of files scattered widely over the disk surface. Each
time one is required, the drive has to go to more places to get all
the pieces. The more files are fragmented, the more disk
performance slows down. Defragmenting re-assembles files to the
same location, by taking the different parts from wherever they are
spread around the drive, and bringing them together. That saves
hard drive work in the long run, by making it easier and quicker to
read files without looking all over the place for them. NOTE: Some people have a habit of defragmenting a
drive before doing anything else.
This can be a mistake! Defragmenting when other problems may exist
can exacerbate those problems.
For instance, doing this when there are errors on the drive may
produce new errors when good files are written to damaged areas of
the drive.
Backup As you may have already read,
backups are becoming even more important these days.
There are many ways to do it, and several different types of media
are useful.
Your choice depends on the size of your system and how much data
has to be backed up.
Choices include tape drives, other partitions on your system,
networked backup, CDs or DVDs, off site backup and more.
Whichever choice you make, I put this last because by the time you
reach here, you know whether the files are fit to do a backup.
Obviously, if you find a rootkit is present, then it is too late
to do one now!
Those are the basics of maintainance of your system (without any mention of hardware).
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