The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Regular Computer Maintenance

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by billiton, Dec 10, 2008.

  1. billiton

    billiton Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Regarding computer maintenance, what programs does everyone run and how often do you run it?

    JKDefrag - weekly
    CCleaner - every 2-3 days
    Avira Virus Scan - monthly

    Anything else I should be doing on a regular basis?
     
  2. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

    Reputations:
    14,217
    Messages:
    15,406
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    466
    I run CC Cleaner 2x weekly...
    I defrag when I need to...and use JKDefrag, sometimes Vista's ;)
    Avira virus Scan....I run weekly....

    I know theres something else I run..but I'm at work and can't think of the name right now :eek: :)


    Cin ;) :)
     
  3. TeeJay 44

    TeeJay 44 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,020
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Defrag once a month.
    CCleaner once a month.
    Avira Virus Scan about once a month too.

    I dont visit "cough cough unscrupulous sites though."

    Here is a good maintenance program (for XP)

    Before defragging your (normally C drive) do this:

    . Make sure all is running properly. No issues.
    . Switch off System Restore and thereby delete all restore points.
    . Reboot the computer.
    . Turn System Restore on again.

    Then defrag.

    Works wonders.

    Cheers,
    Theo
     
  4. purplegreendave

    purplegreendave Has a notebook.

    Reputations:
    98
    Messages:
    881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Every Saturday:
    Avast
    SuperAntiSpyware
    Threafire (I know it has real time scanning too)
    Disk Cleanup
    (Sometimes) chkdsk
    Vista Defrag (are there any benefits of other defraggers?)
     
  5. McGrady

    McGrady Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,400
    Messages:
    3,376
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Quite often I:
    1. SuperAntiSpyware(Full Scan)
    2. MBAM(Full Scan)
    3. Avira
    4. Revo (Junk Files Cleaner)

    Every once in a while:
    1. Ccleaner
    2. Defrag Bootfiles
    3. Compact the Registry
    4. Defrag
    5. Search for and delete Empty Folders
     
  6. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    448
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I use disk clean-up and remove all but the most recent restore point and then defrag.
     
  7. 401402

    401402 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    what is mbam full scan? what is used todo that?
    defrag boot files?

    compact the reg?

    i'm on a vostro 1700-dell
     
  8. st0nedpenguin

    st0nedpenguin Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Full spyware/malware scan every week or so.
    CCleaner + O&O Defrag every week or so (more often if I've installed a bunch of crap recently).
    ESET full scan nightly while I sleep.
     
  9. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I just use CCleaner randomly - can be a few times a day to not in a week...

    Else:
    Every now and then Windows "Drive Cleaner" or how its called in English.
    Defragmenting has become rare...

    Kaspersky is running all the time - I generally don't do full system scans - or if rarely.
     
  10. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Lube and oil-change every 3,000 NBR entries :D
     
  11. Baserk

    Baserk Notebook user

    Reputations:
    2,503
    Messages:
    1,794
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Exactly :D.
    Also kick the tyres once in a while, just to make sure.
     
  12. millermagic

    millermagic Rockin the pinktop

    Reputations:
    330
    Messages:
    1,742
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Daily I run virus scan

    Weekly, I do spyware and ccleaner along with easy cleaner reg cleaner

    Bi-Weekly I do defrag and backup with norton ghost.


    My important documents for school are saved on SD card, Laptop Hard Drives and Server.
     
  13. nons_

    nons_ Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    backup my recent files (work/uni) on usb-stick as well as external hdd.

    nothing else. I dont need AV or spyware scanners imo, since I don't download "suspicious" things or open spam attachments, and I'm not dumb.

    never had a problem for years.
     
  14. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Neither did I.
    But: If you can get an "all in one suite" like KIS 2009 its good to have, just in case.
     
  15. coolguy

    coolguy Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    805
    Messages:
    4,679
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Doing registry cleanup is waste of time. It doesn't improve system performance.
     
  16. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Yes and no.

    Something broke on my mother's medion laptop (in the registry) - indexing continously accessed the hdd... a registry cleanup solved the problem.

    However:
    Its getting less and less effective, also because the registry (to me) seems to get more and more obscure. And you have to be careful not to damage anything.
     
  17. st0nedpenguin

    st0nedpenguin Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    You haven't needed to run "suspicious" executables to be infected by malware over the internets for quite some time now.
     
  18. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

    Reputations:
    2,275
    Messages:
    3,990
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Backup files often--if you cannot afford to lose today's work, then back up nightly. If you can afford to lose or recreate data lost for the most recent 7 days, backup weekly...etc

    CHKDSK weekly.

    Leave your computer on between Tuesday and Wednesday and windows vista will defrag optimize for you (if XP, tend to defrag every other week)

    Run ccleaner every once in a while

    That's about all you need to do
     
  19. nons_

    nons_ Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    only if your system isn't up-to-date or you must have really bad luck to be one of the first victims to a yet unpatched exploit, but AV software wouldn't help either in that case, so it doesn't matter.
     
  20. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    AV software can help if it momitors what programs do to.

    If I run an exe file it now get checked by KIS 2009 before its allowed to run...
     
  21. booboo12

    booboo12 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    4,062
    Messages:
    4,272
    Likes Received:
    93
    Trophy Points:
    116
    Vista Defragmenter-Default background/idle defrag settings (once each week)

    CCleaner-Whenever I remember i have it installed :p

    Spyware Doctor/MalwareBytes/Avira scans-Once a month