Uninstall Bloatware \/ Crapware<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Uninstall Java if you don’t use it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nMost people don’t need Java.\u00a0 If you uninstall it, and something you use stops working, simply reinstall Java.<\/p>\n
\n- No more weekly “Java Update” popups, that invariably fail when you click on them, so that you’re left being taunted by an orange icon, staring at you accusingly, as it regularly reminds you that “a Java Update is available!”<\/li>\n
- Java ALWAYS runs.\u00a0 It always sits in the background, waiting until you need it.\u00a0 If you never use it, Java is pointlessly consuming memory and CPU resources that could be better spent doing something else.<\/li>\n
- When installing Java, the first screen says “Installed on billions of devices worldwide”.\u00a0 The very next screen asks you to install “Ask Toolbar”.\u00a0 So…. I guess there are “billions of devices” running “Ask” crapware.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Speaking of which…Uninstall ‘Ask’ and other Toolbars<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nMake sure you uninstall Ask Toolbar.\u00a0 It has no value.<\/p>\n
Uninstall anything that says “toolbar” or “helper”.\u00a0 You don’t need them.<\/p>\n
Use Google Chrome, and Uninstall Adobe Flash, AIR, and Reader<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nGoogle Chrome has built-in versions of Adobe Flash and Reader.\u00a0 If you use Chrome, you don’t need to install the “bloatware” versions of these from Adobe, that are laced with junkware, and are vulnerable to exploits.<\/p>\n
If you go this route, download and install Chrome, then make sure you can get to everything you need, and that everything works properly.<\/p>\n
Uninstall:<\/p>\n
\n- Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Adobe Reader)<\/li>\n
- Adobe AIR<\/li>\n
- Adobe Flash<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Check to make sure everything still works properly — if not, try reinstalling Chrome<\/p>\n
Recently, Flash has started bundling McAfee Security Scan Plus.\u00a0 This is not a full version of McAfee, and I DO RECOMMEND THE FULL VERSION, but “Security Scan Plus” is just a waste of space and effort, and it’s basically nagware, to get you to buy the full version of McAfee.<\/p>\n
![\"40_Flash_Security](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/40_Flash_Security-Scan-Plus-300x177.png\")
<\/p>\n
If you’ve accidentally installed it, UNINSTALL “McAfee Security Scan Plus”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Don’t Use Internet Explorer<\/span><\/h3>\nInternet Explorer = Virus<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIt’s that simple.\u00a0 Just delete the blue “e” icon, and pretend it never existed.<\/p>\n
Use Google Chrome<\/strong> or Firefox<\/strong> instead.<\/p>\nIf you have specific websites that won’t run in Chrome or Firefox, use Internet Explorer JUST for those websites.<\/p>\n
I’ve removed access to Internet Explorer (even through the “Guest” profile), and instituted a “No Internet Explorer” policy in my house.\u00a0 I have had ZERO VIRUSES since 2009, and minimal unwanted software.<\/p>\n
The problem with Internet Explorer is that it readily accepts new software, or simply prompts the user, who has no idea what to do, so they just click “OK”.\u00a0\u00a0 So the user goes to an infected website, clicks “OK”, BAM, VIRUS!<\/p>\n
Chrome and Firefox both do a much better job of ensuring that malicious programs are detected “in the cloud”, and give clear warnings about infected or potentially malicious websites.<\/p>\n
Chrome also employs a type of isolation that prevents a malicious Chrome plugin from gaining access to the operating system, which means you’re much better protected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Reboot Once a Week<\/span><\/h3>\nIt’s convenient to have a laptop or desktop “ready and waiting” for when you need it, so maybe you leave it on all the time.\u00a0 Or, perhaps you allow the hardware to go to “sleep” when you’re done using it.<\/p>\n
In either case, the operating system continues to run until you perform a “full shutdown” or a “full restart”.<\/p>\n
In sleep mode, the system turns off the monitor, the hard drive, and other power-consuming components, and puts the CPU in to an ultra-low-power “sleep” mode, while using a tiny amount of electricity to maintain the memory state.\u00a0 When the computer “wakes up”, it starts the internal fan, spins up the hard drive, turns on the monitor and other components, and then puts the CPU in to a normal state, where the operating system basically continues from where it left off, similar to suspended animation.<\/p>\n
Windows 8 introduced the “hybrid” restart, where the CPU and memory states are saved to disk during shutdown, and then subsequently loaded during the boot process.\u00a0 This bypasses the operating system’s normal boot process, and, like “sleep” mode, the OS picks up right where it left off.<\/p>\n
With a “full” restart, the operating system attempts to cleanly shut down each application, allowing any memory-resident data to be written to disk.\u00a0 Once it’s ready to shut down, the operating system flushes the disk cache, to ensure that no information is lost, and then tells the hardware to turn off.\u00a0 During the boot process, a CLEAN COPY of the operating system is loaded from disk in to memory.\u00a0 Each hardware driver is loaded and started clean.\u00a0 Applications that may have been running for days or weeks are loaded cleanly from disk.<\/p>\n
A full restart loads everything cleanly.\u00a0 Any remanent junk sitting around in cache is erased.\u00a0 Anything sitting in the swap file is erased (or more specifically, ignored).\u00a0 An application that may have been slowly growing in memory, getting slower and slower, is now loaded clean.<\/p>\n
The other advantage to periodically doing a full restart, is that it gives Windows Updates, and other types of patches and updates, an opportunity to complete the installation process.\u00a0 Often, even though the update runs, it isn’t complete until a full restart occurs.<\/p>\n
Windows 7<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Click the start button<\/li>\n
- Click the tiny arrow next to “Shut down” or “sleep” on the start menu.<\/li>\n
- Click “Restart”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Windows 8<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Yell loudly at your monitor:\u00a0 “WINDOWS SHUT DOWN”<\/li>\n
- Wave your hand in front of the monitor, and say “YOU WILL shut down.”<\/li>\n
- Scribble your mouse around wildly, to see if a “shutdown menu” pops up.<\/li>\n
- When none of that works, try this instead:<\/li>\n
- Press Windows+R to get to the Run box<\/li>\n
- Type “shutdown \/t 0 \/f \/s”\u00a0 (Note the spaces:\u00a0 \/t^0^\/f^\/s\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Also, the “0” is a zero, not the letter)<\/li>\n
- Click OK<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
(You know, because some complex, obscure command is far superior than being able to select “full shutdown” from a menu — people love complex, obscure commands!)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Don’t Run Software You Don’t Recognize<\/span><\/h3>\nIf some website asks you to install “a special player” so that you can listen to music or watch a movie, that’s a GOOD INDICATOR that the “special player” is a virus or malicious software, or will bring malicious software with it!<\/p>\n
Rule of thumb:\u00a0 When the box asks, “Do you wish to install…..”\u00a0 CLICK NO!!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/span>Once per Month, Create a Restore Point<\/span><\/h3>\nA restore point is a snapshot of your operating system, drivers, and settings.<\/p>\n
If your computer starts acting weird later, or starts having stability issues, you can go back to a “Restore Point” — a point in time where everything WAS working properly.<\/p>\n
Some events, such as Windows Update, automatically trigger a Restore Point, but creating a “Manual” restore point on a monthly basis, is cheap insurance to make sure something you install later, won’t damage the operating system or create stability issues.\u00a0 (If so, you can simply revert to a restore point)<\/p>\n
\n- Windows+R to get to the Run dialog<\/li>\n
- Type “sysdm.cpl” and click OK
![\"41_CreateRetorePoint_Run\"](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/41_CreateRetorePoint_Run-300x154.png\")
<\/li>\n - This will bring up the “System Properties” dialog<\/li>\n
- Click the “System Protection” tab
![\"42_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM1\"](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/42_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM1-269x300.png\")
<\/li>\n - At the bottom, click “Create”<\/li>\n
- Enter a name for the restore point – such as “Things look OK in July!”
![\"43_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM2\"](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/43_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM2-300x155.png\")
<\/li>\n - The restore point takes a few minutes to create…
![\"44_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM3\"](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/44_CreateRetorePoint_SysDM3.png\")
<\/li>\n - A message will be displayed, indicating that the restore point has been completed.\u00a0 Click “Close” then “OK”
![\"45_CreateRestorePoint_SysDM4\"](\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/45_CreateRestorePoint_SysDM4-300x106.png\")
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/p>\n
<\/span>Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\nPerforming a tech checkup on your Windows computer, at least twice a year, ensures that you will continue to enjoy good stability and performance, and will extend the life of your investment.<\/p>\n
Even with XP, an older operating system, it’s not too difficult to clean things up, and get your PC running properly again.<\/p>\n
For any Windows system:<\/p>\n
\n- Perform a Disk Cleanup, using Disk Cleanup tool (cleanmgr).\u00a0 Don’t forget to clean up XP’s temp files manually.<\/li>\n
- Check for Malware and Viruses (mrt).<\/li>\n
- Run Windows Update, and make sure everything installs properly.\u00a0 Install Optional updates, to get newer hardware drivers, but avoid “Bing Desktop” and “Skype Desktop” unless you actively already use these features.<\/li>\n
- Update virus protection, and make sure that its automatic update feature is working properly.<\/li>\n
- Update your video driver.\u00a0 For systems with nVidia or ATI graphics, this is done through the respective control panel.<\/li>\n
- Defragment your hard drive (dfrgui).<\/li>\n
- Follow best practices when using Windows, to make sure your computer continues to run well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least twice a year, you should perform a “tech checkup” on your Windows computer, to make sure everything is running right. Don’t bother calling the Nerd Squad…. This is something you can do, fairly easily, by yourself, for free. Read on, to learn how<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-recommendations","category-tech-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2549,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}