In addition to web services, I also offer computer repair and cleanup services. Today I have a Windows 7 machine in the shop and figured I’d give a brief overview of the things I do to get a sluggish Windows computer back up to speed. Typically, over time, Windows based computers end up bogged down with various pieces of software that are running quietly behind the scenes unbeknownst to the computer user. Much of these pieces of software are either unwanted or unnecessary and can safely be removed or disabled. And so…
Clean up the crap with CCleaner
CCleaner, formerly known as Crap Cleaner, is a free download and it’s an essential piece of software for anyone looking to keep their OS tidy. I suggest running the “Cleaner” function with the default options selected on a regular basis. Once a week or so. I also like to go into the “Tools” > “Startup” section and disable any of the useless programs that are slowing down the startup procedure of the computer. On this particular computer I found a startup program called “ShopAtHomeWatcher”. That probably doesn’t need to be starting up at boot time. The beauty of CCleaner is you can disable any of these startup programs, and if you find out later you actually do want it at boot time, you can pop open CCleaner and re-enable it. The built in registry clean up tool is useful as well. Modifying your Windows registry however can be dangerous, so it’s a really really good idea to make a backup incase something gets up. I personally have never had a problem using CCleaners registry cleaner…but I still make backups just in case. Often times cleaning up some items will cause other cleanup issues. So don’t be surprised if you need to take a few passes. On the computer I’m working on right now I had to take 3 passes of the Registry Cleaner to fix everything, and the general Cleaner function wiped out over a GB of crap.
Dump the big names and install AVG Anti-Virus
The more popular Anti-Virus software options are actually more detrimental to the speed of a computer than they’re worth in terms of virus protection. For that reason, I personally suggest using AVG as opposed to the better advertised competitors known as McAfee or Norton’s. AVG offers a free version of their software that is every bit as protective as the aforementioned competitors and way less resource intensive. Often times switching from Norton’s or McAfee to AVG is the only necessary upgrade to double a computers speed. When installing, be sure to do a “Custom Install” and uncheck the boxes that install the AVG toolbar and change your homepage to AVG’s. The free version comes with those pre-set to install and change…I don’t care for their decision to add that in there, but I get it…it’s free. On the computer I’m working on today, AVG has thus far found 4 trojans…none of which the previously installed virus software found or prevented. Oops…
Got a problem with Malware? Get MalwareBytes
Another great piece of free software is MalwareBytes. This is a fairly simple and straightforward program. Install it, run it, and it cleans up any Malware infections it finds. It checks your registry and running processes for signs of malicious software. 9 times out of 10 when a computer comes in with issues, MalwareBytes is the software that finds and eradicates it. On this particular computer, MalwareBytes didn’t find any infections.
Who’s watching you now, the IRS? Terminate spyware with Spybot
The best spyware cleanup tool is Spybot. This software will search your computer for hundreds of thousands of bad things. It’s extremely useful from a preventive side of things as well. Protect your computer with the “Immunize” function and you can prevent the installation of bad stuff (especially the un-intentionally installed bad stuff). This software can be a little tricky to use, so you might want to familiarize yourself with the documentation. Be sure to update the softwares spyware database before using it, when you first run it it won’t have any of the signatures loaded so, it’s not particularly useful until it’s updated. Just an FYI, a full scan will take a pretty long time (depending on your computer)…so have some coffee on hand or find something else to do while it does its thing. The computer I’m working on here had 25 spyware issues…all cleaned up now!
And there you have it. With these four things you will do your computer a pretty good cleanup service and if it was malware, spyware, crapware, or overextended antivirus software slowing your computer down you should have a noticeably faster computer after running all this stuff. If you don’t, you might want to look into a memory upgrade or perhaps a hard drive defragmentation. If your system is infected with a virus or a particularly stubborn piece of malware or spyware it can often require the services of a professional to fully eradicate it from your system. But the above software should help solve and prevent most issues. Happy cleaning!
