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Computer Performance (mht) |
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Computer and Technology |
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“Improving Computer Performance” Presented by Dick Curry Dick Curry noted that as computers are used and age they accumulate a lot of unused files and programs and today’s program would focus on cleaning up computers and improving their performance. He said that much of what he was going to cover had been covered in recent months and recommended that members refer to notes of these meetings. Older computers (4 plus years) should probably be replaced if an upgrade would require a motherboard or if three or more components need to be replaced. Memory upgrades, hard drives, driver updates, etc. are not very expensive and can make a lot of difference, particularly when a thorough clean up was included. He urged everyone to back up the computer’s operating system using a drive image program (like Acronis True Image or Symantic’s Drive Image) or System Restore and the rest of your hard drive files with Windows Backup Utility or a similar program before starting an extensive cleaning operation. In addition to backing up files before cleaning up your computer Dick talked about creating a Recovery Plan in the event things didn’t go the way you wanted them. This included knowing how and when to use Safe Mode, the Windows Recovery Console, and Dr. Watson logs. He talked about the importance of having bootable recovery disks to use to 1) reinstall your Windows Operating System (he noted that pre-SP2 Windows XP CDs can’t be used to install the original version of Windows XP over a system that has been upgraded to SP2 and how to create a revised CD), 2) run an anti-virus scan from a CD, 3) reinstall disk image and backup programs. Dick recommended that computer cases should be opened and the dust removed at least annually. This is a rather simple operation, in which a can of compressed air is used to dislodge dust, taking care to direct the air stream from the inside out to avoid driving dust more deeply into the computer or fan bearings. Drivers for hardware and applications should also be updated, particularly if they are older, or if you have updated or upgraded your system. And he talked about rolling-back a newly installed driver if you decide the previous one worked better. Limit the programs in the Startup file. Dick outlined a number of ways cleanup the startup file, including the software program “The Ultimate Troubleshooter” (TUT) www.answersthatwork.com . This program provides information about the startup programs as well as services and has an excellent housekeeping utility to boot. Other utility programs that show the startup program such as Windows msconfig (System Configuration), System Information and the Task Manager list programs but do not provide information about them. To obtain information relating to your Startup Programs you need to check out Task Lists provided at sites like www.answersthatwork.com and www.sysinfo.org. Service programs support the operating system program, but not all are needed. Get rid of those that you do not need… My Computer (right click), Manage, Services and Applications, Services also The Ultimate Troubleshooter, the System Configuration and System Information utilities. Get rid of unneeded files such as Temp, History, Temporary Internet or cache, cookies, and outdated System Restore disks (huge). Also look at deleting data files and programs you no long need or use. This includes your saved outbound and inbound e-mails. Dick talked about how to remove font files that you don’t need or use. Methods to improve the use of Virtual Memory and creating a permanent Page File rather than having Windows do this automatically were discussed. Dick mentioned that Windows standard defrag utility does not defrag the Page File, and he reviewed a free utility that can be downloaded from www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1590&page=10 that will defrag the Page File. The pros and cons of converting your file allocation table system to NTFS were discussed. Dick noted that he should have mentioned at the beginning that we should first perform anti-virus and anti-spyware scans of our hard disk before starting to clean up the hard disk. Before defragging our computer Dick said it was prudent to run the ScanDisk utility and, if it’s been a long time since you have performed a thorough scan now would be a good time to do so. For Windows XP user the ScanDisk utility is found by left clicking My Computer, highlight the drive to be checked, right click on that drive, click Properties, click the Tools tab, then click Check Now … under the Error Checker heading. Having done all this, Dick said we are now ready to defrag all of our hard drives. In finishing Dick said he had some interesting material he could provide for our serious gurus relating to improving BIOS performance and overclocking. |