PC Maintenance & Windows Tune-Up

Helping Your Computer to Run Its Best

Includes a Bonus section on using the FREE Glary Utilities program!

John Lortz - DiscoverSkills

Written by John Lortz DiscoverSkills.com

Instructor editions are available for each of our computer course offerings

Book Revision 01282018

Who is this Guy, John Lortz? Yes, I am a real person, and I live in the United States, Midwestern town of Omaha, Nebraska. No, my office window does not look out over a field of corn, but go about 10 blocks to the north, and you’ll find one. And yes I did grow up in a small farming town… a very, very small town of 600, and loved every minute of the 18 years. Here in Omaha, I live with my wife Sue Leavitt (another professional geek) and my son Jack (a want-to-be professional baseball player), and lead a fairly common, Midwestern life. For 15 years, until just recently, I was Director of Education and Technology for the Senior Health Foundation (SHF), a non-profit that specialized in computer education for senior citizens. There, I developed all the class curriculum, books, and videos, as well as created and maintained the organization web sites, which included my current learning site, www.DiscoverSkills.com. I also taught most of the senior technology classes and workshops, with over 10,000 students passing through over 900 classes. Because of the weak economy, SHF closed its doors at the end of 2010. But working for SHF was a wonderful experience, both in forming lifelong relationships with my students, and in learning how to teach and relay technical information in an understandable way. That was always the challenge, and still is today. Also during my time with SHF, I assisted other retirement communities in creating senior training labs and setting up computer learning programs. I still contract and provide the learning for one of those communities, the Computer Education Center at the Landing, in Lincoln, Nebraska. This particular computer lab is state of the art, and along with my lead instructor, Wayne Casper, we provide over 40 different class offerings from the very basic for those just getting started, to the more advanced for those who want to learn eBay, Facebook, Photoshop editing, or PC maintenance. Besides teaching at SHF, I continue to be an adjunct instructor at the College of St. Mary here in Omaha. I’ve been teaching computer-science related classes there since 1988, including web page design, database management, various programming and digital imaging classes, and advanced business applications. Teaching at the college level has been a great balance to teaching seniors technology, and by blending the methods used for each group, I think I’ve come up with some great insights on technology learning. On the writing side, I served as a freelance writer for Smart Computing, PC Today and CPU magazines, where I published more than 30 articles on computer related topics. As for some odds and ends, I served on the Omaha Public Schools Internet Advisory Committee, and currently act as a volunteer video media advisor to Skinner Magnet School. I was a featured speaker at the Nebraska AGPAM Conference, and I’ve presented at the national AAHSA Annual Meeting. In addition, I was a keynote speaker at the Nebraska Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations conference, presenting ideas on Internet marketing and Web page design.

I have a Master’s degree in Computers in Education, but to be honest, most of my initial technical, geeky experience came from the five years I acted as the Director of Information Systems for a small software development company here in Omaha. And following that job, I did computer and network consulting for a few years, before ending up at SHF. Whew… Ok, so I’ve talked a bunch about myself. The thing is, I’ve been blessed with lots of great experiences working with technology and students who are interested in technology. Although I never set out to be one, I guess you could say I’ve become a professional technology educator. But along the way, I’ve also become a PC geek, networking geek, web-video specialist, web site designer, and a bunch of other nerdy things that just went with the territory that my life traveled through. So, that’s it. That’s me. That’s who I am and where I’ve been. Oh, and hopefully, I’m not done yet! Feel free to explore our sites and take in what we offer there. I also invite you to visit our main learning portal, DiscoverSkills (www.DiscoverSkills.com). And if you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way. I’ll even listen to YOUR life story, if you want to tell me!

DiscoverSkills.com is a technology learning portal created by John Lortz to assist students of all ages in understanding and using computer, photography, and mobile device technology. We do this through eBooks, video courses, and webinars. For more information, email us at [email protected] or visit one of our Web sites.

DiscoverSkills (my main site) – www.discoverskills.com

Our Learning Store – store.discoverskills.com

Our YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/discoverskills

Our Twitter Feed – www.twitter.com/discoverskills

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 7

Before You Perform Any Maintenance On Your Computer ...... 7

Computer Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Upgrading Resources ...... 8

To help you understand “Why” you need to perform certain maintenance tasks, let’s learn a little bit about how your computer works...... 8

How Your Computer Works ...... 9

How Software and Hardware Work Together As You Use Your Computer ...... 10

Virtual Memory – Your CPU, RAM, and Hard Drive Working Together ...... 11

Hard Drive ...... 11

Routine Maintenance Tasks to Improve Performance ...... 14

Step One: Get into the habit of making backups ...... 14

Create a System Restore Point ...... 16

Step Two: Get rid of the “nasty stuff” ...... 17

Run a Virus Check ...... 17

Run an Anti-spyware Scan ...... 18

Step Three: Free Up Hard Drive Space ...... 20

Remove Unnecessary Application Programs ...... 20

Delete Windows TEMP Files ...... 22

Step Four: Free up RAM by Removing Memory Resident Programs and Cleaning the Windows Registry ...... 23

Cleaning Up the Windows Registry ...... 25

Step Five: Run Scandisk (Error Checking) ...... 26

Step Six: Run Defragment ...... 28

How Often Should You Do These Tasks? ...... 29

More Windows Performance Tips ...... 30

Add more RAM (memory) ...... 30

Upgrade your hard drive to a newer 7,200 or 10,000 rpm drive ...... 32

Upgrade your CPU (processor) and Motherboard ...... 33

Add a video card with more memory ...... 33

Don’t let the hard drive free space (C:) drop below 2GB ...... 34

Set Windows Performance Options ...... 34

Computer Troubleshooting Tips ...... 37

Dealing with Windows Lockups ...... 39

Overheating ...... 40

Special Bonus Section: Using Glary Utilities ...... 42

Downloading Glary Utilities ...... 42

1-Click Maintenance ...... 43

Selecting Options from the Modules...... 45

Windows Registry ...... 46

Disk Space ...... 47

Anti-Malware ...... 48

System Control ...... 48

Hard disks ...... 50

Programs ...... 51

Odds & Ends ...... 52

Glary Utility Summary ...... 53

Disclaimer and Terms of Use Agreement ...... 55

Introduction Most people don’t realize it, but just like your car, or mower, or snow blower, your computer runs better and is more reliable if you perform a few routine maintenance tasks. The good news is, most of these tasks are pretty easy to learn and easy to do.

In this book, I’ll not only go through the tasks you should perform, but also talk about why they need to be done, to give you a better understanding of how important these tasks are to the health of your computer system. We’ll also cover the topic of Troubleshooting, since it often goes hand in hand with maintenance, and as a bonus, discuss a few simple upgrades you can perform yourself, including adding memory, a new hard drive, or a CD/DVD-ROM drive.

Before You Perform Any Maintenance On Your Computer As a wise precaution, before you perform any type of maintenance or upgrade to your computer, you should make sure the following tasks have been completed:

• Backup your important data and documents (i.e. copy them to a floppy. CD or portable hard drive), and/or set a Windows Restore point. We’ll discuss this in the first section.

• Review all of the documentation that came with your computer. Yes, sometimes it seems like you’re reading Greek, but most new user manuals are written with inexperienced computer users in mind.

• If you are working inside your computer, make diagrams of how parts fit together or how jumpers are set before you change them.

• Protect the inside of your computer from Electrostatic Discharge

• Wear an electrostatic wrist band (get these at Radio Shack)

• Keep your power supply plugged into a grounded outlet

• Handle all computer circuit cards by the edge, avoiding the solder points and bare metal components.

• Don’t move your computer while it is running. Although it won’t hurt the computer circuitry, your hard drive is always spinning, and moving it while it’s turned on can cause a hard drive crash.

Computer Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Upgrading Resources The Internet has a wealth of Web sites that offer help with your computer. Here are a few sites that you might find helpful. www.pctechguide.com – Learn how your computer works www.webopedia.com – Look up computer terms www.pcmag.com – How-To articles and reviews www.pcworld.com – How-To articles and reviews www.cnet.com – How-To articles and reviews www.virtualdr.com – Get online help and ask questions www.techguy.org – Online help forum www.computerhope.com – Online articles, help, how-to’s www.bleepingcomputer.com – computer help and spyware removal information www.experts-exchange.com - free if you sign-up, also has a pay-for service support.microsoft.com – The official Microsoft support page. Windowsupdate.microsoft.com – The official Microsoft Windows update page. And don’t forget… you can visit Google (www.google.com) and just type in keywords that describe your problem! You can do the same thing at YouTube (www.youtube.com). You’ll be amazed at the answers you might find!

For more help, vist my site, DiscoverSkills web site (www.DiscoverSkills.com) where I continually post computer related articles, many of which talk about PC’s and Windows. To help you understand “Why” you need to perform certain maintenance tasks, let’s learn a little bit about how your computer works.

How Your Computer Works To help you understand “why” you should perform certain routine maintenance tasks, let’s first talk a bit about how your computer actually works, and in the process, make you a bit of a geek!. Although there are many different components inside your computer, there are 3 that have special importance (we even call them the BIG 3):

• CPU (Central Processing Unit) – A computer chip that’s the brain of your computer, which performs all the program instructions and carries out calculations.

• RAM (Random Access Memory) – Computer chips that act as a temporary place for the CPU to hold data and instructions while it’s “thinking” about them.

• Hard Drive – A device about the size of a paperback book that acts as the main storage area for your computer. The hard drive is where all your documents and the computers programs are stored.

This diagram below shows the important interaction between these three computer parts. Ultimately, many of your computer maintenance tasks focus on keeping these three components running at their best, which in turn, leads you to a faster running computer.

How Software and Hardware Work Together As You Use Your Computer This diagram shows you how Microsoft Window (your computer’s operating system or system software) has two jobs:

1. Windows controls your computer hardware and lets everything work. This part of Windows is called the Operating System.

2. Windows provides you, the user, with an attractive, interactive environment called a GUI (Graphical User Interface). We also call this the Operating Environment.

Application Software

Where You Work (Graphical User Operating Environment Interface) (GUI - Windows)

Operating System (Windows)

Controls

the System BIOS CMOS

Hardware

In controlling the hardware, Windows utilizes special programs stored on the motherboard called the System BIOS (Basic Input Output System). Windows also reads information about what hardware components your computer has, and certain settings about that hardware from an area on the motherboard called the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor).

Virtual Memory – Your CPU, RAM, and Hard Drive Working Together Everything we’ve discussed to this point happens in the background as you use your computer, without you even knowing it’s going on. You can’t directly see what’s happening, but you can feel the effects of your hardware working in the form of your computer’s performance and speed.

The interaction of three of your computers components are especially important to performance: Your CPU, RAM, and hard drive.

As we’ve mentioned, when you start a program on your computer, all of the instructions and data for that program are Hard Drive loaded into RAM CPU (your computer Program Files memory), so that RAM (Memory) the CPU and carry out those RAM (Memory) instructions. This RAM (Memory) means that everything you see RAM (Memory) on the screen is up in the computer’s memory.

As you use the program, everything you create is also up in memory.

For Example: • When you double-click to start your word processor, that program is loaded into the computer’s memory. • As you type a letter, everything you type is put into the computer memory.

Question to you: • What happens to all of your work if your computer loses power? • To make sure your work is not lost, what should you do?

An Important Point: • When you “save” your work, it is copied from the computer memory to your storage device (hard drive, flash drive, CD, etc.).

As more and more instructions and data fill memory, you many eventually run

out of RAM. 4 GB

The document/image

you are creating

Your Application Memory Program fills as

programs Memory Resident load Programs

Windows

BIOS

0 GB

• In the old days of

Windows, Swapping of data you would actually get

“Out Of Memory”

errors. Virtual Memory • With modern versions of

Windows when you get low on regular RAM, Windows uses part of Hard Drive your hard drive as “virtual” or pretend memory, swapping instructions and data back and forth between RAM the hard drive and real RAM. • Since your hard drive is much slower than RAM, the more swapping that occurs, the slower your computer gets. • This is why adding more RAM can sometimes speed up your computer • This is also why running very low on hard disk space can sometimes give you “low memory” error messages.

Routine Maintenance Tasks to Improve Performance So what does all this techno babble about my hard drive and virtual memory really mean? To get the best performance from your computer, you need to make sure that:

1. You free up memory by removing unnecessary programs.

2. Your hard drive is running at its best.

3. You have plenty of extra space on your hard drive, even if it’s a large drive!

4. You don’t have any viruses or malware needlessly using up computer resources.

The rest of this book will focus on routine tasks you can do to get the best performance from your computer. We’ll describe the tasks as steps that should be done in a particular order.

Step One: Get into the habit of making backups A “backup” is where you copy your important files from your computer’s hard drive to removable media, such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, or a portable hard drive. You can then put the portable device in a safe place in case something happens to your computer. There are many ways to do this, but all of them basically involve you knowing WHAT FOLDERS your FILES are in, and then using a program (such as Windows Explorer or My Computer) to COPY those FILES and/or FOLDERS to the portable device.

To really understand how to perform a backup, you need to know and understand that your files are stored in compartments we call folders, and that folders are arranged in a hierarchy where a folder can have one or more sub-folders beneath it and those folders can have their own sub-folders, and so on.

Describing all there is to know about files and folders goes beyond the scope of this book, however, without even realizing it, most computer users save their files into a special folder called My Documents or simply Documents. It’s an easy folder to find, since Windows provides icons to it from almost everywhere… including your Desktop and the Save As window that appears whenever you save your work. In the screen shot on the previous page, I’ve simply opened up a folder window and navigated to the My Documents folder.

NOTE: Windows does not let you just copy the entire My Documents folder directly. Instead, you must open the folder and then select and copy its entire contents.

As A Reference: For LOTS more information about Files and Folders, check out my book… Working with Files and Folders (www.DiscoverFileOrganization.com).

Two Favorite Free Backup Programs • Aoemi Backup Standard (www.backup-utility.com) Good for doing “real” backups, but it creates a proprietary backup file so you must also use Aoemi to “restore” your files. • FreeFileSync (www.freefilesync.org) Great for day to day “syncing” of your files and folders. With regards to what you should use as your backup media, you can certainly use writeable CD-R or DVD-R discs, but I suggest you use the more the more modern flash drives or external/portable hard drives.

An external or portable hard drive is simply a regular hard drive that’s enclosed in an external case that connects to your computer through the USB port. When you connect and turn it on, it displays as another drive icon in My Computer.

The “Cloud” has also become a popular for doing backups. The cloud is nothing more than having some storage space on a computer that is part of the Internet. One of my favorite cloud storage sites is DropBox (www.dropbox.com), but I also like PogoPlug (www.pogoplug.com).

Create a System Restore Point Although it’s not as effective as making a backup, one other task you may want to do before you perform your routine maintenance, install new software, or make other changes on your computer, is create a System Restore Point. Starting with Windows XP, you can take a “snapshot” of the way Windows and your computer is configured, and restore that snapshot (restore point) if something goes wrong.

Windows automatically sets restore points at various times during the week, but you can manually create a restore point at any time.

• In Windows XP, Go to Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore

• In Windows 7 and Vista, go to START and in the search box type System Restore

• In Windows 8/10, on the Start Screen type “System restore” then from the results screen choose “Create a Restore Point”. In the window that appears are options to create or restore a point.

• In all cases, you can create a restore point, OR restore the computer from an earlier time.

Step Two: Get rid of the “nasty stuff” If you are an Internet and E-mail user, your computer is constantly at risk of becoming infected with computer viruses and programs called spyware/malware. Although one threat from these malicious programs is loss of privacy and the possibility of damage to your data, they more commonly cause major performance drops. When these programs infect, you often see:

• More pop-up ads when you are on the Internet

• A general computer slowdown

• Certain programs stop working or begin to act strangely

• More error messages than normal

For this reason, an early step in your routine computer maintenance should be to check for and eliminate these virus and spyware pests.

Run a Virus Check Computer viruses typically infect your computer through e-mail attachments (no, a regular e- mail without an attachment can NOT have a virus), but also, less frequently come from downloads or floppy disks that you get from a friend.

To protect your computer from virus infection, you should install and run an anti-virus program. This program both protects your computer from infection, and routinely scans your computer in case something has slipped past its first line of defense. Popular anti-virus programs include:

• Bitdefender (www.bitdefender.com)

• Kaspersky Anti-Virus (www.kaspersky.com)

• AVG Anti-Virus (free) (free.grisoft.com)

• AVAST Anti-Virus (free) (www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html)

Part of your weekly, routine computer maintenance should be to:

• Update your virus definitions – this is normally automatically done by your program, but you should make sure it’s being done by looking at the definition date in the program. You can also manually do updates.

• Run a complete computer scan – this is also normally automatically done, but just to make sure, do it yourself.

Things You Can Do: • Open the anti-virus program on your local machine, look at the date of the definitions, and run a computer scan.

Run an Anti-spyware Scan Spyware are programs that infect your machine as you browse the Internet and install certain downloaded programs. As accumulate on your computer, and load themselves into your RAM, they slow your system performance, generate pop-up ads, and even cause errors. There are two general types of Spyware:

• Adware – small programs that propagate pop-up ads and other types of advertising as you browse the Internet.

• Malware – programs that steal your private information, steal your browser home page, or even open “backdoors” on your computer that let hackers gain access.

There are commercial anti-spyware programs you can purchase and install to help prevent spyware infection, and in fact, many modern anti-virus programs also cover spyware.

There are also free anti- spyware programs you can download and install. These do not protect you from infection, but do find and eliminate spyware programs you already have on your computer. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to routinely run one or more of these even if you do have a regular anti-spyware program. Two of the best free programs include: • MalwareBytes - www.malwarebytes.com – Great for doing manual scans!

• Ad-Aware – www.lavasoft.com - Now also includes Anti-Virus!

• Spybot Search & Destroy - www.safer-networking.org

• Windows Defender – www.microsoft.com And search for “defender” Note that Defender is included with Windows 7, 8, and 10. As an added precaution, you can also run a third program directly from the Internet. One of my favorites is HouseCall from Trend Mirco (housecall.trendmicro.com). Another you can try is called Bitdefender 60-second Virus Scanner and is available at www.bitdefender.com/solutions/60-second-virus-scanner.html

Things You Can Do: • Download and install the free version of Spybot and scan for malware • A Reference:

• For more information on viruses, spyware, hackers, and other Internet threats, I have a book called “Staying Safe on the Internet”. (www.DiscoverInternetSafety.com)

Step Three: Free Up Hard Drive Space Freeing up hard drive space can help the general performance of your computer, even if you have a large hard drive. Two ways to free up space include removing unnecessary programs, and deleting Windows temporary files.

Remove Unnecessary Application Programs • You can add and remove programs by going into the Add/Remove programs feature of the Control Panel in Windows XP, or the Programs and Features option in the Control Panel in Windows 7. In Windows 8, go to the Task Bar, choose Search, and search for Add or Remove Programs.

• To remove a program, click on the program in the list, and look for the REMOVE button, either next to the item or at the top of the screen.

• Depending upon the program you are removing, a screen will appear that steps you through the removal process. Here’s what the Windows XP Screen looks like:

Here’s what it looks like in Windows 7, 8, and 10:

Things You Can Do: • Go into Add/Remove Programs and see what programs are on the computer you are sitting at.

Delete Windows TEMP Files As you run Windows and various other programs, temporary files are often created and then deleted on your hard drive. Often, these files are left on the drive if Windows is not properly shut down. Your browser also leaves lots of temporary Internet files as you use it.

You can clean off these temporary files by using a special program that’s included with Windows. • in Windows XP, Go to START / PROGRAMS / ACCESSORIES / SYSTEM TOOLS / DISK CLEANUP

• In Windows 7, go to START and type Disk Cleanup in the search box.

• In Windows 8 and 10, go to the taskbar, choose Search and search “free up space”. Then choose “Free Up Space by deleting unnecessary files”.

• For all Windows versions, When a box appears asking you which drive to clean, choose the C: drive from the dropdown list, and click OK. The program will scan your hard drive and then give you checkbox options on what can be safely deleted from your hard drive. In almost all cases, you can safely choose to delete all the files that Disk Cleanup finds.

NOTE: There’s two great FREE programs you can download and use to help you get rid of stuff and clean up your computer. Glary Utilities (www.glaryutilities.com) is our favorite, but there’s also CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) I like Glary Utilities so much, that I’ve added a special section at the back of this book, showing you how to use it.

Step Four: Free up RAM by Removing Memory Resident Programs and Cleaning the Windows Registry When you start your computer, small programs are loaded into memory and constantly run as you use your computer. We call these programs Memory Resident Programs. Some are necessary for your computer to properly work. However, many of them are really not needed, and just use up your valuable RAM.

In Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 you can choose which programs should start or not start using a special program called MSCONFIG. In Windows 8, this program has been incorporated with the Task Manager.

For Windows XP, Vista, and 7: • Go to START / RUN / type in msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.

• When the Configuration window appears, click the STARTUP tab.

In Windows 8 and 10: • On the Keyboard press and hold CTRL + ALT + DEL

• On the menu that appears, click Task Manger.

• Choose the STARTUP tab at the top

The Startup tab shows a list of all the programs (other than Windows system programs) that start each time your computer is booted. You’ll probably recognize some of the items on the checklist, but there will probably be quite a few you that are foreign to you. Your goal is to determine which ones are needed, and which ones are just taking up memory.

There are a few good Web sites that offer lists you can use to determine if a program is needed. Our favorite ones include: • www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm

• www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm Your goal is to compare each item you have on your list to what is listed on one of these sites. If they indicate the program is not needed, you simply uncheck the item from the list. If you find later that you again want the program to start, just come back into MSCONFIG and re-check it.

NOTE: Glary Utilities (www.glaryutilities.com) one of the programs I mentioned earlier for cleaning up your hard drive also has a feature that lets you view the Startup items and choose which ones to turn off and on. It also includes a short description of what the startup program is for, making it easier to know which ones to turn off. I WOULD GIVE THIS A TRY!!! In fact, I’ve added a brand new section at the back of this book showing you how to use it!

Cleaning Up the Windows Registry One final step in removing memory resident programs is to clean up your Windows Registry. The Registry is a Windows hidden file that contains all the information about your computer. As you use your computer, the registry tends to grow and eventually contain old “junk” that is not really needed.

The problem is, your registry is actually loaded into the computer memory each time your computer starts. Thus, the bigger it is, the more it uses your valuable RAM.

The best way to optimize your registry is to use a program specific for that task. Although many commercial programs are available (such as from PCTools (www.pctools.com), there is a free one from Auslogics (www.auslogics.com/en/software/registry-defrag) that you can download.

Also, Glary Utilities (www.glaryutilities.com/ - we discussed earlier has a registry optimizer.

Things you can do: • Ok, since I’ve mentioned Glary Utilities so many times now… I suggest that you download this free program and try using the various features it has for cleaning your hard drive, removing Startup programs, and cleaning up your registry.

Step Five: Run Scandisk (Error Checking) Although modern hard drives are reliable and long-lived, at some point, the magnetic coating on the drive surface will begin to wear out. In most cases, this wear and aging occur gradually, with small “clusters” of the magnetic material on the drive failing a few at a time.

To help you predict and repair failing clusters, Windows includes a special utility program called Scandisk (in Windows XP) or Error Checking (in Windows 7 and 8). The program scans your entire hard drive for any problems, and if it finds bad or failing clusters, it moves any data already stored on those clusters, and then permanently marks the clusters as bad, so they are no longer used.

Scandisk should be run every week or so, just as a precaution. To start the program:

• In all Windows versions – Start My Computer or open a Folder Window, RIGHT click the C: drive and choose Properties, and then choose the Tool tab. Next, click the Error-checking button.(“Error-Checking” is the same as the older term, Scandisk).

• In the window that appears, be sure to check both checkboxes, and click Start.

With new, larger, hard drives, Error checking often takes hours to run. So you may want to plan on running the program before you go to bed, so it has time to run overnight.

Things you can do: • Try running Scandisk on your computer.

Special Note: Programs that are running the in background can sometimes cause Scandisk AND Defragment not to complete, especially with Windows versions other than XP. To prevent this, you can do one of two things.

• Method One: Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and end all tasks EXCEPT for Explorer.exe and systray.exe.

• Method Two: Start your computer in Safe Mode. To do this, shut your computer down, then as you start it back up, start pressing the F8 key repeatedly. When the Startup Menu appears, choose Safe Mode by using the keyboard arrow keys, and then pressing Enter. Once you are in Safe Mode, run the Scandisk or Defragment program. When you restart your computer, things will again be normal. Also note that when you start the scan, Windows may say that it can’t get full access to the drive, and ask if you want to schedule a scan for next time you restart your computer. This is perfectly OK to do.

Step Six: Run Defragment Over time, as you save and delete files from your hard drive, they can become fragmented. A fragmented file is one that Windows has “chopped into pieces” and stored in multiple places on the drive. This is all transparent to you, but your computer has to work harder the more fragmented files you have.

• To run Defragment in Windows XP, go to START / PROGRAMS / ACCESSORIES / SYSTEM TOOLS and choose Defragment.

• In Windows 7, 8, and 10, Defragment is part of the Tools tab you see when you RIGHT click the C: drive icon and choose PROPERITES (go back to page 20 on how to do this).

As with Scandisk, running programs can interfere with Defragment. For directions on turning these programs off, see the Special Note box in the Scandisk section.

NOTE: Although Windows Defragment is a decent program, there are third-party defragmenters that do a better job. One in particular is called PerfectDisk, from Raxco (www.raxco.com), and costs $49.95. A 30 day evaluation is available for download. For a very good FREE disk defragmenter, try Auslogics Disk Defrag www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag).

Things you can do: • Try running Defragment on your computer.

How Often Should You Do These Tasks? How often you perform these tasks really depends upon how you use your computer. For example, if you routinely use the Internet, you’ll want to run the spyware scan each week. On the other hand, if you rarely use the Internet, a weekly spyware scan becomes less important.

As a general guide, here is the frequency we recommend you perform the routine maintenance tasks we list in this booklet:

Windows Maintenance Task Checklist

Daily (or Weekly):  Backup your data (VERY important if you create a lot of things)  Virus Definition Update (Automatically done daily)

 Virus Scan (Automatically done daily)

 Spyware Scan

Bi-Weekly:  Disk Cleanup  Scandisk  Defragment

Bi-Monthly:  Check MSConfig for Startup Programs

 Check unnecessary installed programs

More Windows Performance Tips The tasks we’ve covered in this booklet are important for making sure your computer performs its best, and since each task is something you can do right from within Windows, boosting the performance costs you nothing but time. However, there are some other things you can do to make your computer run faster.

Add more RAM (memory) You have already learned that the more RAM you have, the less hard drive virtual memory is used. For this reason, adding more memory can help speed your computer, especially for graphic intensive applications (such as digital imaging and video work).

Keep in mind, however, that adding RAM won’t dramatically increase the speed. At best, more memory will give you a 10% to 30% improvement, in most cases.

With regards to how much you should add, there is no perfect formula. Here are a few examples of what you might upgrade your memory to, considering how much you currently have. NOTE: 32bit versions of CURRENT UPGRADE TO Windows can’t use more than 1GB 2GB or 4GB 3.12 GB of RAM, so it’s not 2GB 4GB or 6GB really worth getting more than 4GB 6GB or 8GB 4GB. However, 64bit versions 8GB 16GB can take advantage of higher amounts of RAM. Also keep these facts in mind when you consider upgrading RAM:

• You will want to open your computer case and determine how many RAM slots you have free. With most modern computers, you can mix different sizes of RAM, and if you have an open RAM slot, can just add another RAM chip. However, if all your slots are full, the only way to add a larger chip is to discard a small one.

• There are different types of RAM. Most modern computers use what is called DDR2 SDRAM (Double Data Rate – Synchronous Dynamic RAM), but there is also DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, and the older plain DDR SDRAM and SDRAM. Your best bet is to check your computer manual for the type you have, or remove an existing chip and carefully take it to the store with you.

• Finally, your RAM chips come in different speeds that match the speed of certain components on your motherboard. It’s always best to get the speed that’s recommended for your computer. Again, you’ll want to check your computer manual.

• If memory terms are totally foreign to you, and you no longer have the book that came with your computer, you can visit the Web site of Crucial Technologies (www.crucial.com), a memory chip retailer, and run an interactive program that determines what you have and what you need.

Things you can do: • Visit www.crucial.com and use their tool to determine the RAM type you have.

Although it’s easiest to have the computer store install your memory, you can try it yourself if you are bold enough to remove the computer cover, and unplug or plug-in the RAM chips.

If you decide to give it a try, remember that SDRAM chips must be oriented a certain way to match the notch on the chips bottom. Also remember that there are two small chip clamps on the end of the RAM plug that will latch onto the SDRAM chip when you push down and insert it. Finally, RAM slots that have

never been used are sometimes tight and harder to plug in to. Try removing an existing chip and replacing it in the new slot, and put your new chip in an older slot.

Upgrade your hard drive to a newer 7,200 or 10,000 rpm drive Like most other computer components, hard drives come in different speeds, measured in RPMs (rotations per minute). Older drives run at 5,400rpm, while modern drives run at 7,200rpm or even 10,000rpm.

A faster hard drive means virtual memory will work faster, and thus, your computer speeds up. Faster hard drives also mean your programs will start faster when you click the icon, and files will open or save faster from within programs. It’s really pretty amazing how much faster your computer will work with a speedier hard drive.

And don’t forget the latest option in hard drives, Solid State Drives (SSD). They are SUPER fast since they use the same technology as “flash memory”. The do cost a bit more, but are dropping in price every day. If you do replace your older hard drive with an SSD you’ll be amazed at how fast your computer boots!

The downside to upgrading your hard drive is that fact that swapping your old hard drive for a new one is not a task the typical computer user can easily do. In most cases, you’ll want to have the computer store do it for you, and by all means, make a backup of your important data before you have it done (although a good technician will just copy your old hard drive to the new with no loss of data).

If instead of replacing your old hard drive you decide to simply add a second hard drive and store most of your data on that drive, we want to repeat a suggestion we made in our backup discussion. With most computers you can add a second drive inside the case. However, you can also add the drive as a portable, external hard drive. These drives come in an external case that plugs into an electrical wall outlet and your computers

USB port. The minute you turn the drive on, Windows will recognize it and add it to the list of drives in My Computer and Windows Explorer, making this a simple and effective upgrade. It’s also very portable, and easy to attach to other computers, and perfect for doing backups.

Upgrade your CPU (processor) and Motherboard One of the main determinants of how quickly your computer runs is the speed of your CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is the brain of your computer. Modern CPU’s run from 2.0GHz (Gigahertz, or 1 billion cycles per second) to over 4.0 GHz. The newest processors from Intel (Core i5 and i7) are dual and quad core, which means you have not just one CPU, but two or more in your computer, making your computer system even faster.

Adding a fast processor may seem like a good idea, until you look at the reality. CPUs are typically matched to their motherboard (the main circuit card inside the computer case). If you upgrade to a new CPU, you will also have to purchase a new motherboard. And to compound things, if you do get a new motherboard, there’s a good chance you’ll need faster RAM to go with it.

The bottom line: by the time you add up the cost to upgrade to a new CPU, it will probably be wiser to just purchase a entire new computer, especially considering the great deals you can get from companies such as Dell (www.dell.com).

Add a video card with more memory Inside of the computer case, plugged into or part of your motherboard, is a video card. This circuit card is responsible for handling what is displayed on your monitor, and has a lot to do with how quickly graphics and images appear on the screen. One important

component of a video card is video memory, and if you increase the amount of video memory, display speed usually increases.

Modern, high-end video cards have as much as 2GB to 3GB of GDDR5 video memory (a very fast memory type), which can tremendously improve the speed of your display and therefore your computer.

If you do decide to add a video card, it is again best to have the computer store install it for you. However, the cards usually come with well written instructions, so trying to install it yourself is certainly something to consider.

Don’t let the hard drive free space (C:) drop below 2GB Although your computer will work with less free space, as your free space dwindles, virtual memory space drops and Windows will run slower. If this happens to you, it’s probably time to clean off your hard drive (which we discuss back in the maintenance steps) or upgrade to a larger hard drive.

You can also free up some extra hard drive space by reducing the size of the recycle bin.

• RIGHT click on the Recycle Bin icon, and choose Properties

• Slide the bar down to something less than the normal 10% of the total hard drive space.

Set Windows Performance Options At the beginning of the booklet, we discussed the concept of virtual memory, and how Windows swaps data and information from memory to the hard drive, as memory begins to fill with the programs that are started and your data.

Typically, Windows handles virtual memory, which it also calls the paging file, automatically. However, there are Windows options you can change to force Windows to manage memory

differently. You can also set Windows to handle CPU foreground and background tasks differently, depending upon your particular needs.

Let’s start by setting the CPU performance:

• To begin, click START and then RUN, and type sysdm.cpl in the Run box, then click OK. When the window appears, choose the ADVANCED tab.

• On the Advanced tab, and under Performance click Settings.

• On the Visual Effects tab, you can choose Adjust for Best Performance to speed your computer up.

• Click the Advanced tab in this window, and choose an option under Processor Scheduling.

• Choosing Programs – the foreground program runs more smoothly and responds more quickly, while background programs (such as printing) run more slowly and less frequently until the foreground program is idle.

• Choosing Background Services – assigns equal amounts of processor time to all running programs.

Next, in the same window, we can set the memory management:

• In the Performance Options window, on the Advanced tab, click the Change button under Virtual Memory.

• When Windows is first setup, it automatically sets the virtual memory (paging file, called pagefile.sys) to 1.5 times the amount of

RAM on your computer. So, as an example, if you have 4GB the amount is set to 6GB.

• If you choose the System Managed Size option, Windows will continue to manage the virtual memory using the initial defaults mentioned above.

• You can set the memory settings yourself by choosing the Custom size option. The recommended setting is to have the Initial size set to 1.5 times the amount of memory you have, and the maximum set to 3 times the amount of memory. So, as an example, if you have 256MB of RAM, the Initial size is set to 384MB and the Maximum size is set to 768.

• If you have more than one hard drive on your computer, they will be listed in the Drive box, and you can set the paging file to the faster drive, or you can split the paging file across multiple drives, by choosing the drive and then setting the Initial and Maximum size.

Computer Troubleshooting Tips

When you have a problem with your computer, such as a program that locks up or gives you an error message as you try to do something in it, your goal is to try and determine what part of the computer system might be causing the problem. We call this troubleshooting.

The better you get at troubleshooting, the easier it becomes to find and often fix problems, or at least, have the proper information for someone else you have fix your computer. Since most troubleshooting is really a process of elimination, a good way to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions. These questions are typically the same ones a computer technician will ask, so answering them before you make your tech call saves time, and in many cases, money.

1. What are the specifications of your computer? – The first thing to have handy is a list of what your computer has on it, with regards to hardware and Windows. If you no longer have the invoice that came with your computer and often tells you these details, you can download and run a free program called Belarc Advisor (www.belarc.com/fre e_download.html) that gives you all the details of your specific computer by scanning it and displaying the results.

2. What exactly is the problem? – Does the computer lock up at a certain point? Does it stop doing something? Explain exactly what happens.

3. What was I doing when the problem happened? – This question is not included to blame you for doing anything, rather, it gives you a clue as to what program and what option in a program might be causing the problem. Were you in a particular software program? If so, which one, exactly, was it?

4. Were there any messages on the screen? – If you see an error message or window appear when a problem occurs, write down exactly what it says. If your computer is still functioning when the error occurs, press the PrtScn button at the top left of your keyboard, and then start up your word processor. If you choose Edit and then Paste, a shot of your screen will be pasted to the blank word processor page. You can then print the page and have it ready for your technician.

5. Did you just add anything new to the computer? – Did the problem seem to start after you added a new program, or installed a new piece of hardware, such as a printer? If so, does your computer meet the system requirements for that software or hardware device?

6. Does the problem go away when you restart the computer? – Restart the computer and try to duplicate the problem or error. If you can’t, chalk it up to a glitch. It’s sometimes amazing at how simply restarting your computer can solve a problem.

7. Does the problem always occur in the same place? – If your problem consistently happens when you are doing the same thing in the same place, it’s probably going to be easier to solve.

Dealing with Windows Lockups A Windows lockup is when your mouse and/or keyboard no longer seem to have any effect on making Windows do anything. Sometimes Windows locks to the point where the mouse doesn’t even make the pointer move.

Windows lockups can be caused by:

• Program conflicts • Power brown-outs • Memory corruption over long periods of time

The best way to deal with lockups is to follow the following sequence:

1. Wait a few minutes to see if the program unlocks and lets you continue. Often, the computer is not really locked up, it is just busy doing something and we are too inpatient to wait.

2. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL. In Windows XP, the Windows Task manager will display.

In Windows 7, 8, and 10 you’ll first get a menu where you will need to click the option “Start Task Manger”

In the Task Manger Windows, under the Applications tab, choose the offending program and click the End Task button.

3. When you are returned to the Windows Desktop, shut down your computer in the normal way, then turn it back on again.

4. If END TASK does not work, choose SHUT DOWN from the top of the screen.

5. If the computer does not respond to CTRL + ALT + DEL, you have no choice but to turn the power off.

6. With some auto-power off systems, you turn the power completely off by holding in the power switch for 5 to 10 seconds.

Class Activity • Start Solitaire and Wordpad, the press CTRL+ALT+DEL and use END TASK

Overheating There are certain parts of your computer, especially the CPU, that create a lot of heat when they run. In fact, your computer is typically equipped with one or more cooling fans. If these fans stop working, or if an excess of dust collects on certain computer components, your computer can overheat.

The overheating symptoms you typically see can include:

• After your computer is on for a short time, you consistently get strange error messages that disappear after you turn your machine off and let it cool down, and then restart it again.

• Your machine starts locking up at different places, with no visible cause.

• Your power supply fan becomes very noisy, or you start hearing a consistent whining sound from inside the computer (an internal fan is going bad).

Some ways you can fix the overheating problem:

• Make sure that the fan on the power supply is running by reaching behind the running computer and feeling for air movement from the fan. If it is not running, you can first try to blow the fan out with compressed air. If that does not work, it is time to replace the power supply. NOTE: It is not advisable to take your power supply apart and attempt to fix the fan. New power supplies cost only about $30.

• Remove the cover, turn on the computer, and make sure the fan on the CPU (processor) is running. If it is not, you must replace it with a new fan from the computer store. Also look at other fans that might be inside the case, and make sure they are running.

• Remove the cover and see how much dust has collected inside the machine. Use compressed air to blow off the dust. Especially make sure you blow out the power supply, the CPU fan, RAM chips, and any other case fan you might see.

Special Bonus Section: Using Glary Utilities At various places in this book, I mentioned Glary Utilities as a tool to help you perform some of the PC Maintenance and Windows Cleanup operations I suggest you do. So it makes sense that I include this brief section on how to get started using the program.

Downloading Glary Utilities To get the free program, visit www.glarysoft.com, and click the DOWNLOAD NOW button. You will be taken to CNET’s Download.com site (a very reputable place to get software) for the actual download.

Once you have downloaded it to a folder on your computer, go to that folder and 2x click the file you downloaded to start the installation. Just follow the screen prompts and click NEXT to complete the Glary installation process.

NOTE: On the following screenshots you’ll notice that I’m using the “PRO” version of Glary, which is the pay-for version. However, the free version you download will look very similar.

1-Click Maintenance When you start Glary, you’ll see tabs at the top of the window that you can click to see different parts of the program. To start, I want you to click the 1-Click Maintenance Tab which will display a screen that looks like this…

I sometimes call this the “no-brainer” mode for Glary, since it’s a very simple screen that lets you checkmark the most important “scans” that Glary does and then with one click of SCAN FOR ISSUES, start the scanning and cleaning process which can take some time.

If you’d like to try this scan, I suggest you checkmark the following options: • Registry Cleaner • Shortcuts Fixer • Spyware Remover • Temporary Files Cleaner • Notice I did NOT include Tracks Eraser, which deletes your Internet history and cookies, which in turn might delete some automatic log-ins you have as you use the Internet. • I also didn’t include Disk Repair (since it does a scan disk which can take some time) or Startup Manager (which I talk about a bit later).

Once the scan has completed, you’ll see results next to each option that are either RED or GREEN. You can then click Show Details to see more information and individually choose what to fix, or just click the REPAIR PROBLEMS button to just fix everything automatically (which is what I typically do).

Selecting Options from the Modules Although the 1-Click Maintenance options is super easy to use, I will sometimes select exactly what I want Glary to scan by using the Advanced Tools tab. Here, you also see additional features that are not shown on the 1-Click Maintenance tab, organized by “system”.

Although I’m not going to cover every feature that’s seen on this tab, let’s take a look at the options that I cover in this book, and the ones that I suggest you focus on for keeping your computer running smoothly. When you click the Advanced Tools Tab, notice there are two small circles to the right of the screen. Clicking the LOWER circle will take you to the “full” Advanced Tools screen which is what I’ll cover here.

You can see below what the Advanced Tools screen looks like.

Windows Registry This section has the options that help clean up the Windows Registry. • Repair – This will scan the registry and fix problems it might have. When you choose this option, an additional window opens where you must then click the “Scan registry for problems” button. • Defragment – After the registry has been read/written to again and again, it can become a bit bloated. This option will help reorganize and clean it up. Note that when you run it, it will ask you to close all other programs you have running.

Here’s an example of what I saw when I did a Registry Repair scan on my own computer. Note that I’ve circled the button you click to start the scan…

Disk Space As I’ve mentioned in the book, freeing up hard drive space always helps improve the performance of Windows and your computer. In this section of Glary are various tools you can use to help you get rid of “junk” files you don’t need.

The only one I really use on a regular basis is “Cleanup”, which is a one-click way to clear out the temporary files that Windows leaves lying around. Here’s what it looked like when I ran it on my computer.

Note that to finish the process, you click the START CLEANING button.

Anti-Malware This one is pretty simple. Clicking Malware Remover will start a scan that checks for the most common types of malware that might have infected your computer. If you have a good Anti- Virus program already running, this scan typically won’t find much (as you can see in the scan that I did below).

System Control The most important option in this section is the first one, Startup Items, which is a utility that helps you decide which programs start and become “memory resident” when you turn on your computer.

Recall from earlier in the book that I said the more programs you have running in memory, the slower your computer will run. This program helps you decide which ones to keep running and which ones to turn off.

Here’s what it looks like on my computer… You’ll notice that the program shows a list of all the memory resident programs attempting to startup when you start your computer. By moving the slider to disabled , you prevent a program from starting.

To help you decide if a program should start or not, there is first a RATING panel on the right showing you what other users think about this startup program.

You can also click the MORE INFORMATION button which takes you to the Glary web site where there is even more information about the program.

Note that there are other tabs at the top of the screen besides Startup Programs. It’s interesting to explore those tabs (which show various browser plug-ins and scheduled computer tasks) but for cleanup purposes, the Startup Programs tab is the most important.

Hard disks These three options help the performance of your hard drive, and are basically the same thing I talked about earlier in the book when talking about optimizing the hard drive.

• Defragment – opens a window where you can start the defragmentation process, which reorganizes and speeds up the access to your hard drive. There is a screenshot of the Defragment program below on this page.

• Boot Defragment – the “boot sector” of your hard drive is a special area that contains the Windows startup files that are accessed when your computer is firsts turned on. This option optimizes that part of the hard drive. Notice that when you run this program, it schedules a defragmentation that happens after your computer reboots, but before Windows loads up.

• Check for errors – this is the same hard drive error checking program that I talked about earlier in the book.

Programs The most important utility in this section is “Uninstall”, which is basically the Glary Utilities version of the Programs & Settings (or Add-Remove Programs) window.

What’s nice about doing this in Glary is that you get more information about the programs and can checkmark and remove more than one at a time. You can also just have “Large Programs” or “Rarely Used Programs” listed by themselves, making it easier to find software that might be a good candidate to remove from your computer.

Here’s what it looks like on my computer.

Odds & Ends Besides those I just discussed on a section by section basis, there are a few other options on the Glary Utilities Advanced Tools tab that might interest you.

• Remove duplicates / empty folders / broken shortcuts, all can help you find files that might be worth deleting to free up your hard drive. • Erase History helps you remove cookies and browser history from all your browsers. • Wipe free space goes back over space you’ve freed on your hard drive, and permanently eliminates any “deleted files” from that space. • System Information works like the Belarc Advisor program I talked about in the book, by giving you all types of information about your computer, software, and Windows.

• System restore gives you a quick way to access the Windows Create/Restore point feature.

Finally, you’ll see a utility program called Check for updates under the Programs section of the Advanced Tools screen. This is one of my favorite extra features of Glary.

What it does is scan your computer software, and then show you any important software updates that you should do. Not only that, but it takes you to the Glary site where you can download and then install those updates.

Glary Utility Summary So to summarize, here is a quick list of the most important Glary features found on the Advanced Tab, that go along with what we’ve talked about in this book…

• Windows Registry o Repair (book Step Four) o Defragment (book Step Four) • Disk Space o Cleanup (book Step Three) • Anti-Malware o Remove malware (book Step Two) • System Control o Startup Items (book Step Four) • Hard Disks o Defragment (book Step Six) o Boot defragment (book Step Six) o Check for errors (book Step Five) • Programs o Uninstall (book Step Three)

By now you have to admit that Glary Utilities is a pretty cool program that can help you get past some of the geeky stuff I went through with you in this book. I definitely think it’s worth your time and effort to download it and give it a try.

By the way… I’d love to hear about any experiences you might have with the program. Please drop me a note at this email: [email protected].

Take care!!!

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