Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

New Windows 7 PC, please help me get started on the right track

Jun 17, 2011 9:03AM PDT
Question: New Windows 7 PC, please help me get started on the right track

I'm happy to say that I am a proud owner of a brand-new HP Pavilion
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit desktop. It's fully loaded with all the
hardware bells and whistles--Intel i7-970 six-core CPU, 1.5 TB hard
drive, 12GB of RAM, Blu-ray player with DVD-R, 1GB ATI Radeon video
card, and more. Before I begin to really start using this workhorse,
I want to start it off on the right track. I know there are a lot of tips
and tricks scattered out there on how to properly maintain a PC, but I
really want to nail down a solid list of routine tasks and procedures
(software and hardware) to maintain it regularly to keep this baby
running in tip-top shape for years to come. This computer took me a
long time to save up for and I want to get the most out of my hard-earned
money and make it last. Can you please help me out with that?
All advice, recommendations, and coaching are welcome. I'm taking
notes now. Thanks to all who can help out.

--Submitted by: Eric C.

Here are some member answers to get you started, but
please read all the advice and suggestions that our
members have contributed to this question.

Some basic ideas --Submitted by: MightyDrakeC
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-21563_102-5150441.html

Set up a few Automated Windows Tasks, and a few programs --Submitted by: Anysia
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-21563_102-5150463.html

Getting an HP started right. --Submitted by: thekid1949
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-21563_102-5150473.html

Think Defensively --Submitted by: tkainz
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-21563_102-5151281.html

Eric some additional information --Submitted by: Lee
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-21563_102-5154422.html

Thanks to all who contributed!


If you any additional advice or recommendations for Eric please click on Answer link below and submit away. If you are providing a listed for him, please give specific details along with each item so that it can understood by all. The more details you can provide the better. Thanks!

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
New Windows 7 PC, please help me get started on the right tr
Jul 2, 2011 7:31PM PDT

Hello Eric C.

I have gone through your querry and also the responses that are being generated on this blog. Some helpful, some critical, some over technical, etc. However, it still makes me wonder - to start with, what made you buy THIS computer? What is its purpose? Is this another high-end gizmo that one wants to flaunt around?

Please DO NOT get me wrong. Today, we are bombarded with the 'latest and the best' equipment by the vendors using their high pressure sales pitches to mesmerise users into 'want more'. Whether the purchase is really 'need based' or not, only the purchaser can justify. Else, it is a total waste of money. More so, today's high spec computers are obsolete tomorrow and the mental satisfaction of owning a 'grand' computer goes down the drain quickly. Many of the regular computing can be very effectively accomplished with the low power 'obselete' computers - this is NOT rocket science. If you do lots of 'number' crunching (including those like AutoCad and similar, Video and Sound Encoding,etc.), then a 'fast' computer is a must along with other supportive pheripherals.

Having said all these and that the Object d'Art has already been purchased, the FIRST thing that you need is an UPS that will support your equipment. This is your best insurance policy against power failure/outages which can bring your investment to a naught within seconds not to mention your unsaved hard work going out of the window. You NEED this protection. Next protection you need is a good "anti-virus" programme loaded - no more than one or else you will find these programmes fighting amongst each other at YOUR cost. This is on presumption that you will be surfing the net and /or do disc/drive swapping which are the vius 'carriers'. Next, remove all bloatware completely (incluiding its own specific *dll files, etc.) that you DO NOT need. Keep your system trim and supple - you will be surprised by the efficiency with this. Next, DO NOT 'upgrade' your resident programmes including drivers UNLESS you have a clear advantage in doing so. Once this initial exercise is performed and you are happy with its functioning - BACKUP. This can never be over-emphazied. Next, keep a bootable CD/Pendrive handly for emergency situation. This can help you in accessing your (unbootable) HDDs, if required for data retriival and/or maintenance.

Enviorment - Use your system in an airy dry place. Your 'system' box should also be kept in a strong and strudy place that is not prone to 'accidental' knocks. Have an extra pair of Keyboard/Mouse handy as replacement - these are the most used and abused items that wear off quickly (they do so when you really dont want). Here, it is better to use the cheap and 'disposable' Keyboard/mouse - you wont feel the pince while changing them. Lastly, use your equipment delicately and treat it like a baby - it will give you years of service unless you want to change it. Believe me, I still have my 'Spectrum', 'Commodore', 'Amstrad 512', 'Gateway 486', 'Compaq LTE', Tosh 4850' still in perfect working condition and I assemble my own System too - ground up using mix-n-match pheripherals.

Wow, quite a lecture for the uninitiated. Cool

Good luck.

- Collapse -
Answer
A few recommendations
Jul 2, 2011 7:38PM PDT

Eric,
I have a very similar setup in my machine that I bought last August. It's a home-built Intel i7-980X (also 6-core) with 8GB RAM (2x 4GB modules; expandable up to 24GB), two 1TB HDDs, DVD-RW, Blu-ray burner/DVD-RW, and Nvidia GeForce GTX 470. It's a family computer with 5 users, but I still planned for it to last a good 7+ years.

In order for any system (especially running Windows) to last more than a couple of years without being completely cluttered, I have a few recommendations. First, make sure you have a GOOD anti-virus program that has a light footprint. You don't want anti-virus to eat up system resources or else it'll be as slow as your old machine in no time. I'm a Symantec/Norton user, so I don't use many other programs, but I usually use Norton Internet Security or Symantec Endpoint Protection (via volume license from my company).

Also, have some type of backup solution in mind. Whether it's an external drive with automatic backups weekly or a hardware RAID setup, you MUST have a backup solution so that loss is minimized when it must occur... 1.5TB is a lot of data to lose! Be careful with RAID, though, because while it does offer worry-free data redundancy with the right configuration (RAID 0+1, 1+0, 1, or 5), it will NOT protect against human error or viruses, but ONLY hardware failures. So if you accidentally delete something, an external drive would have the restoration whereas you'd be out of luck with RAID. If in doubt, definitely get an external drive, but use your discretion in RAID based on your tech level. In addition an UPS can certainly help with data loss due to power outages.

Keep your programs clean. Repeated installs, uninstalls, installs of various programs can clutter your registry and Windows config, so be careful. Defragment every month and run CHKDSK every couple of months. If you add another HDD not in the RAID array, consider installing most of your programs on that drive (MS Office, Chrome/Firefox, games, etc) to keep the Windows C drive clean.

Consider making a Linux/Ubuntu partition. 20GB will suffice for most users that use Windows as their default OS, but make the partition big enough on the drive so you NEVER need to expand it (make it, say, 50GB). My computer just went through a 10-hour operation to expand my Linux partition, and it was quite painful. However, Linux can be a lifesaver, especially if you get a system crash or virus, because Linux can read NTFS drives so you can backup your data in the event of a catastrophic failure. Not to mention it can do a bunch of cool stuff, all under almost virus-free security, and Ubuntu is completely FREE.

One last tip: Windows only lasts so long. Chances are, you're going to need to reformat sometime if you plan to keep your system for more than 4-5 years like me, especially if you have more than one user. Have a data replacement plan. For me, I plan to REPLACE my hard drives (or add them to a RAID 01, 10, or 1 array) after 4-5 years, and possibly reinstall Windows if needed.

Hope this helped. I'm not sure of your tech level, so this might have been too watered-down or too complex. Either way, a new system opens doors to only learning more, and Google and CNET are always there when you need them. Good luck!

- Collapse -
Answer
maintain for 10 yr ok , 5 yr waste of time
Jul 3, 2011 8:29AM PDT

if you are going to keep pc for 10 years or more , maintain is good but for 5 years wasted of time because 50% of these computer parts of the computer does not exist after 10 years for example computer part for ISA slot, agp , standard pci , ide for hard drive .

- Collapse -
Answer
Get started on the right track
Jul 3, 2011 10:56PM PDT

Hi Lee Koo. If you need to be up to date every time you should to use special software from manufacturer HP, which can to analyze your current state of operating system and other original software. I have Toshiba Satellite notebook, and it has the same utility. For example try it - HP Update Software Utility: HP Update (HPU) is a software utility that delivers and installs drivers, fixes, and critical software updates for computers and HP products. You can find it in official web site HP.com Good luck man!