Good advice
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Guillermo, thanks for the info, now where can I find you or a guy like you when I buy my new PC next month?
Whenever I buy a new computer I always get rid of the bloatware, but, I know that there is so much
other unnecessary stuff that I could be better off without, but I don't know which ones they are, and I don't want to take out something essential.
I need a roadmap of what is safe to remove.
Thanks for your expertise ..Ben Mcalister. sfsolo@sbcglobal.net
Hi High Desert Charlie,
Im very sorry in the previous message I called you Guillermo, I was looking at the wrong part of message, forgive
me please. BEN Mcalister. sfsolo@sbcglobal.net
...you want to have properly cleaned out. First, identify which folder of which bit mode you want to clean and optimize your HDD afterwards.
I mean, that, you will need one for the main folder of the x64 applications and their registry entries in the registry and, a different one for the main folder of the x86 applications and their registry entries also.
So, having IObit's A.S.C. 4 will generally be for the x86(32bit) main folder's content of registered applications. Now, you will have to determine which one of the two others do a 64bit folder's and registry's best scan and fixes. Note: the one that will have definitions updates more often will be the most reliable, majority of the time. You might have to go to your archived retail boxes to confirm the whole thing out.
More useful advice: SmartDefrag 2.1 from IObit will do a full defragmentation and full optimization of your Hard Drive no matter the bit rate of processing ability these applications are designed and configured to run on your current machine.![]()
Before I quit the Microsoft scene, I used Comodo on every PC in the house. Clean-up, backup and a no problem anti-virus. Had it on for several years. The only problems were the nag to allow or deny system writes when any process attempted to modify the system or system files such as when installing/uninstalling or updating ... you had to know what processes were doing what. That means Comodo isn't for the beginner or the computer illiterate because it's easy to either deny a needful modification or to allow some cleverly disguised malware to make modifications. But that nag made you aware that Comodo was on top of everything. In all the time and on each PC we never had one problem traced back to Comodo other than the second problem of it being a resource hog if you goofed and scheduled more than one Comodo operation to run too close to another one or if you had some other hard working program running. I now run Linux-Mint on everything - no registry problems, no virus or anti-virus problems, no defrag problems, no overloaded resources - everything goes into real productive work processes. System maintenance involves a daily backup and an occasional check for system or program updates.
PC World did a side by side comparison of most of the regular software available for this issue you would do yourself a world good in reading it. They answer most of your concerns in better detail then what you will get here.
My favorite program is the RegistryHealer (vs 4.5 ; vs 5.0 just came out)
It backs up, removes some and - most importantly corrects where needed.
Not free but saved my bacon many times. Free try!
I also use ERUNT for independent registry backup.
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It may depend on when the maker of each program has an update if program 1 puts out an update today and a glitch is made tomorrow and the second program puts out an update then the first program may not have the information to fix the problem. it may also be the programs you are using are generally used to clean up your system and can look at difrent areas.
its confusing.
Advanced SystemCare Pro v4.XXX made such a fantastic difference in my Windows 7 machine. The best part is the Registry cleaner. I thought I was happy with RegCure... ASC4 is so far the best to come along...
I also use Norton anti-virus suite (Offered by comcast) along with ConstantGuard (r)
since I found out they stole the source code to MBAM. Do you really want something made in the PRC in your computer? Especially the way they treat dissidents?
I recommend:
CCleaner
Glary Utilities
Macecraft JV16 - this has been tried and true by IT pros for years.
Revo Uninstaller - to get rid of pesky programs and all the registry problems that go with them too!
You didn't specify which OS you are using. I have several P4 and Dual Core desktops still on Win XP. The combination of MS Security Essentials, Advanced System Care 4, and (free) Malwarebytes keeps them humming. I like the comment to reload your OS from a backup - backup as that is probably the top drawer approach, but I just don't have that kind of time. And my limited experience with Win 7 confirms other authors' comclusion that it is much more stable than XP.
I have had the same or similar problem that you describe. I am just a novice at computing but when I took my bloated and sluggish HP Pentium 4 to the the local shop, the tech there taught me a few things. First of all, he taught me that Norton was bad for Windows, and replaced it with Avast. Then he got rid of the several cleaners that I had and left me with CCleaner. He also showed me how to clean my PC myself. You simply go to Start < Accessories < Run. In the box you type %Temp% , then hit OK. Then you delete all the temporary files that are shown.
Works for me !
Don F.
I have tried Uniblue Power Suite and have not been convinced by this program. I ran my usual scan at start up, it found some errors in both, Speed Up My PC and Regcure, then promptly fixed these errors. I then saw a free scan offered by Uniblue, ran it out of interest and the results were quite a surprise to me as it found over 300 Errors and urged me to purchase the program to fix them. I contacted Uniblue to ask them to explain to me "how could this be after my installed version said it had fixed my issues. The reply I received from them was "some programs are more aggressive than others and this would be the reason the scan showed up more fixes were required".
I then emailed them back to say the free scan I ran was their own software, and not as they seemed to think, someone else s, and I still await a reply!! ![]()
I am using Win 7, and I have used all Windows versions ever since Win 1.5 (that was on floppy disk), One of the cleaners might have caused more registry errors to appear. I have tried a few cleaners. None are worth the money. I believe that MS Windows should clean up the registry after itself. However, I also believe that all installed software should maintain the registry entries it makes and alters, and MS should enforce this, make it a requirement. If a user installs and uninstalls software, eventually the registry will become bloated, and the PC will slow down, especially during startup. When Windows boots, it preloads a lot of stuff. The more software you have on your hard drive, the more WIndows preloads, and the longer it takes to boot. I think that if a user wants a faster and cleaner PC, he/she should not install and uninstall software. Second, do not run any PC games except for those that come with Microsoft WIndows. They will mess up your Windows installation. Buy a gaming system for games. Another thing, I have had PCs and built most of those ever since the 8086 PCs, one of the first. Those ran at incredibly slow speeds like 16 MHz. Today, my PC is a quad core 2.5 GHz 8 GB system I built in 2007. Even though the PC is thousands of times faster than the early PCs, it still takes several minutes to boot. Unbelieveably, software runs just as slowly as it did on the 16 MHz machines. In the log run, the best thing to do is to reload or restore Windows periodically. Also, MS has the power to fix this problem just as I have stated above.
Mail1 I couldn't agree more that registry integrity being enforced by MS. There are several programs I use that can monitor the registry but because of internal Windows process etc is constantly being written to which make tracking changes that affect permanent operational integrity and efficiency difficult. However, I am sure that MS could do something better than system restore which is a heavy handed approach. The same applies to driver update. They are fraught with danger as often issues do not manifest themselves immediately and problems are notoriously difficult to isolate. Similarly I would like to know, without having to rumble around to find log files, what the hell the computer is doing at any one time so there is some explanation of PC behaviour eg stalling (usually a process or application is background processing or the like). The Task Manager, event logging etc are good but I want to know what my PC is doing right now if I feel the need to know. Also the repair function (in XP at least) often returns crispness of the system but what a drastic step! I fail to accept that the majority of registry is OK and there is either junk or a few rogue entries slowing things up. In short, all of these tasks can be accomplished but not without resort to third party software and lots of stuffing around. This is something MS can improve quite readily by providing onboard tools that provide feedback or a scanning services like Fix-it that will comprehensively analyse a system and detect structural issue. Cheers
ibelieve cc cleaner and the rest of the junk file removers actually only mark the files for overwrite where as programs like clean my pc actually delete plus doing many other jobs this can be got on the h33t site
is a SCAM stay away from it. If you DO manage to purchase a copy it will WIPE your system if you don't know what you're doing. This happened to me when I let it delete some files I didn't recognize as being essential! I had to reinstall the system.
I have been using the Uniblue "Speed Up My PC" and "RegistryBooster2" for several years with no problems at all, and it definitely speeds up the system. I especially like the "Registry Defrag" utility which also makes a BIG difference the first time you use it. (after that it is primarily for maintenance purposes)
I think "janitorman" said it best when he posted you might have problems "if you don't know what you're doing". Apparently he doesn't. The directions are clear, if you read them. Also you need to make a backup of your files (it gives you this option) before completing the cleanup.
I am not an employee of UNIBLUE nor affiliated with them (or the parent company) in any way. I AM a tech professional who does not enjoy reading blasts against good companies from people who do not read directions of use their software correctly. While there ARE companies that are sellingless than capable software out there, this is not one of them. I recommend to ANYONE considering such a purchase to do their research on a prospective product before purchasing it.
Can anyone give me feed back regarding Kaspersky vs ESET NOD32, thanks. RayQ
NOD32 continues to win speed tests and folk that need small less heavy protection flock to it.
Other than that, I'd take either.
Bob
Iolo System Mechanic is the best (my opinion). I have been using it for years and my old PC runs just like a Cadillac.
I have been using System Mechanic for seven years. In that time I have never had a virus on my computer. The program runs in the background and cleans the system until it is absolutely humming!
I think Tuneup Utilities is the best, I have tried the others. You just set it up and leave it.
and now and again it will prompt you how you can improve the running of your PC.
It is very light on resources, like I say you can run it and forget it.
I fully agree with jororich that Tuneup Utilities is the best software for the PC.
I posted the results of an independent comparison in a forum sticky: http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6138_102-535800.html
Kees