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| Ccleaner how-to |
Here's how to do your own tune-up.I would start by closing all programs and shutting down as much stuff as you can from the system tray (near the clock). Then run Ccleaner. Do NOT download anything other than Ccleaner and AVG unless you have a need. I had another client who bought some CD off the TV (late-night shopper) and when the CD came in the mail, it took her credit card number and didn’t give anything back but a virus and malware. She called me with trouble getting online, because her browser had been “hijacked” by this software CD and was going to other websites than what she typed in. Just don’t do it. Don’t download or buy anything. Ccleaner and AVG. ‘nuff said.Ok, so you may or may not have Ccleaner installed. If you do, it may ask to upgrade when it starts. If you have the time, upgrade it. If not, don’t. Run through Ccleaner in steps: 1. 1. Take out the trash. This gives each subsequent step a smaller pile of files to sift through. You will see this is the uppermost tab. In the Cleaner tab, you want to select certain things NOT to delete. In my case, I chose to save (by unchecking the box) “Recently Typed URLs”, “Autocomplete Form History”, “Recent Documents”, and so on. You will see that Ccleaner comes pre-set a little different, but you will have to experiment to make sure you like the settings. 2. 2. If you click the “Registry” tab, you comb the registry for errors. This is the ONLY tool you need to fix your registry for errors; do not download other stuff from the Internet or TV ads. You may have more than one error, so keep running it until there are none. 3. 3. Last comes the Tools tab. But inside that tab there are three sub-tabs. So this is where it gets complicated. 4. a. The Uninstall section: This is the exact same thing as Windows’ “Add and Remove Program” dialogue, but better. Use this to scan for crapware, like the CD mentioned above or anything else. Go through and delete old software. For you, please specifically look for and uninstall anything and everything that has to do with mouse, mouseware, Dell wireless keyboard, keyboard drivers, etc. 5. b. The Startup section: The startup section shows all programs that will start with Windows. You don’t need many, but you need an educated eye to tell what to keep. I use Google to find out what things are that I don’t recognize. Each item on this list effectively can slow down your PC, so this is where you can really reap some benefits of the tune-up. Turning off each unneeded item will help speed up the computer. Note: you can Disable without Deleting if you’re not sure what the item does; then come back to turn it on if needed. 6. c. And the System Restore section. This last section may or may not be visible depending on your version and OS. You can delete System Restore points here to save disk space. 7. 4. As a final step, I close all programs and run Windows’ disk defragmenter. Also the same company that makes Ccleaner makes an “approved” program called Defraggler, which does the same thing but better. Google it. 8. 5. After you do this, reboot your PC and run through the “Registry” step above again. And again. And then again. Stop once it finds NO errors. The combination of each of these steps above gives you about 25% of what I do for a standard tune-up. Like I said, you don’t need anything else other than Ccleaner and AVG, unless your IT guy tells you.~ap
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 06 December 2009 20:04 |
