CCleaner

I know most people are already familiar with this, but I can't afford not talking about it. CCleaner is one of the best programs I have found to clean up junk windows leaves around (Pretty much everything from Piriform is amazing) If you have an old system that's been used for awhile, this will do wonders. I'm going to include an article from WikiHow about how to use it. I am very familiar with it though, so if you have questions, leave me a comment.

Steps

1. Open CCleaner. Download Here
   
2. Go to the Cleaner tab and you will be confronted by a very confusing lineup of checkboxes.
   
3. To make this brief, below is my recommended setup:
   
4. Under internet explorer check temporary internet files, cookies, and last download location. Most users don't really need this stuff. keep history and bookmarks unchecked, history is a maybe, but you don't want to lose bookmarked sites. You can normally leave Windows Explorer, System, and Advanced alone.
   
5. Run CCleaner and it will start deleting files.
   
6. afterward it will present you with a list of the files deleted, you really don't need to go through it as it will be several pages long.
   
7. The registry cleaner is recommended for slightly more advanced users. Use it after uninstalling programs as they will often leave behind incorrect registry entries.
   
8. If you decide to run Registry cleaner then review the items detected and always back up the registry (I keep a folder aside for this)
   
9. The Tools tab lets you uninstall programs and set startup programs. Why do you need this if Windows has all of these features? Especially with Vista Home Ed. The windows defender software explorer( startup programs) doesn't pick up some entries (however software explorer is easier to use).
   
10. Using CCleaner to uninstall programs and then check for leftover registry entries takes less time.
    
11. Under Options you can determine how CCleaner cleans your files. I leave this alone.
    

Tips

• You might want to check the Recycle bin because CCleaner auto empties it.
  
• Make sure you aren't deleting needed files, press analyze before clean and backup the registry.
  
• Check the Applications tab under Clean as Firefox users might need to uncheck some of the options to prevent deleting history.
  

Warnings

• Be careful when deleting files, you could really screw up your computer.
  
• Vista computers really (badword) with compatibility, but it seems to work on Home Premium (cause I have it) Just make sure you don't install too many programs at once.
  

That's it for now, If you have questions or any suggestions, leave me a comment!

Passive Protection

Have you applied any passive protection on your computer? If not, you should do so as soon as possible. It's one of the most important things I look at when setting up a clients PC. While there is real-time protection like Norton Antivirus (which bogs down the computer by using up resources such as CPU power and memory), there is also passive protection which does not impact you PC's performance. It plugs in the security holes and tells the computer not to do various things which are guaranteed to give you a virus. I am going to list 3 different types of software I recommend which are all free. I hate spending money, and I'm sure you do too. If there's a free alternative, you bet I'm all over it.

The first is Spybot Search and Destroy. You can download it here on CNET. After installing and grabbing the updates, hit the immunize tab and then hit the immunize button on the top. This will help protect your computer from installing future spyware from websites and connecting to malicious websites. Here's a screenshot of what it normally looks like.




The second is Spyware Blaster. You can download it here on CNET. After installing and grabbing the updates, go ahead and hit "Enable All Protection" under the Protection Status tab. This will tell whatever browsers you have installed which sites not to go to. Here's a screenshot of what it should look like after you applied protection:



Lastly, there is Advanced SystemCare. You can download it here on CNET. While there are a lot of great optimizations this program can do, I will stick with it's passive protection features. Once installed, click the diagnose system button and have the program scan your machine for Security Defense. Once scanned, have the program apply the necessary fixes. This will help prevent spyware from being installed. I encourage you to look at the other things within this program as it is one of the easiest and most functional tools I've come across.



By doing these steps, you have highly increased the security on your PC without sacrificing computer performance. In fact, it isn't uncommon to notice a small increase of performance after applying these settings. If you have any questions, or some suggestions for future topics, leave a comment!