opinions needed.

[garyf]

Just got off the phone to a punting mate of mine who,
Recommended a free product called Slim Cleaner v2 for,
Cleaning up computer junk.

Not being that knowledgeable regarding computers,
Can anyone give me a wrap on this or leave it alone.

Just google up slim cleaner.
Appreciate if someone else can give me an opinion,
On whether to download it or not,

It is free.

Cheers.

[norisk]

garyf, as a general rule I would never install any of these types of programs as they almost always come with unwanted & unnecessary 'additional baggage'.

If your pc is running poorly or having lots of problems it is a much better option to start from scratch & reinstall Windows.

[garyf]

Thanks noriskUnless somebody actually has it installed and can tell,
Me otherwise i think i will heed your advice.

Especially with all the important stuff i have on the computer.

Cheers.

[Puntz]

CCleaner, but know first what to tick and in "registry clean" don't tick Fonts, it can mess up ya Fonts on everything.

Then use COMODO System-Cleaner and possibly try to find some other browser then IE.

Google also seems to be overwhelming if ya don't know what it's doing, but try to minimize Google, FB and all those things based on advertising revenue, that's if ya puter is "seriously" set up for the punt...

[Shaun]

This is a free cleanup program that all you need to do is install and run no need to adjust, on first run it will do a simulation if you want but it is safe to use.

http://www.stevengould.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=69

He does ask for donations but you can just click no and i guarantee that no adwear or anything else install.

There are some options but not needed to change unless you want to save some cookies.

[garyf]

CCleaner, but know first what to tick and in "registry clean" don't tick Fonts, it can mess up ya Fonts on everything.

Then use COMODO System-Cleaner and possibly try to find some other browser then IE.

Google also seems to be overwhelming if ya don't know what it's doing, but try to minimize Google, FB and all those things based on advertising revenue, that's if ya puter is "seriously" set up for the punt...Thanks that's actually the one i now use the c cleaner
Was recommended by my local computer store.

Cheers.

[garyf]

This is a free cleanup program that all you need to do is install and run no need to adjust, on first run it will do a simulation if you want but it is safe to use.

http://www.stevengould.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=69

He does ask for donations but you can just click no and i guarantee that no adwear or anything else install.

There are some options but not needed to change unless you want to save some cookies.Might get this as well and have them both.
They won't conflict will they? if that's the word.

Cheers.

[Shaun]

No they won't, i have never trusted CCleaner because of the damage it can cause if incorrectly set so just because what you select.

[garyf]

No they won't, i have never trusted CCleaner because of the damage it can cause if incorrectly set so just because what you select.OK thanks.

Cheers.

[AngryPixie]

garyf, as a general rule I would never install any of these types of programs as they almost always come with unwanted & unnecessary 'additional baggage'.

If your pc is running poorly or having lots of problems it is a much better option to start from scratch & reinstall Windows.

Gary I'm mostly with norisk on this. I'd be taking regular snapshots of your system using some of the very good utilities available (TrueImage comes to mind), and when needed revert to one of your saved snapshots. Been doing IT for a very long time, and run a team responsible for a very large number of computers within a major Australia research organisation and I'd never advise any body use any of the clean-up "tools" available. Seriously more trouble than they're worth. Something like TrueImage will return your computer to a previous working state within minutes.

[garyf]

Hi A.P.

Since my local shop formatted my computer i have,
Had no trouble are you saying then just use the basic,
Things like internet explorer and disk clean up for my computer.

And get rid of the others.

I have the pro-version of a.v.g virus and paid for,
Malwarebytes read somewhere on this forum they were good.

But when it comes to a general clean i was a bit lost.

A.v.g offer a p.c. tuneup it's only about 50-60 bucks for,
A couple of years would you reckon get that there virus,
Protection runs good not like the other one i had, to slow.

Money's not really an object the quality and safety are however.

Have a Toshiba backup if that's what you mean.

Cheers.

[AngryPixie]

Gary

I'm talking more about the clean-up/tune-up utilities not so much the anti-virus tools.

The secret of a stable system is to keep things as vanilla and avoid installing anything you don't really need. There's very little need to take a machine back to the shop just to be cleaned up, just takes a bit of discipline :)

Some ideas. Most obvious but some others may benefit:

1) Never save data to the system drive (C: drive) of your machine. That drive is for the machine to use - not you. If you have a second hard drive (preferrable) or a single drive with two partitions for system and data(less preferrable) your data should go on this second drive. Then if the system drive goes pear your data is at less risk.
2) Consider saving your data to a space independant of your system. For a home user this could be an external drive or even one of the better cloud storage services (Amazon, SugarSync, SpiderOak). Only consider an external drive from a drive manafacturer that's willing to put their name on the outside (Western Digital, Seagate).
3) Use a snapshot tool (TrueImage) to snapshot the machine in an out-of-box state (operating system with no installed applications). Once your main apps are installed take a second snapshot. Then snapshot your machine *before* installing any additional apps or drivers. You can then return to a previous working state if need be in the future. Windows System Restore is ok but something like TrueImage is much better. Use a second external hard drive (the small bus powered portable drives are ok for this) dedicated to these snapshots. Lock this drive away in a safe place away from your system.
4) Avoid the temptation of installing "trial" software. Ask yourself if you really need to install that little bit of software you just stumbled across and if you do, wait a day or two to ensure that you really do. Then ask yourself again ;)
5) Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. I favour Microsoft's free Security Essential which is as good as any I've used and from my experience has no noticable effect on system performance. Avoid the Norton's and McAfee rubbish.
6) Keep Flash and Java up-to-date, and use Windows Update to alert you of system updates.

The above should keep you reasonably safe and secure and will make any major system failures far less problematic.

[Shaun]

All very sound advice, i use Avast free as my virus program and it works great, AVG used to be good but they seam to have gone down the path of all in one version for firewall and virus protection and it seams to slow the system down some.

The fact is you more than likely have 2 firewalls running right now.

Windows firewall is installed on all systems and does an ok job.

If you are connected to the internet via DSL connection or cable then your router also has a firewall built in to it so there is no need for a third firewall on the system.

Data protection is your best friend as AP has said store all your files, movies ,music, photos and other stuff on a second drive.

I also run redundant drives because i download movies and TV shows so i have 2 drives, one is for the storing of the files then i have a second drive that mirrors first drive just in case it dies.

Best thing to buy is a dual bay usb3 drive don't get a usb2 as this is a bit slow if you have large files, even if your system does not have usb3 you could always get an expansion card installed.

If you are on a laptop you may have to settle for usb2, if you are unsure look at the color of the usb socket if it is black it is usb2 if it is blue it is usb3, never systems will have at least 2 usb3 sockets.

[garyf]

Gary

I'm talking more about the clean-up/tune-up utilities not so much the anti-virus tools.

The secret of a stable system is to keep things as vanilla and avoid installing anything you don't really need. There's very little need to take a machine back to the shop just to be cleaned up, just takes a bit of discipline http://www.propun.com.au/racing_forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

Some ideas. Most obvious but some others may benefit:

1) Never save data to the system drive (C: drive) of your machine. That drive is for the machine to use - not you. If you have a second hard drive (preferrable) or a single drive with two partitions for system and data(less preferrable) your data should go on this second drive. Then if the system drive goes pear your data is at less risk.




2) Consider saving your data to a space independant of your system. For a home user this could be an external drive or even one of the better cloud storage services (Amazon, SugarSync, SpiderOak). Only consider an external drive from a drive manafacturer that's willing to put their name on the outside (Western Digital, Seagate).
3) Use a snapshot tool (TrueImage) to snapshot the machine in an out-of-box state (operating system with no installed applications). Once your main apps are installed take a second snapshot. Then snapshot your machine *before* installing any additional apps or drivers. You can then return to a previous working state if need be in the future. Windows System Restore is ok but something like TrueImage is much better. Use a second external hard drive (the small bus powered portable drives are ok for this) dedicated to these snapshots. Lock this drive away in a safe place away from your system.
4) Avoid the temptation of installing "trial" software. Ask yourself if you really need to install that little bit of software you just stumbled across and if you do, wait a day or two to ensure that you really do. Then ask yourself again http://www.propun.com.au/racing_forums/images/smilies/wink.gif
5) Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. I favour Microsoft's free Security Essential which is as good as any I've used and from my experience has no noticable effect on system performance. Avoid the Norton's and McAfee rubbish.
6) Keep Flash and Java up-to-date, and use Windows Update to alert you of system updates.

The above should keep you reasonably safe and secure and will make any major system failures far less problematic.Thankyou for this will print it out to re-read just in case,
Something does go wrong for present and future reference.

Cheers.

[AngryPixie]

7) Never use an account with administrative rights for everyday use. Create a plain old user account and use this for most things. Save the Administrator account for installing apps, updates etc.

[garyf]

All very sound advice, i use Avast free as my virus program and it works great, AVG used to be good but they seam to have gone down the path of all in one version for firewall and virus protection and it seams to slow the system down some.

The fact is you more than likely have 2 firewalls running right now.

Windows firewall is installed on all systems and does an ok job.

If you are connected to the internet via DSL connection or cable then your router also has a firewall built in to it so there is no need for a third firewall on the system.

Data protection is your best friend as AP has said store all your files, movies ,music, photos and other stuff on a second drive.

I also run redundant drives because i download movies and TV shows so i have 2 drives, one is for the storing of the files then i have a second drive that mirrors first drive just in case it dies.

Best thing to buy is a dual bay usb3 drive don't get a usb2 as this is a bit slow if you have large files, even if your system does not have usb3 you could always get an expansion card installed.

If you are on a laptop you may have to settle for usb2, if you are unsure look at the color of the usb socket if it is black it is usb2 if it is blue it is usb3, never systems will have at least 2 usb3 sockets.Again thanks for this i will also print this out and save it with A.P.S.
Advice with both these there is absolutely no excuse for anything going wrong????.

If so i will just ask one of you two guys.

Touch wood everything running smoothly at the moment.

Mine is a desktop computer.

Cheers.