Computer tip.. Clean up your hard drive

[Bob Reeves]

Hi gang,

Thought I would pass this along.. Discovered this little program several weeks ago and have been putting it through the ringer to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. My conclusion is it should be installed on every home PC on the planet.

Go here http://www.ccleaner.com/ and download CCleaner. It's free for home use...

Basically it will clean up a whole bunch of stuff I usually get paid big bucks to do manually. So far it seems to be pretty idiot proof in that it hasn't deleted anything on the computers I have ran into that caused problems. Worst thing that can happen is it will delete all your cookies and you will have to log back on to any forums you visit. Just be careful if you get into the Tools->Startup page. You can disable stuff Windows needs to operate and end up with a broken computer. Don't let this scare you, just be sure you know what something is before you tell it not to load on startup. If you want to know what something is, this site has a good list of Windows startup programs,
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

The best feature of CCleaner is Registry and Start menu cleaning, if you didn't know, the bigger the Windows Registry gets the slower Windows runs. This program will safely delete unused and obsolete Registry entries. Even if you don't use it for anything else this operation is worth the trouble to download and install it. Click on the Issues button, click on Scan for Issues and when it's finished click on "Fix Selected Issues". It will take you through a bunch of confirmation windows so just keep clicking on OK.

During the confirmation process It will ask if you would like to back up the Registry, I never do but if it makes you feel better do it. You will finally get a screen that lists an individual issue and asks if you want it to fix it. Click the button that says Fix all Issues and let it do it's thing. Also don't be concerned about all the issues it finds or even what they are just let it deal with them and trust it won't do anything bad to your computer.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you decide to put on your idiot hat and do something you do not fully understand

Bob

[RC Storick]

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you decide to put on your idiot hat and do something you do not fully understand.

Bob

Now thats funny!

[Albert Kraus]

been using this program for a few months now.  Its all Bob says it is & more, you can go into one of the pages & uncheck cookies then it will not deleate them


     Albert

[Tom Dugan]

Downloaded it and using it now.  Works great!!

Thanks Bob

[Marvin Denny]

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you decide to put on your idiot hat and do something you do not fully understand

Bob
[/quote

  Bob I wish you were here to help me do that--- you know  sorta walk me through it.
  I am totally illerate when it comes to computers

  Bigiron

[Steve Scott]

Question:

What does this program buy me that MS Regclean plus any of the malware protection programs (AdAware, MS Defender, etc) already do?

I'm just hesitant to put on yet another utility if I'm already doing 90% of what the utility does.

For instance, I'm running behind a nat'd router w/firewall enabled.  I also have the McAfee firewall turned on and could have the MS firewall active but turned that off.  I can understand (and recommend) having firewalls at different points of entry into my home network but do I really need 3 firewall products running on my host?

Regards,
Steve (CCNA)

[Bob Reeves]

Marvin, if you would move to Tulsa I would be happy to come over and help you any way I could

Steve, it is not an anti-virus/spyware program just helps keep your computer free from all the bloat that Microsoft and other software vendors don't seem to care enough about to give you an easy way to delete the accumulated garbage they create on your hard drive. You still need your firewall and a good anti-virus/spyware program. Wished I could recommend a good one but at this time I feel most anti virus programs create more problems than they solve. I think AdAware is good, the free version because it doesn't stay active.. You run it when you feel a need so it isn't constantly steeling clock cycles from the stuff you really want your computer doing. If you are running a legal copy of Windows XP the Microsoft program is pretty good and free. Use to recommend Norton but quit because it turned into a processor hog and doesn't completely uninstall if you want to get rid of it.

As far as MS reg cleaner, I don't put allot of faith in Microsoft having the end users best interest in mind so haven't tried it. I know CCleaner works and is fairly safe. And no I have no affiliation with the CCleaner folks.
 
Personally I don't run any anti-virus/spyware software on any of our computers except the free version of AdAware and the firewall built into our router. I am just very careful about what I open and where I go on the internet. Don't play on-line games and don't allow anyone on the network that isn't as careful as I am. Haven't had a problem in over 10 years using this approach but it isn't for everyone..

Best thing you can do is stay away from free internet sites unless you get a recommendation from someone you trust, do not go to any on-line game sites, next to XXX sites they are the worst and never open an email attachment unless you know exactly what it is.

[Tom Dugan]

Bob...again I thank you for putting this freeware out to everyone.

Steve...not everyone has your experience and training on computers.  I appreciate Bob's gesture making a simple to use and free software program available to members of this forum.  If you have high end programs that suit your personal needs then dont download this one.

Thomas  MCSE & CCNA

[Steve Scott]

Steve, it is not an anti-virus/spyware program just helps keep your computer free from all the bloat that Microsoft and other software vendors don't seem to care enough about to give you an easy way to delete the accumulated garbage they create on your hard drive.

Sort of like... Linux? 

[Lee Thiel]

Thanks Bob, I had it before my hard drive took a dump a couple of weeks ago, and had forgotten about cc cleaner.  Got it back now, and it makes things so simple for this simple mind.
Lee TGD

[W.D. Roland]

Hi Bob
think im having some comp probs.

 when i disconect from internet i hear a faint beep--normal i think?

  while on line i here this same beep but fainter.when this happens im usualy not doing any clicking ect--most of the times i will be reading a post or someting when i here it.

 have very limited knowlage on these fangled things(they run on magick-right?)

 i suspect that someone has a back door or that a port(?) is open that shouldnt be

  have gone to several online testing sites that suposedly check for open ports ect
 and at one time one of them would check to see if i was broadcasting supercookie(computer id?) aparently that site no longer checks for that

my fire wall is almost constantly set off and alot of times the back trace(through whos u is or whatever)function dosnt work and shows no atempt to access internet(task manager networking--win xp)

firewall is system suite 5

last night 4 browsers(mozilla) quit accessing at same time and had to reboot.
opening new browsers didnt work


any ideas what might be goin on in this majick box?

 Thanks

  David

[Bob Reeves]

Hard to say, the beeps could simply be your firewall notifying you of a ping, not unusual. Your connection problem could be one of a million things if it happens on a regular bases you might have a real problem but if it was an isolated case I wouldn't worry about it. I would take a hard look at any browser plug-ins you may have downloaded and how many anti-spy/virus programs you have running. Sometimes anti-stuff programs create more problems than they cure.

The beeps could also be hardware related, most of the later computers have a hardware monitor built into the BIOS. If some of the parameters are set too tight like CPU temperature or fan speed it will drive you crazy.. Just too many variables to try and trouble shoot via a message board.