General Computer Maintenance

Non Entropia Related Off topic
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I haven’t seen a post like this on these forums, so I figure I’ll take the initiative. I’ll update the post when I get more information. If there are any requests as to the use of one of the programs I’ve listen below, send me a PM and I’ll make an illustration on how to configure and use the program.

For a better understanding of the malware you might encounter, this article is an excellent resource: Protect yourself: Basic security measures for your computer

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you: Buy a second hard drive! You can’t even begin to imagine the horror stories I’ve heard of people losing important data, and having to send their drive off to a data recovery facility, pay thousands of dollars, and most of the time they’re told that their data is corrupt or has been written over!

[CENTER]Anti-Virus Software
NOD32 Anti-Virus
AV Personal (Free)
a² Free

Free Online Virus Scanning
TrendMicro Housecall
Panda ActiveScan
RAV AntiVirus Online File Scan
BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan

Firewall Software
Kerio Personal Firewall (Free)

Intrusion Detection Software
Snort (Free)
PrevX

Spy-Ware/Ad-Ware Removal Software
SpyBot Search&Destroy
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
[1] HijackThis & ADS Spy

Updates and Security Patches
Windows XP SP2
[2] Windows Update

Optimizing your computer for performance[/CENTER]
First off, make sure that Automatic Updates are turned on, but do not download and install automatically. Here is an illustration on how this is done:

Depending on your current settings, you should have an icon for My Computer on either your Desktop, or in the Start Menu.

Right click on the My Computer icon, and click on ‘Properties’

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/9/1/4/GCS0017_thumb.jpg[size=1][br]Click to enlarge[/br][/size]

Click on the ‘Automatic Updates’ tab and select ‘Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them’.

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/9/1/4/GCS0018_thumb.jpg[size=1][br]Click to enlarge[/br][/size]

The next step is more personal preference than anything else, but it can increase the general operating speed of your computer.

With the System Properties dialog still up, click on the ‘Advanced’ tab, and then click on ‘Settings’ near the top right.

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/9/1/4/GCS0019_thumb.jpg[size=1][br]Click to enlarge[/br][/size]

Select the option ‘Adjust for best performance’, and then apply the changes in the illustration below.

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/9/1/4/GCS0020_thumb.jpg[size=1][br]Click to enlarge[/br][/size]

Something that I’ve noticed recently, in regards to Project Entropia, my hard drive seems to fragment way more than it used to. After giving my computer a good defragmentation, PE seems to run 60-70% faster than it had before. You can use the defrag tool that comes stock with Windows, or you can use something like Executive Software’s Diskeeper, or O&O Software’s Defrag.

And of course, make sure your computer has the most up-to-date drivers. I never recommend going to the manufacturer’s website, in the case of motherboards etc, but instead going to the chipset manufacturer’s webpage (I.E. VIA, Intel, SiS, etc.).

[1] Be careful with HijackThis, it’s made for more advanced users, and you can inadvertently remove something important. My best advice for HJT, sign up for an account on these forums: BleepingComputer, they will ask you to do a scan with HJT, and post your log file in the forums, and help you out with your problem.

[2] When using Windows Update, always select the “Custom” option, and select all available downloads except for the hardware updates. This will ensure that your computer has all of the latest security updates, as well as various other updates that Microsoft has released.

2

holy crap. very very cool, love to see people taking the time to do this type of stuff, thanks!!!

course i already knew all this… computer craps out

=P

3

Another free IDS you might want to add is prevx (its free also )can get it everywhere ie download.com ext. Very cool set of info

4

Thanks for the suggestion Michy, it’s been added :slight_smile:

5

I agree with Phobia - especially about defragging :wise:

I cannot stress enough the difference this makes. Take an illustration of how I install a new system

  1. Wipe the HDD if necessary
  2. Install Windows
  3. Defrag
  4. Install Anti Virus
  5. Install Firewall
  6. Install Drivers
  7. Defrag
  8. After that, any time I install a piece of software or uninstall something, I defrag as soon as I’m done. I also defrag regularly anyway - every week or two

This aint overkill folks - leave it too long and it takes a dogs age to run thru, but do it regularly and it takes no time at all - and makes a huge difference to how smoothly your PC runs

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[QUOTE=FireW0lf]
I agree with Phobia - especially about defragging :wise:

I cannot stress enough the difference this makes. Take an illustration of how I install a new system

  1. Wipe the HDD if necessary
  2. Install Windows
  3. Defrag
  4. Install Anti Virus
  5. Install Firewall
  6. Install Drivers
  7. Defrag
  8. After that, any time I install a piece of software or uninstall something, I defrag as soon as I’m done. I also defrag regularly anyway - every week or two

This aint overkill folks - leave it too long and it takes a dogs age to run thru, but do it regularly and it takes no time at all - and makes a huge difference to how smoothly your PC runs
[/QUOTE]

The way I install a new OS is way simpler:

  1. Pull old HD out of PC.
  2. Think of ways to use the old HD as something other than a door stop.
  3. Expose your new HD to gamma radiation. This can be acheived by taking the new HD to your nearest nuclear (hey..is that Bushizm or what??) power plant and ask them to drop it in the cooling tank.
  4. Reformat the HD
  5. call GOD on your local 900 hotline and ask for divine intervention.
  6. Repeat step 4
  7. install new OS
  8. pray for a miracle.
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The way i install new OS is even simpler…

  1. Norton Ghost image with everything, drivers, updates, most used programs, etc, etc.

:slight_smile:

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[QUOTE=MindBuster]
The way i install new OS is even simpler…

  1. Norton Ghost image with everything, drivers, updates, most used programs, etc, etc.

:slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]

That works great for office and home users, but for gamers it’s generally a bad idea :wise:

If you change a piece of hardware, and attempt to restore an image of your previous configuration, you could end up with blue screens and WPA problems.

I change my hardware frequently, and like to keep my drivers up-to-date. I check for updates for every piece of software and driver installed on my system on a daily basis as well.

9

That’s only necessary if you change your mainboard, and i would be amazed if you change that “frequently” like every 3 months, no need reinstalling windows when changing anything else.

Changing anything else it only takes 5-10 mins making a new ghost image, burn it to a 50cent DVDR or simply copy it to a small partition on a HD dedicated for only that.

I install programs on my C: partition and just keep data, games, graphics and projects on another partition, so that the system partition with the OS doenst get too large.

I like it the Ghost way, i have XP heavily modded, alot of changed settings making it look and behave just like good old win2k, installing and setting up winXP can be like…

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/images/you.gif

10

Thank you for the information. :wise:

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ROFL! My mom saw that animation (she was reading over my shoulder). She said you may have some issues to deal with :laugh:

Replacing your motherboard is the most common way of getting a BSOD, but while I was working for Gedge, I saw some pretty wierd scenarios. I had WPA problems with about 50% of the computers I installed a new piece of hardware in. However, this could have been because the customer had sent the computer back to the manufacturer, and they replaced other parts.

I agree 100%, installing Windows XP is a painstaking process. That’s why I use nLite, and customize my CD the way I see fit. I can add things like Drivers, commonly used apps, themes, and all sorts of different things. The best part of nLite would be the unattended install. I can create a custom XP CD that will install Windows XP without asking me a single question. Just pop the CD in, hit the space bar, and let it go :wink:

12

I use unattended 2K installs at work all the time, Major timesaver. I make them by hand tho, not with nLite. I don’t reinstall XP on my machines often enough (barely ever) to bother with making a custom disk tho.

13

Hey guys, something that has been troubling me for a day or two.. When i got something in the trashbin and right click → empty it says something like “you cant take away Dc13”.. WTH is Dc13?.. I’ve seen it some other times but i have no clue as to what it is :S
I have checked my system with “Spybot” but it cant find anything =/

So gimme some tips you computer guru’s :smiley:

Oh might aswell mention that i have a GoldCard so dont tell me to get one just incase :smiley:

14

Anti-virus: AVG Free Edition - I’ve used it for years, works great:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

Also, I heard that one of the anti-spyware programs installs its own spyware, but I don’t remember which one that was - anyone recall?

15

[QUOTE=Shade]
Anti-virus: AVG Free Edition - I’ve used it for years, works great:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

Also, I heard that one of the anti-spyware programs installs its own spyware, but I don’t remember which one that was - anyone recall?
[/QUOTE]

Spy Falcon.

16

[QUOTE=Faith]
Hey guys, something that has been troubling me for a day or two.. When i got something in the trashbin and right click → empty it says something like “you cant take away Dc13”.. WTH is Dc13?.. I’ve seen it some other times but i have no clue as to what it is :S
I have checked my system with “Spybot” but it cant find anything =/

So gimme some tips you computer guru’s :smiley:

Oh might aswell mention that i have a GoldCard so dont tell me to get one just incase :smiley:
[/QUOTE]

Of course, because noone cares to find out how Windows works. Deleted files are renamed in the /Recycled folder on your drives. They change to DC*** something. If the folder was locked or contains invalid data associated with it (can happen even on NTFS) try the following.

  • Go to My Computer
  • Right click on the C drive (most likely the one that has the deleted files, if not repeat the next step for all drives)
  • Select Properties
  • Click the Tools tab
  • Click Check now under Error-checking section
  • Tick the Automatically fix.. bla bla
  • Click Start, reboot if required ( always required for the drive Windows resides on)
  • Empty the recycle bin again.

Or the easier way

  • Drag out the contents of the recycle bin to some new folder, Shift+Delete them .
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[QUOTE=Shade]
Anti-virus: AVG Free Edition - I’ve used it for years, works great:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

Also, I heard that one of the anti-spyware programs installs its own spyware, but I don’t remember which one that was - anyone recall?
[/QUOTE]

SpywareNo
SpySherrif

and many more

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[QUOTE=mrproper]
SpywareNo
SpySherrif

and many more
[/QUOTE]

Hmm -

This was one that Leo Laporte used to recommend, until he heard about the problem. Now he no longer recommends it, and specifically advises against it. I couldn’t seem to bring it up on a search, though…

19

[QUOTE=Shade]
Hmm -

This was one that Leo Laporte used to recommend, until he heard about the problem. Now he no longer recommends it, and specifically advises against it. I couldn’t seem to bring it up on a search, though…
[/QUOTE]

Who is Leo Laporte (excuse the non-googling of unknown and uncared for name) ???

Well, it’s called randsomeware. It infects your PC without knoledge, detects your pc is infected, other software will tell you the same, but you cannot clean the spyware and the randsomeware at the same time, they help eachother. Nothing normally can fix that. So you have to pay 25$ or so and the problem dissapears in 20 seconds.

EDIT: Well now I know who Leo Laporte is, and I for one will not publish guides or books from my experience just to get some fame and money, and I might give sometimes bad advices but I correct myself fast.