System Cleanup

[Tiger Edge]

My fairly new VAIO laptop has been running sluggish lately. Like...since the latter half of this day.
I decided to do a disk cleanup and had about 2 GB in temporary files. I think I'm being lied to, but that's beside the point.
I have two main questions:

1) My dad always tells me to defrag the disk and that solves everything. The few times I've tried it (and left it running overnight) it's never gotten anywhere past 0% so I give up. Is it really worth doing? And I guess, what exactly does it do to clean up my system?

2) I like to Ctrl+Alt+Delete every once and a while and check out what processes are running and eating my memory. Lately I've been noticing some odd excecutions. It's not like they are taking up too much memory, but they look fishy to me and I'd like to investigate the programs and uninstall. (I used to have a problem with this in my old laptop where programs would be installed via spyware, but I have norton internet security now).
Buuuut, is this dangerous territory? I just don't want to delete something my computer needs to run just because it looks odd. I'm wondering if I should just let Norton do it's damn job.

 

[bono_man2002]

Well you can do the Ctrl+Alt+Delete thing, and google some of the applications running and see if they are suspicous,

I've found that with my dads laptop, if you keep it running for a few hours it starts to get slow (I assume cause the CPU gets hotter)

Good Luck!

 

[Liesje]

Defrag was only significant for older operating systems, which have a different file structure. It's not going to hurt, but it's not going to help either. If you go a Crtl Alt Del and see what processes are running and it looks like a lot, there may be many programs that unnecessarily run at startup. To stop this, I usually go to Run > enter "msconfig" > then go to the tab on the far right and uncheck everything I don't want. Be careful though, don't uncheck anything unless you know what it means. On mine, I disable MS Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader, iTunes Helper, quicktime, msn messenger, aim - any program that I can simply start by opening it myself. Make sure you do NOT disable any processes related to your antivirus or Windows update.

If you notice odd processes in the task manager, Google the process and see what it is. I've found a lot of spyware/viruses on other peoples' computers this way. There's no harm in checking.

 

[Tiger Edge]

I've been wondering what iTunes Helper is. You don't need it to run iTunes, right?

Make sure you do NOT disable any processes related to your antivirus or Windows update.

Heh, I have in the past but they usually just pop right back open or won't let me close it in the first place.

 

[Liesje]

I've been wondering what iTunes Helper is. You don't need it to run iTunes, right?

I have no clue what it's for. I disable itunes helper and the ipod service, since I don't use itunes and don't have an ipod. However, for some files I have to use itunes and I've been able to run it from the programs list like normal.

I'm not sure how much CPU those processes actually take, it's probably not significant, but in general I don't like things running unless I say they may run

 

[Queen Bee]

A quick toss down a flight of stairs should do the trick.

You're welcome.

 

[bono_man2002]

 

[Canadiens1131]

Well, Pla, if it's a Dell than just charge the battery and leave the computer alone for a while and it might take care of its own problems by committing suicide.



Seriously though, download CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) aka Crap Cleaner. Run through the checklist (you probably don't want it deleting browser stuff like info saved into website forms) and run the cleaner for everything under the 'Windows' listbox.

Then, go to the next area 'issues' and run the registry cleaner/sorterouter. If you wish, use the prompt it gives you to save a backup of the registry to the desktop in case something messes up.


Seriously, I run this thing twice a month, and it sorts out and deletes unnecessary files left behind after uninstalling programs and messing about. Should make a difference.








Next, once a month, maybe, overnight, right-click your hard drive, select Properties, and tab over to Tools.

Run the Defragmenter (sounds like a german dom. porn video). Click analyze, wait for like 10 minutes, then come back and click defragment. That'll take a couple of hours so just go to sleep.

As you move, create, and delete files (porn?), your hard drive data gets spread the hell out over the little round plate inside that bugger. This will get it all organized again.

Good luck!

 

[Tiger Edge]

Well, Pla, if it's a Dell than just charge the battery and leave the computer alone for a while and it might take care of its own problems by committing suicide.

My desktop at home is a Dell. That thing has had problems since day one. It takes about 10 minutes to boot up. And I have like, 4 pictures on it. I never ever use it.

I'll keep that link handy because I already went through all my programs and deleted junk last night. My computer is running much better now.

 

[Sevikins]

You could always try processlibrary.com if you're not sure what's running when you open up task manager.

You guys should check out this guy named "clif_notes". He has a wiki newsletter and it's filled with interesting programs that can help keep your pc clean.

Clif's current newsletter

 

[U2Girl1978]

Seriously though, download CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) aka Crap Cleaner. Run through the checklist (you probably don't want it deleting browser stuff like info saved into website forms) and run the cleaner for everything under the 'Windows' listbox.
[/B]

Thank you. I just used CCleaner and it wiped out 1,894.1 MB of stuff I didn't really need.