JumpstartMyPC.com » Maintenance

PC Maintenance Reminder for June

Chris Sully — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:51:50 +0000

Regular PC maintenance is as important as routinely changing the fluids in your car. Without this regular upkeep, your computer can become a slow, draggy, unusable box that has you thinking about a trip to your local electronics retailer.

In today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

All of the tools you will need for this routine maintenance are posted and available for you on the JumpstartMyPC.com Tools page. We add new items to this area from time-to-time and keep all of the links updated with the most recent versions of each application. Simply locate an application that you would like to use and click on the Software link out to the right. You’ll be directed to an external site and the download will begin.

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)

Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)

Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning

If you have any questions, concerns or programs you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, Facebook or Twitter.

May PC Maintenance Reminder

Chris Sully — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:42:19 +0000

In the rest of today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)

Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)

Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning

If you have any questions, concerns or programs you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, Facebook or Twitter.

April PC Maintenance Reminder

Chris Sully — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:38:58 +0000

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)

Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)

Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning

If you have any questions, concerns or programs you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, facebook or twitter.

March Maintenance Reminder – PC Spring Cleaning

Chris Sully — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:37:30 +0000

Spring is here. It was a beautiful weekend here in Texas and I’m sure many of you spent time outside enjoying the sun, cleaning the yard, etc. While prepping your yard for the spring and summer is important, don’t forget that your PC needs some attention too.

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)
Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)
Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning

If you have any questions, concerns or programs you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, facebook or twitter.

February Reminder – PC Maintenance

Chris Sully — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:26:10 +0000

At least once a month, we like to send out a friendly reminder about PC maintenance. It has been about a month since our last maintenance post and we wanted to make sure you didn’t forget about these important tasks.

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)
Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)
Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning

If you have any questions, concerns or programs you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, facebook or twitter.

CCleaner – Spring Cleaning for Your PC

Chris Sully — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:32:31 +0000

Personal computers have been around since the 80’s and most of us have been using them for at least 10 to 15 years. You would think that, by now, operating systems and hardware would have evolved to the point where they were self-sufficient. Unfortunately we are not there yet. That’s just around the corner, along with flying cars that run on water. Until then, we must administer our own regular maintenance, which is something that we have written about many times here at JumpstartMyPC.com. One of the tools that we recommend for this regular maintenance is CCleaner (available on our Tools page).

“CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! ” - taken from the CCleaner website.

What does CCleaner really do?

CCleaner has several elements (cleaner, registry cleaner, uninstall and startup maintenance tools) but it’s true power is the Cleaner. This is the part of the software that allows you to delete the temporary files stored on your PC. These files were stored when browsing the internet or simply using the standard options provided in Windows. Believe it or not, Windows does not do this automatically, and failure to “clean” your system from time-to-time can result in a slow computer. How long this slowdown takes is really dependent on how often you use your PC and what you use it for.

Our recommendation is to run CCleaner once a week (at least) to purge these old files. The trick is remembering to do so. I admit, I will sometimes go a month or longer before I remember to perform my maintenance. The only things that get run regularly are the tools that I can schedule to run on their own, like Auslogics Disk Defrag (another great, FREE tool). Luckily, our friends over at the How-To Geek have created a detailed explanation of how-to set up CCleaner to run automatically on any schedule you desire. I just set up my Windows 7 system to run CCleaner once a week and now I will never forget again. We suggest you do the same. The article contains instructions for Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Updates

There is one flaw to this automatic process. Running CCleaner on a schedule like this does not handle software updates and CCleaner does not update on its own. The folks at CCleaner update their software regularly (I’m guessing once a month or more) and, like all software and operating systems, it is very important to keep your software up to date. There are some great softwares available to keep you informed of changes, but you will have to install those and set them up as well. Here a couple that we recommend:

Our Other Articles on PC Maintenance:

Have You Tuned Up Your PC Lately?

Chris Sully — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:30:08 +0000

Hopefully the title says it all. Have you performed any routine maintenance on your PC lately? My guess is that the answer is no. Unfortunately, most people are never educated about regular PC maintenance and are doomed to follow the same destructive pattern that keeps PC manufacturers rolling around in money.

Buy a computer -> use it for a year or two -> have trouble -> repeat

What You Will Need To Get Started – Tools

JumpstartMyPC.com Tools Page

5-Point Maintenance Plan

There are 5 main areas that you will need to focus on each time you perform maintenance on your PC.

Defrag – A defrag of your hard drive makes it easier on your PC to locate files and extends the life of your hard drive.
Program: Auslogics Disk Defrag (available on the tools page)
Article: Defragmentation: A Simple Task for a Huge Result

Update – Microsoft releases regular updates for your operating system. There might be a security or bug fix waiting for you.
Program: Windows (already installed on your system)
Article: Warning Lights on Your PC Shouldn’t be Ignored

Scan – Malware, Spyware and other unwanted malicious programs are installed without your knowledge.
Program: Spybot Search and Destroy (tools page)
Clean – As you surf the internet, your browser collects files in a temporary folder. These files are not deleted until you tell your computer to do so.
Program: CCleaner (tools page)
Registry Cleaning – The registry stores configuration settings and options for Windows. Unfortunately, it never cleans out old files.
Program: Abexo Registry Cleaner (tools page) NOT FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS
Article: Your Registry is Probably in Need of a Cleaning