Tools for "speeding up a pc"

[mrapoc]

Iv got a "job" tomorrow at a relative's work place, a little nursing home in the middle of nowhere - lol

Apparently their work pcs are just so slow nowadays and iv been asked to go "speed them up".

At most cases id just format but they are work pcs, i cant afford to spend all day installing drivers etc. and what if something mucks up kinda thing.

So im thinking of stashing my usb pen full of tools

Any recommendations would be useful (install on machine/run/remove or run off usb will do)

Im thinking Ccleaner to clean any cr*p. Some form of portable antivirus (?) which will definately catch anything, some form of antispyware (superantispyware?) and then a quick look at the msconfigs. May also turn off any visual effects - if there are any.

Any ideas are gratefully received. thanks

[Lance]

i think ccleaner will be a big help, as it will clear out all the old temp files as well. A defrag will be a good idea as well.

[mrapoc]

ahh yes and windows defrag

any point in a disk check as well?

[Lance]

Certainly wouldn't do any harm!

[Lance]

Another thought, assuming they are using xp, get a copy of bootvis, which will show you what is slowing down the startup and is good for finding troublesome drivers.

[mrapoc]

i dont know if its startup causing the issue

she literally said to me "the work computers are really slow now" which in my books could be a hell of a lot of things

any ideas on the anti virus/spyware front?

i plan to unload them onto each pc (nt knowing how many im dealing with) - scanning and going for a nice cuppa with the elderly residents 

i cud try bundling the whole eset folder on and seein if that runs 

[Lance]

You could try the eset online scanner, but i've never used it myself so don't know any more about it. Surely the computers have antivirus software installed anyway? If not, download avg or something and just use that.

[Den]

If the computers are not on line it is unlikely to be a virus. Defrag is more likely to speed them up. 

[somanyholes]

good for the toolkit "Sysinternals Suite"

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/0e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120-c47c5a693683.aspx

[kinmel]

and never forget Hirens Boot cd

[Dangerjunkie]

I'd echo with So's recommendation of the Sysinternals tools. I would go armed with Autoruns, Process Explorer and Rootkit Revealer. Autoruns is worth it's weight in gold as the one thing every piece of scumware has in common is that it will try to autostart somewhere (and in my experience, anything that tries to autostart in more than one section is almost invariably bad) Tell it to hide MS entries and then have a sort through the rest, particularly anything that doesn't have a name in the who wrote it column.

Symantec's online virus scan works pretty well and I've only ever seen one virus that was aware of it and managed to kill it.

I usually scan machines with Spybot Search and Destroy and adaware (both available from download.com) Neither is perfect but between them they don't miss much. If you're still suspicious Windows Defender is a lot better than it at first appears as a backup.

Do you know the spec of the machines? If they're a few years old and were bought as business machines they're probably a bit underpowered. It may just be that they've installed more and more junk until they've stretched the machine a bit far. I would check how much RAM they have. Less than 512MB is a complete no-no for XP but I wouldn't recommend anyone run a machine with less than 1024MB. I recommend Orca Logic as a RAM supplier http://www.orcalogic.co.uk/asp/default.asp

I'd remove any unnecessary junk that is starting up and sitting in the tray too.

If you suspect any of the machines may be infected I would get a copy of Wireshark ( http://www.wireshark.org ), close all programs then run it and see if anything on the machine is talking on the Internet. Many scummy things are spam/DDoS zombies and they will be talking on the net. The program will be able to hide but its traffic can't hide from Wireshark.

If you're comfortable with it I would also take a copy of the Ubuntu or Knoppix Linux boot discs along. If you get something bad that has locked its files so you can't delete them a Linux disc is very useful. It lets you start the machine but without Windows running so no files can be locked and you can delete them. Windows file-hiding tricks also don't work against Linux.

Good luck,
Paul.

[talos2]

Some very useful tools there, is there somewhere on this site where these and others can be archived, and used for reference?

[Rik]

I'll sticky this thread, Bob.

[somanyholes]

driver max for worst case ......

http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/

[talos2]

I'll sticky this thread, Bob.

Thanks Rick, you never know when you may need these, but with luck you may not.

[Noreen]

The free standalone version of SIW may be useful.  http://www.gtopala.com/

[Baz]

dont know if this helps any but I have nod32 anti virus which is eset and I tried to put the folder on my sons system upstairs and it wouldnt run, need a separate license for each system.

[Gary]

Windows defender is doing well in tests as a antispyware app these days, it does have daily updates sometimes as many as 3-4 but you need to intall them manually rather than wait for the once in a blue moon auto update from MS you can get updates from here
http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/ADL.aspx#top

In a vb test the Microsoft suite with windows defender got about 97% of spyware now and about the same for malware, they really have pulled forward since they first released their antivirus and spyware tools.

http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/09_02

[Lance]

I find i get at least daily updates through the Windows update, Gary.

[vitriol]

me too

[Noreen]

Does Defender still make a System Restore point every time it installs a def update?

[vitriol]

Just had a look at my System Restore history and there is one for just about everyday.  So I would guess so Noreen.

Next time defender updates I'll take a look.

[Noreen]

That's why I stopped using it, seems unnecessary to me, no other anti-virus or spyware program seems to need to do it.

[vitriol]

It is a Microsoft program though.

[Sebby]

True!

[Simon]

I can't actually see the problem with it setting a restore point each time.  If you set System Restore to a certain percentage of the hard drive, surely more restore points doesn't mean it uses more resources, but in fact, gives you more chances of a successful repair, should things go pear shaped?

[Rik]

OTOH, it bumps older restore points more quickly.

[Noreen]

I can't actually see the problem with it setting a restore point each time.  If you set System Restore to a certain percentage of the hard drive, surely more restore points doesn't mean it uses more resources, but in fact, gives you more chances of a successful repair, should things go pear shaped?

With Vista you can't set the amount of space to be used, it will use up to a max of 15% of the hard drive. I prefer to set the points when I want them.

[Rik]

Yet another piece of nannying by Vista.

[Sebby]

Vista is really annoying with system restore. IIRC, it sets one even if you install a program. It's just another reason for lots of hard drive activity...

[Lance]

To be fair, i've never had a noticeable wait for the restore point to be set on vista when installing either new software or updates.

[Sebby]

Have you noticed the hard drive activity? Come to think of it, I found a way to switch off this feature when I was using Vista, but I can't for the life of me remember how to do it.

[Lance]

Not really. The only hard drive activity I tend to get when I don't ask for it is Windows Defender running a scheduled scan. I know I could turn it off, but figured it probably does some good. When you first get Vista, it will do it's indexing, but it should only do that when the computer is idle.

[madasahatter]

To be fair, i've never had a noticeable wait for the restore point to be set on vista when installing either new software or updates.

Me neither lance 

[Gary]

Same here Mad, also having played with Vista's system restore it seems more reliable than XP's and most pc users have never heard of disc imaging software that's the forte of the more skilled user, I guess some people need it as they never have backups I have a laptop to clean out Monday which is virus ridden and sadly the owner has all her pics of her new born son on it, and no backups on disc I hope I can save them

[mogden]

Memory.

It's cheap and easy (like me) and it's guaranteed to work (unlike me).

[Rik]

It's something you almost can't have too much of, the almost being down to the limits of the 32-bit OS.

[D-Dan]

I don't use "tools" to keep my PC in shape. Here is what I do do:

i) uninstall obsolete programs
ii) Whenever a program installs a desktop icon - I delete the desktop icon
iii) Periodically defrag my HD
iv) Periodically run full scans with AV, and anti-malware
v) Periodically delete ALL temporary files
vi) Whenever I install a program, make sure it isn't automatically starting any kind of unneeded "agent" at boot time. If necessary, write a small batch file to start necessary services prior to running the program, and to disable them when I exit the program.
vii) Organise your Start menu into folders

And now the only time I use a tool:

Run a reputable Registry cleaner from time to time (I use Registry Mechanic, but other reputable cleaners are available). I also take some time to manually clean obsolete software keys from my registry maybe once every 6 months. This is, however, a time consuming and dangerous task.

I can honestly say that my PC is as responsive now as it was after the last re-install over 18 months ago, just following these guidelines.

If you have more than one HD, create a small "scratch" partition on your non-system HD, then point all Temp folders (and your page file) to it.

Steve

[mrapoc]

I have never set the page file and temp files to a 2nd hdd

Does it help in keeping fragmentation low etc.?

Might do that next time - Would you recommend a 5gb partition or something?

I use ccleaner for temp files and registry

[Rik]

It's less about fragmentation, Sam, more about performance. I have mine on D, then I put my Photoshop scratch disk on E, it all helps.

[mrapoc]

So a partition of about 5gb for temp and pagefile - rest of hard drive (2nd partition) for data such as music and films
Whole other hard drive for apps and games etc.

Sound about right?

[Lance]

Should be ok, but I would go for nearer 10gb as some installs using temp files can run to a couple of gig. If you could get a second drive for the page file, that is where the perfomance gets even better.

[Sebby]

Putting the pagefile on a separate partition is pointless. Putting the pagefile on a separate disk, otoh, will help.

[D-Dan]

I have my scratch partition (all temp directories and pagefile) on a 20 gig partition on a 2nd drive. The beauty of this is - you can clean the temp files and defrag your pagefile with one command - "Format ...."

Steve

[Simon]

That sounds a brilliant idea, Steve. 

[D-Dan]

Don't forget to move your internet cache there, too. A handy way of getting rid of drive by nasties

[axisofevil]

Load Linux for a major speed improvement.
You can also chuck out all your ant-virus, defrag, messing-with-the-registry tools.

[Simon]

... and all your existing Windows programs. 

[Niall]

Load Linux for a major speed improvement.
You can also chuck out all your ant-virus, defrag, messing-with-the-registry tools.

Why would that be then? Is there a new Linux version that is immune to virus/malware? A simple search in google can find you proof that it also has it's own problems.

[axisofevil]

Give me a link to specific virus/malware
Wikipedia says

There has not yet been a single widespread Linux malware threat of the type that Microsoft Windows software currently faces; this is commonly attributed to the malware's lack of root access and fast updates to most Linux vulnerabilities.

Which while not definitive makes think that a search would be a laborious job.

[Den]

It most likely means that it's to much trouble to write one for Linux as you would only infect about one percent of computers.

[axisofevil]

Much less than that.
Personally, I don't other with setting up a special firewall.
My router (and NAT) gives me sufficient protection.
I don't fire up a load of services, listening on well known ports like your average Windows user.

[D-Dan]

There is no doubt - as Linux matures (more and more quickly) it will become the defacto OS - eventually. Wine allows most windows programs to run, and a VM will catch the rest, but until Linux gains the support of gamers (and the games to go with it), Windows will reign supreme.

Maybe one day. 

[Niall]

Give me a link to specific virus/malware
Wikipedia says
Which while not definitive makes think that a search would be a laborious job.

As I said, a simple google search will supply you this. While they do mention the route access you mention, there are still a few pages of google hits regarding this.

[axisofevil]

Results 1 - 10 of about 9,680,000 for linux malware. (0.11 seconds)

Help!

[Niall]

What exactly is the problem? I don't understand what you want. You've obviously found a lot of pages about viruses/malware, start reading them if that's what you're asking. 

[juiceuk]

Windows Live safty scanner
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion - The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion (TGTC) is the complete system optimization guide for Windows users.
http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

[Simon]

Thanks. 

[Nitz]

Firstly, apologies for kicking up an old thread.

There is a tool currently in Beta that is available called "Soluto - Anti-Frustration Software".

What it does is scans your PC boot up and displays which processes loaded, how long they took and gives you the ability to remove/delay/pause the service.
It has the added twist of being "hive connected", where the software provides suggestions on what to do with specific services based upon what the majority of users did.

It's a nice idea and helps to make modifying your start-up programs a breeze!

What it isn't

• Malware Scanner
• Virus Scanner

[DorsetBoy]

  http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=22254.0  there is indeed, I tried it the other day and it is useful in someways BUT ..... it is yet another app that runs at start up and reports to base all the time it is in use. I also found that the reported boot times it produced were decidedly "odd". Boot once at .41 minute, boot again and it reports 2:00 minutes despite the fact that boot clearly finished in less than that time.

It is still worth running to prove just what does start on your machine at boot.

[Lance]

I remember using bootvis from MS years ago.