Tune Up Your Computer
Before the Smelly Stuff Hits the Fan

 By David Taylor

The logo above is from the site http://www.majorgeeks.com, which provides one-stop shopping for a variety of freeware utilities for your computer. You'll also find a help forum there for when the smelly stuff hits the fan. And as any online student or teacher knows, it is only a matter of time before that unfortunate event happens.

Which brings us to another point: In the beginning of an online course, some students will usually experience computer and connection issues.

Welcome to online education, which requires more computer resources and more care than normal web surfing. Updating and revitalzing your computer may well be an important outcome for many in this course.

As a start, please ensure that you can perform the maintenance and tune-up steps on listed below. As a 21st-Century learner and teacher, you must learn to be your own tech support. Here are some of the things I've learned along the way--the hard, smelly way:

* Set your web browser's cache (temporary files) to empty each time you close the browser.
In Internet Explorer, do this by going to Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced tab. Scroll down until you see the option "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder" and select it. Click OK.
In Firefox, clear your cache by going to Tools -> Options -> Advanced panel -> Network tab -> Clear Now. Click OK.

 In Chrome, auto clear your cache by going to Tools (wrench icon) -> Settings -> Under the Hood -> Content Settings ->"Clear cookies and other site and plug-in data when I close my browser." ->Click OK.


* Delete any "freeware" or "bloatware" that came with your machine unless you are sure you will use it. Especially delete AOL, McAfee, Norton and AVG. On Windows machines, the uninstall program function can be found at Control Panel--> Add or Remove Programs. Look for any "bloatware" shipped with your computer that you will not use.

The AOL, McAfee, AVG and Norton programs (with approval of Microsoft!) often resist deletion. If one or both programs are in use, they can set up conflicting firewalls with your system's firewall, slow you down and result in repeated dropped connections.

The best way to stay safe on the web is not to open anything from anyone you don't know and not to click on any screen that says "your computer has a problem, click here to fix it." Also, do not download or install any file with the extension (ending) ".exe" unless it is a program you have requested and/or paid for. Chrome is the safest browser to use as of now.

Especially get rid of "free" browser toolbars from Google, Yahoo! Chrome, and the others. These function as spybots that collect data on your web usage and provide significant obstacles to safe, fast web usage.

To delete programs that resist deletion, you can use a PC Decrapifier--a program that lists software on your computer that can be deleted with a few clicks.Be sure to set a restore point on your computer before using in case you delete something you want to use later.

* Perform the following weekly maintenance tasks without fail (before your machine does):

1. Run CCleaner. The first tool cleans temporary files and browser caches, which are the main culprits of clog. The second tool cleans your registry of duplicates or outdated keys. The third tool allows you to control what programs try to turn on when you boot up you computer, allowing you turn off unwanted process as well as conserving computer resources. Look for "updates"--these open up a connection between your computer and Adobe, Google, Apple and other sites for "updates" and promotions.

WARNING:If you have not performed these clearning functions in a while or never at all, be prepared to wait. Your machine could be so clogged up that it takes the tool an hour or more to collect the trash.

2. Go to Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Free up space on your hard disk. This should take virtually not time at all once you have used CCleaner.

3. Defragment your hard drive with the free program from Auslogics. Your computer has a defragment tool but it will probably not be as good or as fast. You can find it at Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Rearrange items on your hard disk to make programs run faster.

Defragment your hard drive even if the analyzer says you don't need to. Windows Vistam Windows 7 and above offer automatic defragging whenever your system is in an idle state, keeping your hard drive optimized at all times. There is also a freeware tool that does the same thing for Windows: IObit Smart Defrag 2.8.0.1211.

4. Use CCleaner "Uninstall" feature to check the list of installed programs and delete any software no longer used, was added by another user, or added without your permission by some page you visited. It happens. You can also do this with your computer's own tool but it usually isn't as powerful as the one that comes with CCleaner. Your computer's uninstall tool can be found at: Go to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.

Also Weekly:

* Inspect your startup processes. If it seems like your computer is taking too long to start up, try this: After the initializing is finished, right click on bottom tray/taskbar and select "Task Manager" then select the "Applications" tab. A window will appear that shows every application your computer started when powered on.

Check especially for programs that connect automatically to the web. Adobe Reader, for example. If you haven't disabled it, Adobe Reader will attempt to connect and maintain background connections to the Abobe web site. It's great to have these free programs on your system, but you don't need to be constantly connected to their sites, wasting your bandwidth and slowing you down. Your goal on startup is to launch only the minimum programs you need.

To stop unwanted applications from starting up and running in the background:

Windows XP:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type in "msconfig" (without quotes)
4. Select Startup tab
5. Uncheck the box of any application that you don't need on start up. Look especially for sites of applications like Adobe, Nero, Logitech, iTunes, Real Player ("realsched") and so on. Not having these programs launch on start up does not affect their performance in any way, but shutting them down will improve your computer's performance.
6. Click OK.

Windows Vista, Windows 7 and higher:
1. Click Start button
2. Type in "run" (without quote marks)
3. Type in "msconfig" (without quote marks)
4. Follow steps 4-6 above.

There are freeware programs that also do this, but why add another application if you don't have to?

* Run CHKDSK. Windows comes with a built-in application that checks your internal hard drive for sector errors and repairs them when it can. It is a good idea to run Chkdsk every few months or anytime your hard drive seems to slow down. Here is how to run Chkdsk on an XP system. Here is how to do it for Windows Vista & 7 and higher.

* Keep your registry free of unused or unwanted entries. You can find excellent registry cleanup programs at: http://www.majorgeeks.com. But as you know by now my favorite general-purpose clean-up tool is Piraform's free CCleaner ("C" is usually the letter assigned to your hard drive). CCleaneris one of the tools that I run daily on the computers I maintain.

 * Don't just defrag your hard drive and registry--consolidate and optimize! There are a number of free, effective and trusted maintenance tools available today. I highly recommend downloading the suite of free tools available from Auslogics: On the landing page, click on "Products" at the top navbar and pull down to Freebies. Download and install the free defragmenter, registry cleaner, and registry defragmenter.
WiseCleaner also has a suite of excellent free tools for cleaning and defragging your hard drive and registry. I invested in the for-pay version after using the free version for a while and have been satisfied with the results.

 * Add memory. If your computer has only 516K or 1GB of RAM, add memory yourself. More than any one thing you can do, adding RAM will improve your computer's speed and performance. The tools at Crucial Memory and 4All Memory.com and similar sites will analyze your RAM slots, recommend which memory chip to buy, and show you how to insert it. If you can screw in a lightbulb, you can add a memory chip to your machine. Memory is dirt cheap these days, and there is rarely an excuse not to fill your slots to the max so you can get the most out of your computer.

 * Get an External Hard Drive. As anyone who works in multimedia knows, you cannot expect your computer's internal hard drive to serve as a storage closet for the large, complex files you create and manage for a multimedia learning object or web site.
Like RAM, external hard drives are dirt cheap these days. Best practices dictate an external hard drive to store the assets (photos, music, sound effects, video clips) and the files for the projects you create. Use your computer's internal hard drive only for your software and the current project you're working on.

Keep your internal hard drive stripped down (no data, only software), clean and defragmented. And never completely fill an external hard drive: three-quarters capacity should be the limit and keep it defragmented as well with the free tools listed above.

Your goal: Keep your computer as close as possible to its "out of the box" speed.