Professional Guides

Close the door to viruses, worms, trojans, spyware and pop-up ads fast!

These evils are hiding in your system: your PC's automatic loading function leaves your system wide open to attacks. Insiders program a few lines of code. And then these malicious programs install themselves automatically on your hard disk and start every time your computer boots up.

There's an easy way to avoid this:

Switch off automatic Startup programs you don't need. Remove every bit of software you don't recognise.

Delete unnecessary Startup programs:

You can do this straight away. Select Start > Settings > Taskbar & Start Menu... Then go to Advanced.

Under Programs > Startup, you'll see some of the programs that are launched automatically. Delete all links to programs you don't need. If you're not sure whether you can delete an entry, a list will show you all Autostart programs that are installed. You can then decide what to delete.

Additionally if your PC is behaving erratically due to a virus infection, you can check the run= and load= entries in your WIN.INI file for any programs that look unfamiliar. Select Start > Run... and type WIN.INI this will open the file in Notepad. Use the Edit > Find... Function to find all the entries starting with load= and run=. Then check off each entry carefully. Do you recognise the programs?

Have you entered any shareware or other programs which you've deleted long ago? This is where you'll discover any rubbish you've amassed in your system. Don't know what it is? Then into the Recycle Bin it goes!

Getting rid of rubbish allows you to kill three birds with one stone:

1) You close the door to viruses and other pests.

2) You give your system a good spring-clean.

3) You get rid of the sources of many problems.

Once you've given your system a good old clear out, your PC will be a lot more stable and faster too.

Run msconfig:

Life is easier with Windows 98, ME and XP

Select Start > Run... and type msconfig. An additional menu appears.

Remove the tick from every bit of software you don't recognise. If you're not sure, leave the selection alone.  All you have to do is uncheck the boxes and these programs will no longer launch automatically.

Making your PC fast and stable! You don't have to expand your system — change its setup instead!

There are some incredibly simple ways to make your PC run faster. If your system is dragging its feet, this is often due to incorrect settings and extra baggage. These eat up memory and result in slow system operation. But you don't have to put up with it. Read on and discover everything you need to speed up your system immediately.

The 9 worst performance inhibitors:

1. Updates versus new installations

When you update software you automatically carry over everything from your old system: old drivers. abandoned files and other junk. This makes your system more lethargic and causes it to crash more often.

2. Too little disk space

Less than 500 MB? Windows doesn't like that. It means there's not enough space for the swap file that your system needs as its working storage.  Run Disk Cleanup and remove as many old and temporary files as possible

3. Too many utilities

Remove all the programs you no longer need to save memory and increase your computer's performance.  You often run a utility program to fix a specific problem, then delete it.  Keep a backup on CD and you can always reload it if necessary.

4. Redundant data

Deleting temporary files, Internet files and any files in your Recycle Bin, will increase overall performance.

5. Data bottlenecks

Optimise your computer's memory cache to increase speed and efficiency.

6. Inefficient registry

Optimise you registry settings to gain better performance and stability.

7. Poor monitor display

Ensure that your graphics card and monitor are working at their optimum performance.  Load the latest video drivers.  Run in the optimum resolution and display frequency to reduce flicker.

8. Obsolete hardware

Have you got obsolete controllers in your computer? This will turn your speedy Windows highway into a bumpy old farm track.  Dump that old printer that’s still connected. Make sure fast IDE devices such as hard drives are on their own channel and slower optical disks on the other.  Check the cables too.

9. Unnecessary Windows components

Uninstall the Windows components that you don't need to save memory and disk space.  Run Windows setup in Add and Remove Programs for this.

Remove unwanted application files and save valuable memory.

When you uninstall software from your computer, the files that were originally installed are often not removed along with the program itself. Configuration settings and log files, even temporary working files can still exist. These take up valuable space and can also erode the efficiency of your PC. Deleting the files that are no longer associated with any programs will allow you to increase the efficiency and stability of your PC.