Cleaning/Speeding Up Computer

I run both ubuntu and windows 7 on my netbook. Not sure how it fits but it does. At startup it asks which I want to use.
On the netbook I use mainly the ubuntu as windows 7 now needs to start in safe mode. Nothing to do with the ubuntu.
As far as the windows "speeding up/Clean up" programs. I have one on that said it could fix my widows problems!! An approve windows partner... 34$us later I still have the same windows start up problem!!! Worth it ...NO!!
 
Another vote for Ubuntu.
I run very old, low spec PC's that were donated to me after their previous owners claimed they needed new PC's due to them slowing to a stop.
Happily running on Ubuntu. So far there is nothing that I've found I can't do that a Windows PC can.
Its free.
Its very easy to use, my wife (technophobe) happily uses it, my kids (10, 8, 4) all use it with ease.
The best thing is that its not that dissimilar to Windows, it just doesn't slow down. And you don't get viruses.
Definitely worth downloading a version and trying it on a USB stick, you can then pop it in, try it for a while and then remove it without your PC ever knowing it had been running Ubuntu.

And apparently chics dig us nerdy types that use Linux.... apparently
 
balidey said:
Another vote for Ubuntu.
I run very old, low spec PC's that were donated to me after their previous owners claimed they needed new PC's due to them slowing to a stop.
Happily running on Ubuntu. So far there is nothing that I've found I can't do that a Windows PC can.
Its free.
Its very easy to use, my wife (technophobe) happily uses it, my kids (10, 8, 4) all use it with ease.
The best thing is that its not that dissimilar to Windows, it just doesn't slow down. And you don't get viruses.
Definitely worth downloading a version and trying it on a USB stick, you can then pop it in, try it for a while and then remove it without your PC ever knowing it had been running Ubuntu.

And apparently chics dig us nerdy types that use Linux.... apparently
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actually you can get viruses


there just are not many viruses because most people use either mac or windows so the evil little buggers that make them spend most of there time if any making viruses for windows/mac and not linux


the main reason most people stick with windows is for games
 
Pigcat, I dont know if your computers task scheduler does it automatically, but a good old defragment of the disk will help a lot.

Windows has its own program - disk defragmenter. If you havent done it for a while it will take a LONG time, so you might wanna run it overnight.
It basically groups together all like files and makes more sensible spaces on the disk. it can improve your drive lag.
 
Thanks chaps. I'm doing some defragmenting so hope that will help a bit. The main problem is that my internet speed has dropped over the last few days, but I suspect that the problem lies elsewhere in BT Land...
 
Here's my 2p worth.

Unless you're pretty comfortable with dicking about with computers to try and maintain them, then stay away from Linux. My Linux box here shits itself every few weeks and leaves me having to fix the graphics driver/X config or various other things from a console prompt (no more friendly, fluffy windowing environment and mouse to navigate with). Linux is NOT end-user friendly at all when it comes to maintaining it - especially if things go wrong. 8 years of using it as a main OS at work and longer using it as an OS on one of my boxes at home has taught me that much.

As for for speeding up your current PC installation:

Uninstall any applications, toolbars, etc you don't currently use - lots will load little "helper" utilities in the background - some allegedly to let the app in question to launch quicker.

With Windows, there's a little utility called msconfig that lets you specify which applications should be launched at startup. If you have Windows Vista or later, just press the start button and type "msconfig". For Windows XP, go to Start->Run and then type "msconfig" in that box and press the enter key.

Once msconfig has loaded, go to the Startup tab and browse through the myriad of applications that will be listed there. A *lot* of those are unnecessary. For example, on my PC Adobe have put entries there for "Adobe Read and Acrobat Manager" and "Adobe Updater Startup Utility". Likewise, Apple have bloated my PC with "Apple Push", "iTunes" and "Quicktime". None of these are the real applications, they are just "helpers" that run in the background. You can safely untick the boxes to stop these from running at startup. No damage will come to your PC and everything will still work. All that will happen is, for example, iTunes will take say 3 seconds longer to load, when you actually *want* to use it (rather than it always sitting in the background consuming resources). There are some things there that you probably shouldn't untick - I'd avoid ones that are directly linked to Windows or to your device drivers. But others are fair game.

I hope that makes some sense and helps a little. If you want help on whether or not it's safe to untick one of the apps you have listed, then feel free to drop me a PM :)


EDIT: As for the amount of "files" you have on your PC, you are correct that the number photos, videos, etc on your PC won't make a jot of difference - so long as the hard disk isn't near to being full to capacity.
 
Interesting your problems with Ubuntu. I'm not certain concerning their user services because to date I haven't needed them. I also run their free Office program. So far so good. Computers like razors- 'different horses for courses'.
 
Interesting your problems with Ubuntu. I'm not certain concerning their user services because to date I haven't needed them. I also run their free Office program. So far so good. Computers like razors- 'different horses for courses'.
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I'm not using Ubuntu, but my comment was about Linux in particular. If something screws up on it (and it will at some point) you're left with a console and no GUI to try and fix things. I'm *very* computer literate, and very Linux literate too (was using Slackware back in 1993) but despite that, I can find myself wasting hours trying to fix things that would only take 10 minutes under Windows.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Linux, just don't think its for the faint-hearted
 
I agree with Browngc to clean you pc using ccleaner. It's free, and it works wonders. Plus it cleans your registry to some degree.

The registry is a huge issue with respect to PC speed, and I believe this is a major reason why re-installing windows every now and then is so effective.

The makers of ccleaner also have a defragmentation program called defraggler. Its also free, and works better than the one that comes with windows.

The degree to which your hard drive is full can also have an effect, but you would need to be about 90% full for this to be a problem. If you are there, try the program Folder Size. Its also free, and does a good job at visualizing where you are having a lot of files. Start the deleting or moving of files from there. You might also be surprized at the size of the non deleted temporary files windows keeps in the documents and settings folder.

I've been told that from windows 8 Microsoft makes it easier for you to completely reinstall your windows from time to time, but putting all your personal files in a locker, then wiping your drive, reinstalling, and copying the locker back. Kind of a work-around style solution to solving the real issue: that windows just gets slower and slower with time.

/Max
 
One other thing have you run antivirus scan? You mentioned that your Internet connection is slow which might mean you have some malicious software. I take it you have some form of av?
Also download the free malware bytes scanner which does a very good job of finding other nasty stuff.
 
It maybe worth rebooting your router, as sometimes if they have been working on the line it can course you router to slowand when it reboots it should go back to full speed. I tend to reset mine once a week. Found I got an extra .5meg one day which was a nice surprise!!! I found defraggler worked wonders for me. On the topic of ram 3gb is fairly standard these days, but what processor do you have?
 
mstrunck said:
I agree with Browngc to clean you pc using ccleaner. It's free, and it works wonders. Plus it cleans your registry to some degree.

The registry is a huge issue with respect to PC speed, and I believe this is a major reason why re-installing windows every now and then is so effective.

The makers of ccleaner also have a defragmentation program called defraggler. Its also free, and works better than the one that comes with windows.

The degree to which your hard drive is full can also have an effect, but you would need to be about 90% full for this to be a problem. If you are there, try the program Folder Size. Its also free, and does a good job at visualizing where you are having a lot of files. Start the deleting or moving of files from there. You might also be surprized at the size of the non deleted temporary files windows keeps in the documents and settings folder.

I've been told that from windows 8 Microsoft makes it easier for you to completely reinstall your windows from time to time, but putting all your personal files in a locker, then wiping your drive, reinstalling, and copying the locker back. Kind of a work-around style solution to solving the real issue: that windows just gets slower and slower with time.

/Max
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personally i would avoid the registry cleaner, it can cause problems and its very difficult to fix the problems that the cleaner causes because


it dose not create a full registry backup only the bits you change


so in other words, dont touch the registry unless you know exactly what you are doing, i doubt very much that cleaning the registry will offer big speedup's anyway




if you really want a speed up of windows boot time and loading a few programs the best way is getting an ssd but there arguably very expensive




i agree with hax, linux is good to use as a main os/ one to play with but it can be tricky to fix if you dont know what you are doing. (i dont have a clue with linux, i know how to compile a program from source and the odd little thing but no where near enough to maintain it


linux os's like mint and ubuntu are good in practise but all they do is offer a fancy gui, that is useless when the inevitable happens
 
Hax said:
I'm not using Ubuntu, but my comment was about Linux in particular. If something screws up on it (and it will at some point) you're left with a console and no GUI to try and fix things. I'm *very* computer literate, and very Linux literate too (was using Slackware back in 1993) but despite that, I can find myself wasting hours trying to fix things that would only take 10 minutes under Windows.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Linux, just don't think its for the faint-hearted
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Well, you can probably tell from my sig that I'm going to fight the corner for GNU/Linux. X hasn't screwed up on me for years, it's better now than it every has been. Maybe you're mixing up X with the window manager?

As I work with Linux/Solaris boxes for my day job, doing anything with Windows is painful and I'll often pull faces at the computer trying to make something dead simple in unix happen on Windows.

You're pretty much on your own when there's a BSOD during boot on windows, it's the opposite case with unix.
 
eneville said:
Well, you can probably tell from my sig that I'm going to fight the corner for GNU/Linux. X hasn't screwed up on me for years, it's better now than it every has been. Maybe you're mixing up X with the window manager?

As I work with Linux/Solaris boxes for my day job, doing anything with Windows is painful and I'll often pull faces at the computer trying to make something dead simple in unix happen on Windows.

You're pretty much on your own when there's a BSOD during boot on windows, it's the opposite case with unix.
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Nope, not confusing X with windowing manager, I *do* know the difference after years of developing chartplotters running Linux as the OS :p

As for the BSOD comment, Windows still gives you the chance to boot into safe mode. Linux gives you the chance to boot to a console prompt (if you know how to edit the boot line that is). Linux = no GUI, just console and keyboard. Windows = basic GUI with most, internet to look up help, etc...

I know which I would recommend for most users who aren't comfortable with console commands, which is a large proportion of the people who use PCs these days. Hell, I know developers who've struggled with the console be it Windows or Linux, most don't have to get near it these days.

I agree that Linux is a nice OS, I just don't think it suitable for everyone.... Yet...
 
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