Computer tips

gt123 · Aug 21, 2004, 07:42 PM

I always hope when i post here that it will be the last time i need to, the big problems will stop...i've learned that's never, ever going to happen, and i unintentionally learned a lot more about computers that i ever wanted to just trying to fix it. The LAST thing i wanna do is spend all my time on the computer posting forums and fixing crap, so, i'm just going to try and make the problems as few and far-between as possible, and i need some help:

What can i do to make my computer

-as safe as possible (from spyware and viruses and crap like that)

-functional, so as to avoid problems with hardware (a new case? airflow? PSU? MB?) - I couldn't care less what it looks like

-and to avoid as many seemingly random problems as possible, like Windows messages asking to "insert a disk in drive E:\" out of nowhere, and all the sound on my computer just stopping completely.

Im thinking of just stopping surfing the internet completely. Seems like anything i try to DL that's not a windows update or reccommended by someone on here tries to either hijack my computer or put a virus on it...like the other day i DL a windows background and opened it, boom firewall comes up "application hijacking has been detected". Im so tired...

Heres what i have so far:
-Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5 - Free DL
-SpywareBlaster
-Adaware
-Norton Antivirus 2003 - Came with computer, 90 day trial
-Mozilla Firefox (but it seems like im always having to use Internet Explorer to DL anything...i panick anytime it comes up, SPYWARE)

I think that's about all the safety things. I need a good mail protector though, im thinking about buying Mailwasher. And im gonna need a good Antivirus after the NAV trial runs out.

I'd really appreciate help on any of these

GutterPunk · Aug 21, 2004, 07:50 PM

Alright what I would do right now is make a cd w/ all of the windows updates.... or slipstream it into 1 disc or whatever you call it. Therefore when you install you are updated and security holes are fixed. Be sure to have your firewall on a disc so you can install it w/o having to get on the internet i have never tried sygate but I use zone alarm free on fresh installs and it has kept me safe. Also a hardware firewall is very nice when it comes to fresh installs.

pr0digal jenius · Aug 22, 2004, 05:13 AM

use firefox for everything except the few sites that wont allow it (papajohns pizza, microsoft windows update, etc)

and try downloading spybot 1.3

to avoid staqbility issues, how much ram do you have...i'd get atleast 512 MBs

as for the rest, ummm...keep windows up to date (SP2, etc) and don't install anything you dunno what it is (when the stupid windows come up in IE...always hit 'no'

)

technonerd · Aug 22, 2004, 05:33 AM

Norton Antivirus is garbage. I got a virus two weeks ago, and my friend got a virus which is Background vires (something like win32) it wreck the second Hard drive which is his backup.

Alots of people have problem with norton, I like mcafee better.

GutterPunk · Aug 22, 2004, 05:39 AM

never heard of win32 virus maybe a series like win32.netsky or whatever.... anyways I have never caught a virus (and i did a share of p2p d/l in my time) it always caught them. I like my norton and wont change untill i am disapointed

No_Style · Aug 22, 2004, 05:48 AM

To maintain stability, performance and functionality.. You have to spend time giving your PC a maintenance check. Everything from Defragmenting, to updating stuff.. if you don't like to manually do some of that stuff, you can turn on autoupdate features for a lot of stuff, and schedule defragmenting utilities for when you're not using the PC.

You'll also have physically clean the inside of your PC with compressed at least once every 6 months as well.

GutterPunk · Aug 22, 2004, 05:52 AM

Oh yes! do not forget in XP run ERROR CHECKING! once or twice before defragging as sometimes you can hurt things

gt123 · Aug 22, 2004, 05:40 PM

alright, i have 512mb ram, i'll run error checking, and do you guys know of any good free defragmenters besides XP's?

Nacht · Aug 22, 2004, 05:45 PM

Diskeeper...it's the best IMO

there are varios tweak programs i use to...here they are:
jv16 powertools
DH tuneXP
XPLite
TweakUI

GutterPunk · Aug 22, 2004, 05:49 PM

Tune XP is a great tweak tool and easy to understand good idea on bringing up the tweaks nacht

gt123 · Aug 23, 2004, 03:24 AM

Alright i DL that DH tuneXP, i don't know what a lot of this stuff does yet...but i'll figure it out eventually.

Gutter, i heard you saying Dell cases have crappy airflow, and it definitely looks like that's the case with this...any recommendations on a good case i could get? not something fancy, just functional, and cheap. And would my system need anything else? I dont plan on modding or anything, so would just good airflow in the case and PSU be enough to keep it cool?

Jitter · Aug 23, 2004, 03:46 AM

The best defragmenter by far that i have tried is Perfect Disk. I tried diskkeeper, but i like perfect disk alot better. If your hard drive is real cluttered you may have to run it a couple times but it sure puts everything nice and tight once its done.

For spyware I use 4 programs
Spywareblaster (supposed to block spyware from installing)
Spybot
Adaware
Spysweeper (the best in my opinion)

I use regsupreme for my registry cleaner

I also feel that norton is not very good anymore. I used to use it alot but was having all kinda conflicts and its resource hogging, plus it missed a virus on my pc and on my online golf team norton missed at least 2 more viruses on other peoples Pc's that mcafee picked up. Even though mcafee seems to take up the same amount of RAM generally speaking everything runs smoother in games/benchmarks than w/ norton (I always leave the mcafee firewall on and havent had any probs w/ that either).

gt123 · Aug 23, 2004, 09:04 PM

i tried spybot, but i didn't like it. Seems like adaware is pretty much the same thing but a lot better. I scanned with adaware and it caught a ton of spy/adware that spybot missed, both with updates. But i will try spysweeper. Im planning on buying some antivirus when Norton runs out, but i had issues with McAffee...the apps disk that came with the computer had both on it, and Norton has been working better so far. I'll try diskeeper too. Thanks for replying...any ideas on that case though?

Aug 21, 2004, 07:42 PM	#1
gt123 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0	Computer tips I always hope when i post here that it will be the last time i need to, the big problems will stop...i've learned that's never, ever going to happen, and i unintentionally learned a lot more about computers that i ever wanted to just trying to fix it. The LAST thing i wanna do is spend all my time on the computer posting forums and fixing crap, so, i'm just going to try and make the problems as few and far-between as possible, and i need some help: What can i do to make my computer -as safe as possible (from spyware and viruses and crap like that) -functional, so as to avoid problems with hardware (a new case? airflow? PSU? MB?) - I couldn't care less what it looks like -and to avoid as many seemingly random problems as possible, like Windows messages asking to "insert a disk in drive E:\" out of nowhere, and all the sound on my computer just stopping completely. Im thinking of just stopping surfing the internet completely. Seems like anything i try to DL that's not a windows update or reccommended by someone on here tries to either hijack my computer or put a virus on it...like the other day i DL a windows background and opened it, boom firewall comes up "application hijacking has been detected". Im so tired... Heres what i have so far: -Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5 - Free DL -SpywareBlaster -Adaware -Norton Antivirus 2003 - Came with computer, 90 day trial -Mozilla Firefox (but it seems like im always having to use Internet Explorer to DL anything...i panick anytime it comes up, SPYWARE) I think that's about all the safety things. I need a good mail protector though, im thinking about buying Mailwasher. And im gonna need a good Antivirus after the NAV trial runs out. I'd really appreciate help on any of these

Aug 21, 2004, 07:50 PM	#2
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	Alright what I would do right now is make a cd w/ all of the windows updates.... or slipstream it into 1 disc or whatever you call it. Therefore when you install you are updated and security holes are fixed. Be sure to have your firewall on a disc so you can install it w/o having to get on the internet i have never tried sygate but I use zone alarm free on fresh installs and it has kept me safe. Also a hardware firewall is very nice when it comes to fresh installs. __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 22, 2004, 05:39 AM	#5
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	never heard of win32 virus maybe a series like win32.netsky or whatever.... anyways I have never caught a virus (and i did a share of p2p d/l in my time) it always caught them. I like my norton and wont change untill i am disapointed __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 22, 2004, 05:48 AM	#6
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	To maintain stability, performance and functionality.. You have to spend time giving your PC a maintenance check. Everything from Defragmenting, to updating stuff.. if you don't like to manually do some of that stuff, you can turn on autoupdate features for a lot of stuff, and schedule defragmenting utilities for when you're not using the PC. You'll also have physically clean the inside of your PC with compressed at least once every 6 months as well. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Aug 22, 2004, 05:52 AM	#7
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	Oh yes! do not forget in XP run ERROR CHECKING! once or twice before defragging as sometimes you can hurt things __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 22, 2004, 05:13 AM	#3
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	use firefox for everything except the few sites that wont allow it (papajohns pizza, microsoft windows update, etc) and try downloading spybot 1.3 to avoid staqbility issues, how much ram do you have...i'd get atleast 512 MBs as for the rest, ummm...keep windows up to date (SP2, etc) and don't install anything you dunno what it is (when the stupid windows come up in IE...always hit 'no' )

Aug 22, 2004, 05:33 AM	#4
technonerd DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 594 Rep Power: 0	Norton Antivirus is garbage. I got a virus two weeks ago, and my friend got a virus which is Background vires (something like win32) it wreck the second Hard drive which is his backup. Alots of people have problem with norton, I like mcafee better.

Aug 22, 2004, 05:40 PM	Thread Starter #8
gt123 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0	alright, i have 512mb ram, i'll run error checking, and do you guys know of any good free defragmenters besides XP's?

Aug 22, 2004, 05:45 PM	#9
Nacht ein Krieger Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Clemson Uni Posts: 3,127 Rep Power: 0	Diskeeper...it's the best IMO there are varios tweak programs i use to...here they are: jv16 powertools DH tuneXP XPLite TweakUI

Aug 22, 2004, 05:49 PM	#10
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	Tune XP is a great tweak tool and easy to understand good idea on bringing up the tweaks nacht __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 23, 2004, 03:24 AM	Thread Starter #11
gt123 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0	Alright i DL that DH tuneXP, i don't know what a lot of this stuff does yet...but i'll figure it out eventually. Gutter, i heard you saying Dell cases have crappy airflow, and it definitely looks like that's the case with this...any recommendations on a good case i could get? not something fancy, just functional, and cheap. And would my system need anything else? I dont plan on modding or anything, so would just good airflow in the case and PSU be enough to keep it cool?

Aug 23, 2004, 03:46 AM	#12
Jitter HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 534 Rep Power: 0	The best defragmenter by far that i have tried is Perfect Disk. I tried diskkeeper, but i like perfect disk alot better. If your hard drive is real cluttered you may have to run it a couple times but it sure puts everything nice and tight once its done. For spyware I use 4 programs Spywareblaster (supposed to block spyware from installing) Spybot Adaware Spysweeper (the best in my opinion) I use regsupreme for my registry cleaner I also feel that norton is not very good anymore. I used to use it alot but was having all kinda conflicts and its resource hogging, plus it missed a virus on my pc and on my online golf team norton missed at least 2 more viruses on other peoples Pc's that mcafee picked up. Even though mcafee seems to take up the same amount of RAM generally speaking everything runs smoother in games/benchmarks than w/ norton (I always leave the mcafee firewall on and havent had any probs w/ that either).

Aug 23, 2004, 09:04 PM	Thread Starter #13
gt123 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0	i tried spybot, but i didn't like it. Seems like adaware is pretty much the same thing but a lot better. I scanned with adaware and it caught a ton of spy/adware that spybot missed, both with updates. But i will try spysweeper. Im planning on buying some antivirus when Norton runs out, but i had issues with McAffee...the apps disk that came with the computer had both on it, and Norton has been working better so far. I'll try diskeeper too. Thanks for replying...any ideas on that case though?