degunking my windows computer. why is my computer gunked up? let’s look at some reasons

Degunking My Windows Computer

Why Is My Computer Gunked Up?

Let’s Look At Some Reasons

Why Is My Computer Gunked Up

You may fall into one of three categories

A person with a Windows machine that is struggling to stay alive

A person with the relative wondering why there machine is out of hard-drive space and cannot function properly

A techie trying to show people how to save their machines from oblivion


Our PCs are like houses: neglect leads to problems like leaky roofs and clogged drains

For our PCs the neglect may be (internal factors)

Forgetting to backup the hard drive

Not closely watching what gets installed

Subscribing to too many e-mail newsletters

Etc.


(External factors)

Spam

Viruses

Poorly designed program software

The Registry (the place where information about your files is stored) goes south

Your hard drive can barely support what is installed


After awhile, with normal wear and tear, every computer will start to slow down

Understanding How You Got So Gunked Up

Files Are Saved All over the Hard Drive

Users will have

document files

downloaded files

and other programs saved in many different places on their hard drives

Files Are Saved All over the Hard Drive

For example, the program used to open an attachment from outlook stores a copy of the file in a temporary directory in your Windows directory system. If you do not resave the file into a designated document folder the document will remain in the temporary directory--gunk

Temporary Files Are NotAlways Temporary

Users may casually save stuff to their desktop or the C: root directory

When computers crash or files are improperly saved files stay around and gunk up the system

Hundreds to thousands of files can be stuck in obscure places

Spam, Spam, Eggs, Bacon, and Spam! Spam is like weeds in our gardens-the more we

try to get rid of it, the faster it comes back

Use strategies to greatly reduce your exposure to spam

Use different e-mail addresses

Set up filters

Use different e-mail clients

Avoid activities to trigger spam

Installing Too Many Programs

Most of us are guilty of installing (or keeping

Too many neat games

5 instant messaging systems

That gardening CD-ROM in the spring (and used it once)

50 different screensavers

Installing Too Many Programs

If your idea of uninstalling a program is to drag them into the trash and forget them

Windows still thinks you have them

Programs physically change your operating system

Your Start Menu is Overrun

As you add and remove programs, they add program icons to your Start menu

Eventually you end up with tons of separate folders on the Start menu

Your Desktop is OverrunWith Icons

Program icons are often put on the Desktop when programs are installed

Users often put other junk on the desktop

Segmented Hard Drive

Big data files and large programs are stored hopscotch style

A piece here and a piece there

Result→the reader on your hard drive has to physically move back and forth multiple times to read the data in one file

• This slows down the hard drive

• Causes wear and tear

Low Hard Drive Space

Windows often uses the hard drive to keep the PC tasks running—not just for temporary files

Windows uses the hard drive as an extension of working memory

Result→If hard drive space is low it creates problems for your OS

Low Hard Drive Space

Users typically fill up their hard drive space with

Video files

Music files

Internet downloads

Digital photographs

Users are filling up there space faster

And not keeping up with cleaning and organization task

Unorganized Data Files We are not just dealing with word processing

documents and a few spreadsheets anymore

MP3 files for music

Ripping out CD collection to the hard drive

Storing hundreds of digital photos & videos

PDF’s and PowerPoint slides

JPG’s and GIF’s

Photoshop collages

Unorganized Data Files

Becoming organized has become very important

To help the PC run efficiently

To help the user operate the PC efficiently

Now where did I stick that birthday picture

of my daughter?

Unorganized Web Favorites

You may have a long list of Web Favorites

This list may be useless unless the one you want is near the top

Spyware Boogieman

Spyware-a catchall name for products that installed

Report information on your web surfing habits

Bombard you with popup ads or other advertisements

Spyware Boogieman

Spyware normally does not show up in the programs directory

Makes them hard to find and deal with

The Dreaded Cookie Monster

Cookies are not programs

Basically they are tiny pieces of text that Web sites place in a special directory on your machine

The Dreaded Cookie Monster

Example

Yahoo may place “xu44$@dncsdlk3” on your machine

This is used by Yahoo to identify your computer

Unless you log into Yahoo, the text has no purpose; it is only used by Yahoo

The Dreaded Cookie MonsterOverall cookies are fairly harmless

They may serve other purposes

• Recognize your last visit to their site

After awhile you may have a few thousand

99% of them are useless

You may find cookies from gambling or porn sites

• This may be discontenting for some people

Your Gunked Up!

The problems we have discussed will only get worse over time

That is why your computer can get so bogged down

Ready For Degunking?

The most difficult part is dedicating a little time

We will present task in the order that will hopefully get you the most results in the shortest period of time

And we will discuss getting yourself on a maintenance program so your computer always runs well

Degunking Your PC

The Strategy Behind Degunking

Based on how Windows XP operates

How Windows stores types of files

How Windows provides default directories

• My Music, My Pictures, etc.

How data is stored and retrieved on your hard drive


How Windows installs and removes programs on your computer

How main programs and other utilities can be set up to automatically load with you start Windows

How Windows uses different types of memory to store and process data


How Windows built-in tools such as System Restore can be used to repair your system

The more you understand the basics of how Windows operates, the better you get at improving your PC’s performance

Important Questions to Ask YourselfDoes it seem that my computer is running

slower and slower with each passing month?

Do I put a lot of new files on my computer but rarely remove any old ones?

How often do I look at my personal data directories to see if I am storing files I do not need or keeping my system organized

Important Questions to Ask Yourself Do I really need all of the programs on my

computer?

Do I use all of the programs that load automatically when Windows starts up?

When was the last time I went through my e-mail and deleted the messages I no longer need?

When was the last time I ran a utility such as PC Cleanup to remove the temporary files on my hard drive?

Important Questions to Ask YourselfWhen was the last time I defragmented my

hard drive

Do I have a firewall set up to keep viruses and other nasty programs off my machine?

Do I know what to do if something goes wrong with my PC because it has gotten really gunked up?

Getting Rid Of Files That Should Not Be There

Basic Housekeeping 101

Clean Up the Default Folders

Hopefully you have been saving files to the default folders

My Documents

My Music

My Videos

My Pictures


When XP looks for a file, it searches the full hard disk drive

The more stuff on your hard disk, the more stuff it has to look through

Clean Up the Default Folders Clean Up the Default Folders

If you see something you do not need or like→delete it

1. Double-click the “My Documents” folder

2. Right-click any file and choose “Delete” from the shortcut menu

3. In the “Confirm File Delete” dialog box, click “Yes”

Do not delete files you do not know what they are used for


My Pictures

Deleting pictures from this folder is just the same as deleting from the “My Documents” folder

Clean Up the Default FoldersMy Videos

Deleting video files is a little trickier

With Movie Maker 2

• Project files are given a .MSWMM file name extension

• Then you create a movie and the files are given a .wmv extension

• Therefore, many duplicate files may exists

Delete any duplicate movie or sound files you will not need in the future


My Music

Deleting files from this folder is just the same as deleting from the “My Documents” folder

Clean Up Your Main Drive

Admit it, sometimes you save files randomly to whatever folder they open in

It is time to clean out the garage and do some organizing


Delete files from the root directory (C:)

Right-click the Start button and choose Explore

Expand My Computer and click Local Disk (C:)

If you see any files you no longer need, right-click and choose Delete


Better organize your root directory

Move files to more suitable locations

If you do not know what a file is—do not move it!


To move files

1. Select a file to move by hovering the mouse over it

2. Click the View menu, point to Explorer Bar, and select Folders (this will place a check mark by it) Locate, in the left pane, the My Documents folder

3. Expand the My Documents folder

4. Drag the files and folders from the C: drive to the proper folder in My Documents


Tip: If you have a folder named Online Services in the Program folder, delete it. It contains files to help you get set up with AOL, MSN, and similar online serves. Chances are, you are already online and you do not need to keep these files


Delete unused files in other locations

You may have unwanted files on the rest of your hard drive

The Search option can help you locate files on your hard drive you no longer need


For example, you may have digital photo’s stored in different places

1. Click Start and then Search

2. In the Search dialog box perform independent searches for *.jpg (digital camera files).

– Others art files are

» *.gif, *.tif, *.bmp, and *.tiff

– Music files

» *.midi, *.mp3, *.wav, *.avi, and *.wma


1. If you find files you do not need you can delete them by right-clicking and choosing delete

2. You can move files by dragging and dropping

Clean Up Your Main DriveClean up the “Unzipped” folder

If you use WinZip, the Unzipped folder is where your unzipped files are stored so that you can open

When a file is downloaded it will have a .zip extension if the file is compressed

Once the file in uncompressed and saved you have 2 copies

Delete the file you no longer need

You may search for files with a *.zip extension

Clean Up Your Main DriveLocating duplicate files

Some duplicate files end in extensions such as .001, .002, and so on

• Using the search utility may be difficult

The best method is to install a disk cleaning software program

Enter the words Windows XP Remove Duplicate Files in a search engine in IE 6 and see what you get


Get rid of pesky temp files

Your likely to have temp (*.tmp) files hiding in every nook and cranny

There are lots of reasons temp files are created

• When Windows crashes

• If you use Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

• Some installation programs create them

• Many applications programs create them for backups

• When you surf the net


There are several ways to clean up your temp files

Using Disk Cleanup is the easiest

Clean Up Your Main Drive To use Disk Cleanup

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and Disk Cleanup

2. Select the drive to clean up, and click OK

3. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, select the items to delete

• Uncheck the Recycle Bin and Compress Old Files


Cleaning up what Disk Cleanup has missed

There were no options to remove cookies, browser caches, IE history, recent documents, and similar items


How to clean up these additional temp files

1. Use the search option and search for *.tmp files

2. Right-click Name in the Search window and verify that Date Modified is checked

3. Click Date Modified in the Search window to sort the remaining tem files by date

4. Use the Shift key to select the files that are more than a week old

5. Click Delete on the keyboard


Internet and e-mail files

Temporary Internet files, offline content, cookies, browser caches, IE history can be cleaned from inside the Internet Options dialog box

• Open IE

• Click Tools, and click Internet Options

• From the General tab, click Delete Cookies

• Click Delete files

• Click Clear History

• Click OK

Uninstalling Programs You Do Not Need & Tweaking Those You Do

Remove Programs You Do Not Use

Windows comes with components you might not need

MSN Explorer or games

You may have programs you do not need that installed when you loaded the communication software for a

Web cam

Printer

Digital camera


All programs on your computer will not be listed when you click on the All Programs option, but it is a good place to look

• Open any programs you do not know what they are

• Make a list of any programs you no longer need

• Do not remove any programs you are not sure what they are used for


Using a program’s Uninstall Command

Always check to see if the program has an uninstall option

• The best way to uninstall

• Check the All Programs list


Using the Control Panel to Remove Programs

1. Open the Control Panel

2. Double-click the Add Or Remove Programs option

3. Locate the program(s) to uninstall

4. Click OK

Find Programs You Do NotKnow You Have

Check out the Program Files folder

1. Right-click the Start button

2. Click Explore, and browse to the Program Files folder

3. Click the program folders to see what files are in each one

Find Programs You Do NotKnow You Have Three ways to get rid of files you do not

want

1. Find an uninstall option in the program folder

2. Visit the manufacturer’s Web site for uninstallation instructions

3. Delete the entire folder by right-clicking and choosing Delete

Use #3 as a last resort

Find Programs You Do NotKnow You Have Remove Spyware

May be installed on your computer with or without your permission or knowledge

Advertising companies use them to track your online activities

Sometimes they add new toolbars to your Web browser, change your homepage, or cause excessive pop-up ads

They may seal our passwords, credit card numbers, or other forms of identification

Find Programs You Do NotKnow You HaveOn the Web visit

www.spywareinfo.com

www.spychecker.com

www.spychecker.com/software/freeware_antispy.html

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ My Personal Favorite

Ad-Aware

http://www.spywareinfo.com/

http://www.spychecker.com/

http://www.spychecker.com/software/freeware_antispy.html

http://www.spychecker.com/software/freeware_antispy.html

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Tweaking Programs You Do Need

Program Compatibility Mode

Older Windows 98 programs may not run so well on your XP machine

Tell Windows to run in Program Compatibility Mode


• Locate the program icon (this must be a program that you have installed)

• Right-click and choose Properties

• Click the Compatibility tab

• Check Run This Program in Compatibility Mode For

– Choose a mode for the program from the drop-down list


Make multimedia and games run better

Multimedia and games use DirectX which enhances these programs

Tweak DirectX with the DirectX Diagnostic Tool

• Click Start

• Click Run

• Type dxdiag

• Click OK

If the diagnostic finds problems it will guide you through possible fixes

Tweaking Programs You Do NeedSystem Restore

A hard disk space hog

By default it is enabled on all drives when you first get your PC unless you have less than 200 MB of free hard disk space

Saves data on the hard drive in case you have a computer problem

System restore should not be turned off but can be “tweaked”


How much hard space is being used by Systems Restore

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Systems Tools, and click System Restore

2. In the Welcome To System Restore dialog box, click System Restore Settings

3. In the System Properties dialog box notice that the available drives are listed and System Restore is monitoring drives


4. Select a drive, click Settings

5. You can reduce the amount of disk space used by moving the slider to the left

1 GB is sufficient

6. Reconfigure any additional drives and click OK. Close the System Restore dialog box

Organizing Your Remaining Files & FoldersOrganize the default folders

Create personal folders inside the default folders

• My Documents

• My Pictures

• My Music

• My Videos

Organizing Your Remaining Files & FoldersOpen the My Documents folder and

categorize the documents in there

You might organize by

• Projects

• Document types

Repeat this practice for each of the default folders

Organizing Your Remaining Files & FoldersRename, Copy, and Delete Folders

Right-click the folders and select the task

Move data into the new folders

Deleting files and folders does not actually remove them but marks them for deletion and moves them into the Recycle Bin

Restart the computer

Empty the Recycle Bin

Use Disk Defragmenter

If you have deleted a lot of files, moved files, deleted programs, and emptied the Recycle Bin, your hard drive is a mess

Files on the hard drive are fragmented (disorganized)

Use Disk Defragmenter How the hard drive works

At first data is written sequentially to the hard disk using the first open space it finds

As you delete files, move files, delete programs, and empty the Recycle Bin, you will have gaps on the hard drive

Parts of programs can be written in different parts of the hard drive

Windows has to search the entire drive to put the pieces together which slows the computer down

Use Disk Defragmenter Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility designed

to clean up the fragments in your hard drive

Make sure it is near bedtime and

1. Close all open programs

2. Turn off screensavers

3. Turn off anti-virus software

4. Disconnect from the Internet

5. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and click Disk Defragmenter

6. Highlight a drive to defragment and click or Defragment

Use Disk Defragmenter Analyze your hard drive each week

Tweaking Your Desktop & Start Menu

Clean Up & Personalize The Taskbar

Three components

Start button

Quick Launch toolbar

System Tray

Clean Up & Personalize The TaskbarManaging the Taskbar’s System Tray

Programs (especially those downloaded from the Internet) like to place their icons there without permission

• Napster

• Instant Messaging

• RealPlayer

• Jukebox

Be very selective about what you place in the System Tray

Clean Up & Personalize The TaskbarRemove program icons from the System

Tray

Some programs offer a choice so you can remove their program icons from the System Tray

• Right-click the program’s icon and choose Properties, Preferences, or other appropriate choice

Clean Up & Personalize The Taskbar To tell Windows you do not want programs to

automatically start and their icons to appear in the Systems Tray

1. Click Start and click Run

2. In the Run dialog box type msconfig.exe and click OK

3. Click the Startup tab

4. Uncheck the items you recognize and do not want to start automatically

Clean Up & Personalize The Taskbar5. Click OK and restart your computer

6. On reboot, read the information and click OK in the System Configuration Utility dialog box

Personalize the Start Menu

So the things you need are readily available and the things you do not need or no longer have installed are not taking up space


1. Right-click the Taskbar

2. Choose Properties

3. Click the Start Menu tab

Look at the Start Menu Properties


Adding items to the Start Menu

1. Locate the item using Windows Explorer, right-click and drag the executable file to the Start menu

2. Drop the file in the All Programs menu or the left pane of the Start Menu

Clean Up and Personalize the Desktop

There is nothing worse as a productivity zapper than a really messy Desktop

Be very picky for what you allow to be displayed on the Desktop


Inventory all of the icons currently on your Desktop and divide them into the following groups

1. Applications you can not live without

2. Applications you never or rarely use

3. Applications you do not recognize

The applications in your second group can likely be taken off

Clean Up and Personalize the Desktop Add or Remove Default Icons

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and choose Properties

2. In the Properties dialog box, choose the Desktop tab

3. Choose Customize Desktop to open the Desktop Item dialog box

4. In the Desktop Items dialog box, check or uncheck My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer

5. Click OK

Clean Up and Personalize the Desktop Create folders and program shortcuts

To create a shortcut to an existing folder that contains documents you access often

1. Browse to the folder using Windows Explorer

2. Right-click, point to Send To, and click Desktop


To create a new folder on the Desktop

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop

2. Point to New, and click Folder

3. Name the folder, and then drag and drop files in there or add them as they are created

Removing Folders and Shortcuts

As easy as right-clicking and choosing Delete

The icon is removed but their contents not deleted

• However, if they are programs saved on the Desktop (not shortcuts) the contents will be removed—be careful


Run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard

Configure the Desktop Cleanup Wizard to run every 60 days

• It scans the shortcuts on your Desktop and determines if they have been used in the past 60 days

• If they have not you will be prompted to allow Windows to safely remove them


1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and click Properties

2. Click the Desktop tab and click Customize Desktop

3. Verify that Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard Ever 60 Days is checked

4. To run the wizard now, click Clean Desktop Now

Choose Non-System-Intensive ScreensaversYour system must offer resources to run a

screen saver

To save resources, switch to a non-system-intensive or a default Windows XP screensaver

It is more efficient to not run a screensaver

Choose Non-System-Intensive Screensavers

1. Right-click an empty area of the Desktop, and click Properties

2. From the Screensaver tab, select the new screensaver

Windows XP screensaver or the Star field

3. Click OK

Preventing Spam Gunk

Preventing Spam Gunk

Only a little carelessness attracts an almost unimaginable amount of gunk

Spam is unwanted commercial email

Much spam is fraudulent

Choose the Best Email Address

Have more than one account

Three categories

• Primary email address

• Backup email address

• Disposable email address


Your primary email address is the one on your business card

Give it to friends and associates

You will fight spam the most in this address

Your back-up address (2nd account) should be obtained from a second hosting company

If your primary account is down you can use the secondary


Your disposable address are those you can cancel at any point

Often obtained from free web servers

Use them for online commerce and circumstances where you do not trust the other party

Avoid Spammer Dictionary Attacks

Many people who register their own personal or business names create an associated email address by using their first name and the domain name

[email protected]

The problem lies with something called a dictionary attack

mailto:[email protected]


Spammers use custom mailer utilities that choose a domain like semo.edu and start grinding out email addresses in a sequence that might look like

• [email protected]









The names come from a dictionary of names and common words compiled by spammers from online dictionaries and email addresses they find on web pages

This is legal and cost nothing per address


Avoid dictionary attacks by

Choose an email address not in a dictionary

• No: [email protected]

• Yes: [email protected] (used the first initial and last name)

Do not use ordinary dictionary words

String words together






Do not use random strings of letter

• No – [email protected]

Do not use a middle initial

• No – [email protected]



Choose Your Email Client Carefully

Be careful with Outlook

Outlook is vulnerable to “spam beacons” (web bugs) executed with HTML images

Protect yourself with a third-party filtering package


Spam Beacons

They send out messages indiscriminately to millions of addresses

When an address is verified it becomes a part of the spammer’s databases

• They are sold for high prices

Choose Your Email Client Carefully Do not verify your address to a spammer

Never reply to a spam message

A spam beacon verifies the address when you simply open it or preview it in Outlook

• Nearly all spam is formatted in HTML which allows embedding of images

• This image (which may only be a single white pixel) has a name uniquely coded to your address

• When you open or preview the message the image is requested and downloaded from the spammer’s image server

• The address is verified


The key to avoiding spam beacons is to avoid downloading embedded images

• Never open a spam image

• This is very difficult with Outlook – there is no good way to inspect a message without downloading the images


Use alternative email clients

Look for features that circumvent spam beacons – 2 ways

• Simple clients do not render HTML tags and display whatever text is in the message

– This also prevents you from seeing the images


More sophisticated clients provide features for you to turn image downloads on and off on a per-message basis

• Poco Mail 2.6 and later

• Pegasus mail V4.1

• Eudora V6

Use Your Email Address Carefully

What NOT to do

Never “unsubscribe” from a spammer mailing list

• This verifies your address

Never post your email address on the web


Use deposable email addresses for e-commerce

Use a Separate Spam Filtering Utility The only way to deal with spam once it happens

is to use a spam filtering utility

This program inspects incoming email messages and decides wither it is legitimate or spam

Make certain your utility

Supports your email client

You understand the costs and installation limitations

Avoid Triggering Other People’s Spam Filters Avoid putting certain

words in the subject header

Free

Insurance

Mortgage

Penis

enlargement

XXX

Names of popular drugs

• Viagra

• Xanaxx

• Vicodin

Avoid Triggering Other People’s Spam FiltersAvoid using certain words in the body of

your message

Unsubscribe

Avoid phrases that sound like sales pitches

• Limited time

• Great deals

Avoid including images

Avoid Triggering Other People’s Spam FiltersSend your email as plain text

Make certain your PC’s clock is correct

Much spam is sent with incorrect dates and times in the “time sent” field

Finally

Other Topics To Research To Further Degunk Your PC Cleaning up email gunk

Cleaning and tweaking the Registry

Installing upgrades for your system

The best hardware for PC degunking

Power toys for awesome shareware

Improving security

Backing up precious files

degunking my windows computer. why is my computer gunked up? let’s look at some reasons

Documents

spam slide

desktop slide

menu slide

gunk slide

oblivion slide

hard drives slide

temporary files

saved files