free, good pc analyzer & maintenance

[planthelper]

does anybody know of a good and free pc analyzer download, which can be trusted?

avg just offered me a free once over, and claimed that i have some registry errors.

it checked for:

junk files

registry errors

fragmentation

brocken shortcuts

i know how to manually de fragment the drives, but maybe other issues as mentioned above can be fixed manually aswell, i mean junk files ought to go if i click disc clean up or not?

anyway, if you know a trusted free program, or how to do it manually, please let us know.

my pc, is still quite new, but fixing the registry, has do be done often, and realy turns your pc into a fast beast again.

Edited February 12, 2013 by planthelper

[mr b.caapi]

try Wise registry cleaner , it's free and has very good reports.

http://www.wisecleaner.com/download.html

In fact, I have just tried it myself , works a treat. 72 problems found and fixed.

Edited February 10, 2013 by mr b.caapi

[at0m]

I use for temporary files & registry (though I'm not convinced the registry cleaning does anything)

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

For defragging:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_defraggler/

[alkaloidal]

avira is the best antivirus out.

I know someone who used to make actual viruses for a living a while ago, and avira always gave them the most trouble in terms of detecting his viruses.

plus, it's free.

If you feel like paying for an a/v, I would go with norton.

EDIT: I didn't read the OP, for a computer cleaner, you can't go past CCleaner.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Edited February 10, 2013 by alkaloidal

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Hae also used ccleaner as recommended by IT at work. Worked well and seemed to speed my computer up lots

[Bert&Ernie]

CCleaner is my fav!

[ThunderIdeal]

ccleaner is good, i wouldn't go any further than that. tweaker utilities are more trouble than they're worth. if your system is a bit sick then backup your files, format, and reinstall windows, chances are you don't format often enough (nobody does really) and it's a process you should become accustomed to. i recommend eset security suite over just about any rubbish like norton that usually gets bundled with PC/laptop deals, set the firewall to interactive. next keep running windows updates until it has service pack 1 and stops suggesting updates. now go to blackviper and switch off all of the unnecessary windows services. install your favourite barebones software and get some of the settings how you like them then use windows to ghost the C drive.

now future formats will be a peice of piss.

[ThunderIdeal]

word to the wise. any time that software or the internet "suggests" that you should install a piece of software, don't.

the internet isn't your friend. even reputable software will often pull a swifty on you if you aren't careful. always choose 'custom install' when running install wizards, otherwise you won't get the option to uncheck boxes that say "install additional crappy toolbar along with desirable software" or "make crappy search engine your default homepage" etc.

[Bert&Ernie]

word to the wise. any time that software or the internet "suggests" that you should install a piece of software, don't.

the internet isn't your friend. even reputable software will often pull a swifty on you if you aren't careful. always choose 'custom install' when running install wizards, otherwise you won't get the option to uncheck boxes that say "install additional crappy toolbar along with desirable software" or "make crappy search engine your default homepage" etc.

Amen to that!

[whitewind]

The last three I thought I would install all had google chrome as an addon, one I didn't even notice til too late. I stopped installation of that and decided not to, same with the first, I hate that shit. But I installed ccleaner anyway and it did such a great job I lost all my tabs on firefox and can't remember what I had running or how to get it back. I just had a memory upgrade for $21 too so my little netbook is really zippy now, a couple of weeks back it was a slug. Thanks everyone.

[ThunderIdeal]

i don't know anything much google chrome, obviously google wants to get their browser "out there" but i'm automatically skeptical about any software that feels the need to piggyback it's way onto, or otherwise hijack your system. the software offering the piggyback ride might be doing so to fund its very existence, nothing wrong with that you just have to keep your eyes open and ask yourself "why is chrome going to all this cost and effort to be installed on my system?"

[migraineur]

You need to be very skeptical of lots of those free pc checks etc, especially the ones that pop up in banner ads etc. Many of them contain trojans, malware and ransomware etc. The same goes for pirated copies of legitimate software. Criminals know that people want copies of popular software so they'll put it online and include a trojan or virus within the program.

If you are looking for good product reviews, how to guides, security and things like that then start looking at websites such as Cnet, Ars Technica and others if you don't already. You can also follow them on Twitter and other social media sites so you receive updates on security and other things. Below are some links to start you off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_antivirus_software

http://www.cnet.com.au/best-security-suites-for-2012-339325637.htm#image0

http://arstechnica.com/

By the way, Kaspersky is a good anti virus program. I've used it before and it has won a bunch of awards. It's not free though.

[planthelper]

any time that software or the internet "suggests" that you should install a piece of software, don't.

the internet isn't your friend. even reputable software will often pull a swifty on you if you aren't careful. always choose 'custom install' when running install wizards, otherwise you won't get the option to uncheck boxes that say "install additional crappy toolbar along with desirable software" or "make crappy search engine your default homepage" etc.

so my technophobia, is good for something, because i always say, no to upgrades, and than aswell unclick everything, apart of what i want.

i though ther must be something fishy, if say acrobat reader, ask for an upgrade again, a few day's after, you installed an upgrade.

all they wanna do, is put add ons on your system, which nobody needs.

my friend is so gullible (and bi polar, for him the more the better, loves everything big) and his pc had 3 or 4 toolbars, and was very slow. his daughter, removed the toolbars, and the pc was 3 times faster!

he got aswell, a double click problem, you know when instead of one click, with the mouse, there are two (i guess one gets re directed by those bastards).

but windows updates are very important, because often they are patches, for vulnerabileties.

most pc's never get defragmented either, so check if you need to defrag (systen tools>defrag), but only do it if needed.

if your harddrive is very fragmented, this operation can take 3 or more hours to complete.

[Bert&Ernie]

Once you get you're PC clean I would recommend something like deep freeze it's a program that locks any changes happening in the partition that you set eg you can apply it download a virus let it Fuck you're system up then with one reset of you're PC it's back to normal....

I us it on my PC and keep one 500GB drive unlocked and the other two one with windows and one with most if my games in it locked so I know windows will be safe and sound. Only problem us you have to unlock it to installs new things but I usually just put them on my unlocked drive.

[Alice]

I use for temporary files & registry (though I'm not convinced the registry cleaning does anything)

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

For defragging:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_defraggler/

I also use these two as well, been happy with them.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Alice

[migraineur]

Software updates other than Windows updates are important too, Planthelper. Bugs are discovered in software all the time so fixes and patches need to be installed to help prevent attacks. You might not need all of the fancy feature updates but many updates are essential for your security.

Foxit reader is a good PDF reading program. It uses less resources than Adobe's program too. http://download.cnet.com/Foxit-Reader/3000-18497_4-10313206.html

Also, if you're using Internet Explorer as your web browser then STOP. Install Google Chrome or Firefox instead. I switched to Google Chrome and it's nice. It doesn't use many computer resources either.

[planthelper]

great info!

i have never heard of deep freeze, but it must be the same as, the button (some pc have it) which say's, this will establish your pc to original configaration. so what you say, jwerta means, one can get rid of viruses aswell with this setting back, that's ultra cool.

can someone please post a link to a trusted deep freeze program?

it would be awesome to have, all the good stuff, including links, IN ONE THREAD.

there are most likely, many members and guests, who aswell like me, have to still learn a lot about pc's.

[Bert&Ernie]

I'll try and find one when I get home if you pm me I should remember

[ThunderIdeal]

deep freeze sounds like exactly the same thing i was referring to when i said "get windows to ghost your C drive". in windows 7 go to the control panel, backup and restore, create system image. you need a seperate physical drive or maybe a separate partition is sufficient (i can't remember).

if you aren't running windows 7 yet, start running windows 7.

[Bert&Ernie]

Yes it's similar but instead of waiting for the image to roll out you can just push the restart button

[ThunderIdeal]

it would be awesome to have, all the good stuff, including links, IN ONE THREAD.

download latest or desired versions of eset security suite trial (64 or 32 bit depending on hardware), firefox, winrar and virtual clone drive (the last is if you have to install anything saved as a disc image)

download your motherboards ethernet driver if you will need ethernet to access the internet.

nod327.net , put what you see into notepad and save.

move everything you want off of your C drive including a backup of your browser bookmarks and saved passwords

format, install and "validate" windows 7 ultimate or similar (some laptops can only be installed with the OS they came with, there's probably a way around it but i couldn't say).

install eset, setting the firewall to "interactive" so you can set rules as each peice of software tries connecting to servers. use the info in your notepad file then connect to the internet (ethernet driver might be needed here) and update eset. from now on eset won't allow you to visit sites like nod327 unless you right click in the tray and temporarily disable protection.

update windows repeatedly until it's done, including optional drivers which in my experience does a decent job of supplying hardware drivers. if you're attached to hardware utilities you'll need to get them yourself. internet explorer needs to be updated before service pack 1 is offered.

install firefox and search 'black viper'. follow the instructions on the website and disable a ton of windows services. some of the things you used to switch off in control panel like remote desktop will not only be switched off when you do this, but they will no longer be loaded at startup.

control panel > default programs > set program access. now disable access to internet explorer and set firefox as default.

control panel > default programs > change autoplay settings. disable autoplay unless you considering annoying things to be very helpful.

instruct windows to open .nfo files with notepad forever more

install winrar, foxit reader, java, ccleaner, klite codec pack including 64bit pack if you are running 64bit, thesage.

put a thesage shortcut on your start bar for convenient mastery of the english language

install xnview and make it the default image viewer or at least rightclick a .gif file and instruct windows to 'open with' xnview forever more (windows 7 image viewer doesn't display gif animations as animations)

install uTorrent and instruct it not to minimise to the system tray

first you may wish to import bookmarks, install your phone interface (unless you don't have a nokia phone lol), skype or trillian, truecrypt, tor, file renamer turbo and your word processor and perform some of your personal tweaks such as getting your system tray in order and dealing with system reminders, but ABOUT HERE is where i would

control panel > backup and restore > create system image

install a burning utility, i use ahead nero version 7 with only a few of its components. there are probably better options but in the case of nero, as in the case of windows vista, newer does not mean better.

slysoft clonedvd is handy for copying discs. slysoft anydvd, whilst it's running, will bypass copy protections.

the majority of the software mentioned is shareware

i welcome additions or alternatives but don't necessarily endorse them

Edited February 13, 2013 by ThunderIdeal

[Bert&Ernie]

once you have done all this apply deep freeze or at least do daily backups if you're going to be fucking around on dodgy websites or with the software itself!

[planthelper]

thats sounds good thunder, but my pc skills are not good, and i could never do those things you said.

what jwerta says sounds like creating a restore point often, and i could do this, but the pc creates restore points automaticly anyway, not daily, but often enough, i think.

does, restoring the system to an earlier point in time, get rid of any "new viruses"?

is the deep freeze program, once it's downloaded, user friendly to install?

it would have to be easy otherwise i can't do it.

i used to defrag often, than a person told me not to use the program often, and only when realy needed, is this true?

btw, sab page didn't come up a while ago, and page loading is slow or doesn't work at all,

similar problems i had with another forum aswell.

is all good for you?

Edited February 14, 2013 by planthelper

[Bert&Ernie]

I found it easy to installs but for someone not very good at using computers it might be a but mind boggling... Could I suggest asking at0m he's helped me with quite a few PC issues

[ThunderIdeal]

windows system restore is pretty limited, it doesn't affect the majority of the hard drive which is why it doesn't take up much space. it probably restores the registry and a few other things to an earlier configuration. a clean slate is better than a bandaid.

it would be nice if somebody was willing to re-jig your rig for you. i'd do it if you were nearby.