Regular Computer Maintenance

[kdyer]

Couple of things..

microsoft.com/athome/setup/maintenance.aspx (< than 15 posts.. sorry)

This page says to:
Ideally, you should run these tools on the following schedule.

Clean up the hard disk of temporary files
Weekly

Rearrange (defragment) the hard disk
Monthly

Check the hard disk for errors
Weekly


Clean up the hard disk of temporary files
Disk Cleanup > %SystemRoot%\System32\cleanmgr.exe

Rearrange (defragment) the hard disk
The guide says to use: %SystemRoot%\System32\Defrag.exe

Personally, I would use JkDefrag..

Check the hard disk for errors
The guide says to use: %SystemRoot%\System32\ChkDsk.exe

> The only "gotcha" I can see with this, if there is an error, then you could put this into a batch script that would send you a POSTIE or BLAT Message.

As this article suggests, it says to use Windows Task Scheduler..

For each of the tasks, you can use the following account:

"NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" (minus the quotes)..

You don't need to put in the password and it uses the system acct to execute the scheduled tasks. The other benefit of this is that the account does not expire passwords.

Then you can copy the respective .job files to other systems.

Another thing that is cool that some people may not know about if they are dealing with a file that already exists in a file copy..

Be careful here and test thoroughly..

ECHO Y|Copy C:\Orig_Folder\*.* C:\Dest_Folder

Thanks,

Kent

 

[thor999]

+1 Lawsonjl, I never ever have any software issues, ever. I may have broken that last rule a few times though

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

DiskMax from KoshyJohn is pretty good for removing a whole load of files that CCleaner doesn't

takes a while to run the first time though, but subsequent runs are a lot quicker

 

[nelsonm]

Here's my setup and maintenance process.

Setup:
1. Create a good sliptream install disc with up-to-date service pack, driver, chipset, update packs and addons.
2. Install system and apply any last minute MS updates.
3. Acronis True Image (create saved backup of new virgin system install - no apps)
4. Load all your apps and check for updates.
5. Acronis True Image (create saved backup of system with all apps loaded)

Maintenance:
Automatic (always running in background 24/7)
1. Avast
2. Spybot w/ realtime protection
3. Windows Defender

Automatic (Once a day)
1. Acronis True Image (backup my email, bookmarks, preferences and other critical program settings and data that could be mistakenly overwritten during a system restore)

Automatic (Once a week)
1. Acronis True Image (weekly system drive backups)

Manual (once every 6 months)
1. Run hardware diagnostics. I use Dell's latest bootable diagnostic disc, but use whatever you like.
2. Boot to install disk and run chkdsk ?: /r on all drives to check for drive problems and possibly fix errors.
3. Make sure all installed spyware/virus removal apps are updated.
4. Run Avast boot time scan.
5. In safe mode run; spybot on all hives, combofix, smithfraud, malwarebytes, ccleaner.
6. In normal mode, run malwarebytes on all user accounts.

Note:
No matter what happens, having a virgin, loaded and weekly system drive backup can be, not only, a life saver but save you a lot time by not having to rebuild your system from scratch when something goes wrong, you don't have the time to disinfect, and you want to insure you have a clean functioning system.

I also restore to my clean loaded backup when i want to update in a major way and i want to insure that i'm working with a clean system. I then backup the updated loaded system.

 

[usacvlr]

I defrag probably once a month. Uninstall any unused crap at least as often. Never bother to blow them out though. By the time dust kills it it'll be time to build a new one anyway.

What do you do for regular maintenance of your OWN computers. I'm talking how often do you clean out the junk files, defrag, run a disk check, run a fill virus/malware scan, blow out all the dust, clean your keyboard, etc. I'm mostly interested in what you do for your own computers but you could also say what you recommend to customers.

Personally I tend to do all of those things once I feel I haven't done them in awhile. If things start to slow down I'll clean it all up. The one thing I do do is record the dates I open the case up and clean everything out, I try to keep on top of that before dust starts to cake onto parts.

 

[iisjman07]

By the time dust kills it it'll be time to build a new one anyway.

Yup, in this fast paced technological world