sooooo i did it and got a new pc. Very cool. This may sound silly as Ive had a pc a long time-but i never 'maintained' it as such-only when it messed up-towards the end that was pretty much every time i used it.For example i could never watch a video-no you tube-they used to play frame by frame.....Man now im in heaven-been watching vids since i got it. But i need advice on looking after the pc. How often should i do maintenance and what.i only use it for the net really. Thanks

polkadotbliss said:

http://www.microsoft.com/...nance.mspx


Use antivirus software/malware software

Remove programs you no longer use or knew about: Over time, you may have installed games or utilities that you forgot about or no longer use. Why waste the space? Go to your control panel, Add\Remove programs (or Programs and Features in Vista) and uninstall anything you no longer use. Occasionally you will find a toolbar or other item you were unaware was there!

Cleaning your hard drive of unneeded files: (weekly)
One of the biggest problems is hard drive useage. Your hard drive has more moving parts then any other in your computer and is constantly adding, deleting and reorganizing files. Because of this, you want to clean your computers hard drive. A great tool for this is CCleaner: http://download.cnet.com/...?tag=mncol

Remove invalid registry entries: (weekly)
Next up is the registry. Frankly, the registry is overrated as a speed tweak, in general, but it does get large and can contain many invalid references. The registry is not an area for even the average computer user to be playing around in. The good news is CCleaner has a safe registry cleaner built in, so why not clean out old, invalid entries?

Defragmentation of your HDD once a month or after you've done the above.


Though Microsoft does an adequate job of unistalling software/programs, I use Revo Uninstaller to make sure pieces of unwanted software/programs aren't left over in the Registry. Note: Be careful only to remove BOLD highlighted programs Revo list. This programs very understandably, easy, and simply to use. http://download.cnet.com/...87648.html

TD3 said:

Yep to all of that

When you get comfortable with your system, another thing that not many people think about is reinstalling your OS (operating system). You don't need to do it TOO often (once a year is usually plenty). A clean wipe of the hard drive and a fresh install of the OS can get your computer functioning like the day you first turned it on. If you DO eventually choose to do this, make sure you back your stuff up on CD's/DVD's/exteral HD(s) on a regular basis!