What to do if your Computer's running slowly

We get a lot of people coming here complaining of slow running computers, and posting HijackThis logs for us to look at. They suspect that an infection is causing their problem. In a great many cases, malware is not the cause of the problem, and a few simple procedures are all that it takes to resolve things.

Computers need regular maintenance, I know this comes as a shock to some of you, but it's true nonetheless.

Now before you start to panic, don't worry. I'm not going to be asking you to start ripping off the covers of your machine and fiddling with the circuit boards, and I'm not going to be asking you to start following some arcane ritual known only to TechnoGeeks. What we're going to do is simple enough for anyone to do.

It's best if we break things down into two sections, the first are those that should be done regularly, the next are those that only need to be done once, or very infequently.

First, the tasks that need to be carried out regularly

• Clear out your Temporary files
  
  During the normal operation of your computer, Windows and your other programs create an awful lot of temporary files. For the most part they are just that, temporary. But for any number of reasons, when they're no longer needed they don't get removed by the program that created them. So over time their number builds up, and unless you clear them out they can slow down your computer noticeably.
  
  In the case of your browser, the problem can be worse. All browsers cache the web pages you visit. The original reason was to make loading pages faster. When everyone was on dial-up this was quite a good idea, but with modern fast connections it's mostly unnecessary now. However browsers still cache webpages, and unless cleaned out regularly they build up to a position where they can have some pretty dramatic effects on how your browser works. Any number of wierd browser problems are caused by nothing more than an overfull cache.
  
  So once a month, or once a week if you're a heavy user, it's a good idea to clean out your Temporary files.
  
  

  Quote:For users of XP
  

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
  • This will bring up the Disk Cleanup window.
  • Check the following entries.
    • Temporary Internet Files.
    • Recycle Bin.
    • Temporary Files.
  • Click OK.
  • When prompted whether you're sure you want to do this click Yes.

  
  For users of Vista

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
  • This will open the Disk Cleanup Options window
  • Choose:
    • My files only
      or
    • Files from all users on this computer
  • Click Continue
  • Select the drive you want to clean up
  • Click OK
  • Check the following entries:
    • Temporary Internet Files
    • Recycle Bin
    • Temporary Files
  • Click OK
  • When asked if you're sure you want to delete these files, click Yes.

• Defrag your hard drive
  
  Every time you write a file to your hard drive, the drive controller has to find space on your drive. It will often break files into fragments, so that it can use the available disk space efficiently. However over time files can become very fragmented because of this, and your drive controller has to work harder to find all the fragments and re-combine them so that a program can use it. This slows things down, depending on the amount of fragmentation of your files, it can slow things down a lot.
  
  So once a month (for heavy users), or once every 3 or 4 months (for light users), it's a good idea to defragment your hard drive.
  
  This will re-arrange the fragments on your drive so they form contiguous entities which are much easier for your drive controller to deal with.
  
  It's a time consuming operation, usually taking several hours, so best to do what I do, and start it going before you go to bed.
  
  

  Quote:For users of XP
  

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
  • Click on the Analyze button.
  • Let the analyzer run, it takes 5-10 minutes or so, sometimes longer, depending on your disk size.
  • When finished it will pop up a window telling you whether you need to defrag or not.
  • Microsoft is notoriously conservative about defragging, so don't take the recommendation you get as gospel. Have a look at the graph produced when analyzing, if there's more than about 10-15% showing red, then Defragging will improve your disk performance.
  • If you need to defrag:
    • Click the Defragment button.
    • The defrag process can take hours, so go do something useful, or if you've followed my advice and done this before bedtime, go have a good sleep and it'll be done when you wake up.

  
  For users of Vista
  

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
  • Click Continue
  • A window will open
  • To set up a regular schedule to defragment your hard drive
    • Check Run on a schedule (recommended)
    • Select the time of day and day of the week that works best for you
    • Select the volume (drive) to be defragmented
  • To defragment right now:
    • Click on the Defragment Now button
    • Select drives to defragment
    • Click OK to begin the defragmentation process

Next, the ones that you only need to do once or very infrequently.

• Reduce the number of program that are Auto Starting
  
  Pretty much every program you install these days is set to auto start when you boot up. The program manufacturers tell you it's for your benefit, but the truth is for most of them it's just not necessary that they do so. Lots of auto starting program will severely slow down your startup time, and having lots of unnecessary program running in memory will slow down the running speed of your computer as well.
  
  Luckily it's not hard to prevent unecessary program from auto starting. Doing so does not mean you can't use the program, you start them by double clicking on their icons, just as you always have, it just means they won't be running when you're not using them.
  
  Of course program like your firewall and antivirus need to auto run, so we won't be touching them at all.
  
  

  Quote:For inexperienced computer users.
  

  • Download StartupLite by Rubberducky to your desktop.
  • Doubleclick StartupLite.exe to launch the program.
  • Ensure the Disable box is checked.
  • Click Continue.
  • A pop up message will tell you the unnecessary startup items in your list have been disabled and ask you to restart your computer.
  • Re-start your computer.

  
  

  Quote:For experienced users,
  

  • Download and install WinPatrol By Bill Pytlovany.
  • Doubleclick the Scottydog icon in your taskbar to launch the program.
  • Click on the Startup Programs tab.
  • To stop a program starting automatically at startup, click on it to highlight it, then click the Disable button.
    
    (It will be up to you to research items first to see whether they should be disabled)
  • Exit WinPatrol.

  
  If you've disabled something you later wish to re-enable, do the following.
  

  • Launch WinPatrol (as described above).
  • Click on the Startup Programs tab.
  • Click on entry you wish to re-enable.
  • With a disabled entry, the Disable button will turn into an Enable button.
  • Click Enable
  • Exit WinPatrol

• Do you have a HOSTS file installed?
  
  If you are using one of the pre-prepared Hosts files to block unwanted and dangerous sites (eg. MVPs Hosts or Bluetack) then if you are not part of a domain, and notice a slowdown, you will need to disable the Windows DNS Client Service.
  
  

  Quote:For users of XP,
  

  • Click Start > Run > type services.msc into the Open: box, then click OK.
  • This will open the Services window.
  • Scroll down to DNS Client and double click on it.
    • Click the Stop button to stop the service.
    • Set startup type to Manual.
    • Click OK
  • Exit the Services window.

  
  For users of Vista,

• From Start, in the Start Search box, type services.msc
• Give permission to continue.
• Scroll down to DNS Client and double click on it.
  • Under Service Status, click Stop
  • Under Startup Type, choose Disabled.
  • Click Apply, OK
• Exit the Services window.

• Disable your Indexing Service
  
  This service does what its name suggests, it indexes all your files, in order that you can find things faster when searching.
  
  It does it on a continuous basis, using up a great deal of CPU time and working your hard drive for no real good reason. As a result, although it may speed up your search times, it slows down your computer at all other times.
  
  I don't know about you, but I know where most of the files I want are located. For the number of times I have to run a search I'd rather have a faster computer than a faster search, so I turn this one off.
  
  By default this service is not installed in Vista, if you see it on your Vista then it has been deliberately added for reverse compatibility reasons, leave it alone.
  
  

  Quote:For users of XP,
  

  • Click Start > Run > type services.msc into the Open: box, then click OK.
  • This will open the Services window.
  • Scroll down to Indexing Service and double click on it.
    • Click the Stop button to stop the service.
    • Set Startup type to Disabled.
    • Click OK
  • Exit the Services window.

• Check the amount of free space you have on your hard drive
  
  Windows (XP and Vista) needs a certain amount of "overhead" (free disk space) if it's to operate efficiently. If it doesn't have that space, your processor has to "page out", which will slow everything down considerably.
  
  Ideally you need at least 15-20% of your disk to be empty, if you don't have 15% then it's time to start freeing up some disk space.
  
  

  Quote:For users of XP,
  

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
  • Look in the last column (top right) under % Free Space
  • Exit Disk Defragmenter.

  
  For users of Vista,

• Click Start > Computer
• A window will open
• Information for your hard disk drive(s), including the exact amount of free space available, will be displayed in the uppermost portion of the window.

• Presuming you don't have enough free disk space, here's a couple of suggestions for freeing some up
  
  • Remove unnecessary programs
    
    OK, time to be honest with yourself, are you really using all those programs you've got installed, or are there some that you haven't used in a lifetime. If there are, then why not get rid of them and free up some disk space. Your hard drive will thank you for your efforts.
    

    Quote:For users of XP,
    

    • Click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs
    • Click on the program you want to remove to highlight it.
    • Click the Change/Remove button and follow any instructions given.
    • Repeat for all program you wish to remove.

    
    For users of Vista,
    

    • For Control Panel Home view - Click Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features
    • For Classic View - Click Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features
      [list]
    • For either option, to uninstall a program, select it from the list and then click Uninstall.

• Reduce your System Restore Points
  
  Windows creates System Restore points on a regular basis (every 24 hours), they take up a great deal of space on your hard drive (up to 12% for XP, 15% for Vista). If your computer has been running without problems (other than the slowness) for some time, then you can free up a lot of space by reducing the number of System Restore points to one (the latest).
  
  Windows will continue creating more RPs, but it'll take some time before you need to thin them out again.
  

  Quote:For users of XP,

  • Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
  • This will bring up the Disk Cleanup window.
  • Click the More Options tab.
    • In the System Restore field, click Clean up
    • You will be prompted if you want to remove all but the most recent restore point.
    • Click Yes.
  • Click OK.
  • When prompted whether you're sure you want to do this click Yes.
    
    
    For users of Vista,
    
    • Click Start > All Programs > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
    • Select Files from all users on this computer
    • Click on Continue
    • Select the appropriate drive letter (usually C:)
    • When the Disk Cleanup window opens, select the More Options tab
    • Under System Restore and Shadow Copies click on the Clean up button
    • All but the latest restore point will be removed
      [LIST]
    • Note: In some editions of Windows Vista, the disc might include file shadow copies and older Windows Complete PC Backup images as part of restore points. This information will also be deleted.

10 Tricks With A USB Thumb Drive

Any ordinary USB memory device can do a lot more than you probably thought it could. It can carry programs, encryption and even a full installation of Windows XP! Here is our tenlist for the coolest things you can do with a USB thumb drive:

Take your programs with you We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed. Here’s the simplest solution - take your programs with you - on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps: 1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along. 2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive. And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.


Surf anonymously With Portable Apps and Firefox, you can surf the web without leaving any trace on the computer you are using. If you want extra security, install a Firefox security plugin such as FoxyProxy. To iput Firefox onto the drive, just copy-paste the Firefox folder from you computer, or install Firefox onto the thumb drive.


Set a program to run automatically (autorun) Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes. [Here's how to disable autorun.] Open up notepad and paste the following script:

[autorun] ShellExecute=filename Label=description UseAutoPlay=1

Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox. Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!


Help! I’m lost! Ever lost a USB drive? Even if you haven’t, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll lose a few during your life. And with all the important information on it, it could be a disaster to have it fall into someone’s hands. A good idea is to encrypt all the information on the drive, but you would still want it back, wouldn’t you? Luckily, the folks at the Daily Cup Of Tech have come up with a solution. Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.





Hide the drive inside something Why not surprise your friends and co-workers by sticking something that looks like a broken USB cable into the computer’s USB drive? You’ll be sure to get a few shocked faces when you start to play a movie from it. The guys from Technobuzz.net show us how to do it. (You are gonna need an unbelievably small thumb drive for this…)



Secure your PC Just like with an RFID badge, you can use a USB drive to lock and unlock a PC. Insert it to begin working and pull it out when you’ve finished, locking the computer. There are several programs for this . Rohos, a commercial program and WiKID, a semi-open source one. If you really need to secure your computer with a USB drive, I suggest you give Rohos a try, as WiKID is rather complicated.


Portable jukebox Don’t just carry the music with you, also carry the player! You can install audio programs such as WinAmp and CoolPlayer+ on your thumb drive. Just unextract the ZIP folders to the USB drive. If you want the jukebox to start up automatically when you connect the memory stick to the computer, use the autorun feature shown tip 3 and point it to the exe of your audio player.



Encrypt your data If you carry any sensitive indormation on your USB memory stick, a good idea is to encrypt it. Hardware-level encryption will help, but it will cost extra. You can get a free program to encrypt your data just as securely. For this I recommend TrueCrypt, but most others will also do. You will need admin access on the computer you want to use your encrypted thumb drive on, so this it’s usability a little. 

Run a standalone OS for dedicated tasks The easiest OS to boot from a USB drive is probably Linux. There are many small capacity Linux versions out there that will fit on your drive. The best 3 are Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux and Webconverger. Make sure you select a version that needs less space than your USB drive’s maximum, so you have room for files and software. And this leads us nicely to the final tip…



Run Windows itself from a USB thumb drive
Modifying Windows to work on a USB drive is quite difficult, but luckily there are some tools that will do it for us. Note that you will need a separate Windows license for this, as Microsoft only lets you use one for each single computer, and a USB drive is treated by them like a computer… What you’ll need:

1. A licensed copy of Windows
2. A USB device, min. 1GB (We recommend a USB hard disk, as a flash memory stick will become unusable after 100000 writing processes. Assuming that only 2 processes are used per second, the drive will last only 60 days with 8 hours of work each day… A hard disk doesn’t have this problem.)

recover disk 

Have a damaged CD or DVD that your computer can’t read? - Recover Disk can help you out. It doesn’t matter if the disk is scratched, microwaved or just incorrectly written. To be honest, I didn’t try the microwave experiment and I recommend you don’t as well. To relieve your curiosity and save you from a harmful dose of radiation, the picture on the right shows you what a CD looks like after a bit of “cooking”. This experiment is really bad for both the microwave oven and the CD, so I tried a safer way of testing Recover Disk out - using the good old keys and screwdriver on the poor CD…

10 Deadly Computer Viruses That Shook The World

In simple terms, a virus can aptly be called a virtual disease which affects a computer system and makes it sick, forcing to act in a manner undesired by the user. No good deed goes unpunished, and with the joys and leisure that were brought by the computer, along came the viruses to ruin all the fun. There are billions of viruses out there, big and small. But there were some that stood out and ruined things for us in a spectacular fashion. Below is a list of 10 of the deadliest virus which create havoc in the virtual as well as the real world.

1.  

I love you

The three words that can at most motivate you to cross the seven seas - or at least tempt you to open en email. This very temptation was the downfall of many computer users when this multipurpose-multi skilled virus hit the web. It had the ability to replicate itself via IRC chat and email, transfer and hide itself in different files and folders, and infect the registry keys once you opened an email in you inbox declaring �I Love You�. The virus thought to be originated somewhere in the Philippines, caused damage which was estimated to be around $8-10 billion.

2.  

Melissa

The creator of this virus received a 20 month jail sentence and a $5000 fine. Generated over a decade ago, this clever piece of virtual disease operated through Microsoft Outlook. This is how it worked: you receive an email titled �Here is the Document you asked for� from an unknown sender, you got infected as soon as you opened the email, and the virus would replicate and delivers itself to the top 50 people on your list without you getting a hint of it. Some major US government departments were hit and the damage is thought to be around $1 billion at least. A 20 month jail sentence well deserved.

3.  

MyDoom

MyDoom was instigated somewhere in mid 2004 and it actually prompted US senator to propose the creation of a �National Virus Response Centre�. The virus attacked in two phases; the first phase infected different Operating Systems, creating inroads and backdoors and making them vulnerable to external users. Once this problem was sorted out, the MyDoom struck again after few months, this time targeting the Search Engines like Google, slowing them down considerably, and crashing a few.

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4.  

Nimda

Spell it backwards and you will understand its prime targets: yes, the �Admin� and servers. It was basically a worm and has the record of being the fastest ever virus to spread; it took only 22 minutes to break into the list of top ten most deadly viruses of all times. It basically targeted internet servers and websites, creating a mass crater through which thousands of computers were affected at the same time. Once infected, the systems became exposed to open attacks by the outsiders.

5.  

Code Red

Damages of almost $200 million a day, and affecting the computers inside the White House are the degree of achievements of this virus. It subjugated the Windows by acting as a buffer overflow, sending humongous amount of information to the computer so that it spilt over, eventually forcing a shut down by overlapping the memory of the computers. The problem wasn�t solved until Microsoft issued a revival package to cater for this virus.

6.  

SQL Slammer/Saphire

Another swiftly spreading virus, it hit 75,000 computers in the first 10 minutes of its inception, taking down and severely damaging numerous American Banks, Security systems and organizations, and Airline networks. And the virus wasn�t just privy to the US; it ruthlessly damaged the internet capacity of South Korea for at least half a day. The damage was estimated around at least a billion dollars.

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7.  

Storm Worm

One of the latest and most recent viruses to strike the internet, the Storm Worm employed a similar strategy to the one used by the Melissa; the mail�s title mentioned a current natural disaster like an earthquake (but most often a storm). Once the email was opened, the virus spread around like wild fire, affecting registries and documents across the hard disk. It turned out to be a mother-virus, instigating numerous hidden programs in the background which made the PC vulnerable and enticing to hackers.

8.  

Klez

With the mix characteristics of a virus, worm and a Trojan horse, Klez gave the antivirus programs a real headache by simply disabling them and making them look like a joke. However this is only the beginning of its trickery; after it was thought it be defeated, it was taken over, decoded and customized by black hat hackers (hackers who specialize in unauthorized penetration). Its ability was enhanced by providing it with the capability to "spoof" from the user's address book and make it look like that an email came from them, increasing the chances of the receiver opening the email and becoming the next casualty.

9.  

Sasser

Damaging the computer through network ports, Sasser mostly targeted Windows 2000 and XP. It�s main casualties were the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) which had all its satellite communications jammed for hours , U.S. Airlines which had to reschedule its flights because of the worm had depleted their computers, a Finnish insurance company which was forced to close down 130 of its offices on emergency basis, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Post were all badly affected as well. However its unique feature was that it did not spread through emails, but rather observed computers and kept a look out for their vulnerabilities. On the basis of its knowledge, it would scan random IP addresses from the database and send itself to the next victim.

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10.  

Autorun

This virus primarily targeted USBs and flash drives and established them as its major source of movement and propagation. It affected networks and all the computers present on them. Once affected, the folder options would be disabled, the task manager too would be unavailable and the virus itself would become the system administrator. The virus would replicate itself in all the folders, therefore eating up useful space on the hard disk and making it eventually extremely slow. The loss was in terms of useful data on millions of computers across the world.