Computer Care

[TRDteen]

I am making this thread because I am interested how you guys keep your computer/laptop/cellphone up-to-date, clean, organized, and running well. I run a full anti-virus scan from Norton, constantly organizing my files, clean keyboard/screen. Just the other day I cleaned out my laptop fan. SO much dust haha!

So, how do you guys keep care of your computer devices? Any tips, or helpful advice is much appreciated.

:hungry:

 

[SV_Dude]

I don't buy expensive computers so I'll use and abuse them for a few years then replace it with another cheap pc. But... To make it last that few years I'll run schedules scans with mcafee and do weekly defrags on the hard drive. I turn off the automatic updates and select what updates to windows that I want to have downloaded.

Don't download a bunch of junk, stay off of torrent sites and delete cookies and temp internet files often.

Right now I have a 4 year old laptop that still runs great but may get turned into a garage computer soon and put a new laptop in the house.

 

[KidVermicious]

I nuke my drives once a year. A clean hard drive makes a huge difference.

 

[MtnT4R]

I have a big ass mac that I hardly ever turn on, so...nothing?

Our work computers are set to run scheduled hard drive cleanups and defrag once a week at 1am, which seems to keep them in fairly good shape. Super AntiSpyware is a good program to get too- download and install, but when it comes to the window to sign up for the free trail, just hit Alt+F4 and you can run the free version as long as you want.

oh and to keep the virtual memory load to a minimum, right click on your desktop>view>view desktop icons(make sure its unchecked). It hides all of your desktop icons from crapping up your processing power.

 

[jwyshrek]

Nothing will kill a computer/laptop faster than heat...especially, the video card since they can run very hot.

Dust/dust bunnies are very good at keeping in heat and preventing fan (excessive dust can kill a cooling fan) and heat sinks from working properly.

Taking the computer/laptop apart and blowing it out with some compressed air (be careful of the PSI) can keep your 'puter running cool...running for a long time. Just make sure you do this outside or in the garage...not in the house...it will make the significant other angry...

 

[Chuckles89]

I clean the inside of my desktop about every two months; I use CCleaner and Sbypot Search and Destroy about every month; I run a Microsoft Security Essentials normal scan every week and a full scan every month. Defraggler is good to use to defragment the hard drives once in a while. I have automatic updates turned off, and check manually daily. I am running Windows 7 with 4GB of DDR2 RAM and a Core 2 Quad and it is very fast. It has been a great "Frankenstein" computer that I pieced together from a $60 Craigslist computer, a couple free computers, and $120 worth of parts.

To protect myself from torrenting, I use Hamachi as a VPN and PeerBlock to prevent any tracking.

To keep my slow phone (LG Optimus Elite from 2011) running pretty fast, I have the processor overclocked to 1.2 Ghz, I have the cache sizes all bumped up to 712MB, I use Clean Master and Android Assistant to clean all my temporary files daily, and I use Advanced Task Killer to free up RAM. Also with root access, I have deleted most of the pre-installed bloatware on the phone.

 

[iBison]

Backups.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Norton is the worst anti-virus is literally the worst security software you can install on your machine. Luckily we have anti-slap laws in California!

It slows down your machine and just is a total downer.

I would suggest ESET NOD 32 Security Suite --- OR --- Avast Anti-Virus which is free for consumers and 100% functional.

Other tips .... ccleaner
---> Install and use it.

Then ... start menu .... RUN ... "msconfig" ... change to "selected startup" ... click Startup tab ... uncheck EVERYTHING that is not absolutely absolutely critical.

SSD drive .... get one!


:jump:

 

[lastlaugh]

Both Chuckles and BrianSD are giving you excellent advice if you absolutely MUST use MS Windows.

I am a Cyber-Intelligence Analyst by trade. I cannot stress enough how unsecure MS Windows is. If at all possible, switch to OSX or Linux as soon as possible. Both OSs are very easy for anyone to use nowdays, and lightyears ahead of Windows when it comes to security. If you MUST use Windows, here are my recommendations:

Windows 7 - any other version is just outright dangerous to use. Win7 is the most secure version ever made, and can be made very secure with the right know how. (Most users just don't know how, or choose not to).

MS Security Essentials/Avast/Nod32 are the ONLY AV programs that should be on your system. MSSE is the only one of those that is integrated into you OS and won't slow your system by eating excessive system resources. Norton and McAfee are system hogs and a joke when it comes to security. They are the most targeted AV systems and a good programmer can bypass them easily.

Consider conducting all your online banking, money related issues, within a Virtual Machine that is ONLY used for that purpose. No other programs installed but AV/security software. Save the IP ADDRESS of you banking/financial sites and go directly to them, do your business, and log off. Do NOT surf the internet, chat, or anything else on this VM.

Do not click on ANYTHING sent to you in email. Even if it is "from someone you know". if its a link, copy it, and open it in a clean VM.

And now to the issue that will bother most people:
Facebook - if you have it, deal with the virii and spyware that comes with it. It is the most popular site on the internet, and hackers know it. They write code specificly to attack facebook users because they have a huge audience. Let me explain it like this:

If I wanted to program a virus/rootkit/trojan etc. and wanted to hit the most people what would I target? Well, most people use Windows, and most windows users are casual users who know nothing about computers or security. They use:
- Internet Explorer to get online
- Outlook to check their work email
- Facebook/twitter to tell the whole world their personal information (I laugh at people who "just use it for family and don't put personal info on it". Yeah right. Wanna bet?)
- Norton/McAfee to "protect them" from evil

So, I would write my code to target those people. Even if I only get a 10th of the people I target, look how many people I got?

These are just a few things, but more than most people are willing to do. These things are important if you are running MS software on your computer. Linux doesn't have most of these problems due to the way it is made. I can go much further into detail on this issue if requested, but my best advice: Stop using Windows!

 

[bofa]

Buy a Mac.

No, they aren't impenetrable but are a lot easier to manage and protect than a Windows machines, not to mention less bloatware than the retail Windows machine.

Now that you can get the full Office suite and most programs are developed to be native to OSX, I see no reason to own Windows. I even have Windows loaded to this machine via Bootcamp, but I haven't used it in years.

 

[Chuckles89]

If you MUST use Windows, here are my recommendations:

Windows 7 - any other version is just outright dangerous to use. Win7 is the most secure version ever made, and can be made very secure with the right know how. (Most users just don't know how, or choose not to).

So you mean my craptop with windows 2000 isn't safe???

 

[zopperman]

Nothing, I have a macbook :thumb3:

 

[Chuckles89]

So you mean my craptop with windows 2000 isn't safe???

It is a Compaq Presario V5000 AMD Sempron 1.9 Ghz from 2005 with 1.7GB of DDR1 RAM and a 80 GB Mini- IDE HDD. It is super fast with Windows 2K and I only use it for hacking. The worst thing is that the battery lasts for 20 mins.... :roadkill:

 

[bofa]

You guys remember Windows ME? It attracted more viruses than a $2 hooker.

 

[LandCruiser]

Buy them cheap, use and abuse, throw away.

Keep a separate computer for pron.