Maintenance of pc

Maintenance

These tips will help keep your computer in good shape, so you’ll have fewer problems and need fewer repairs.

Clean your hardware

Eventually, your computer will get covered with dust, dirt, cigarette smoke, pollen, spilled drink, spilled food, dead insects, dandruff, and other unmentionable body parts.

Once a month, clean the computer, to increase the happiness of the computer and the people who see it (you, colleagues, customers, and visitors). To make cleaning easier, many companies prohibit employees from smoking, drinking, or eating near the computer.

Easy cleaning

Before cleaning the computer, turn its power off.

Just take a paper towel, dampen it with plain water, and wipe grime off the keyboard, the monitor’s screen, the monitor’s case, and the system unit’s case.

Don’t dribble water into the electronics. That would cause a short circuit and corrosion. Put water just onto the paper towel, not directly onto the hardware.

Don’t use the computer until the water has dried. Don’t open the monitor, since it contains high voltages even when “off”.

Inside the system unit

If you wish to open the system unit’s case, to remove dust from inside it, be careful not to give your computer a shock of static electricity. The computer’s chips are delicate and can get destroyed by even the smallest spark. To avoid shocks, do this:

Avoid working on the computer in the winter, when the air is cold and the humidity is low. Wait until summer, when the air is warm and the humidity is high.

Avoid shuffling across the carpet in rubber-soled shoes. Remove your shoes and socks (so you look like a beach bum or hippie). Remove the carpet, or cover it with a plastic mat (or newspaper), or put anti-static spray on the carpet.

While working on the computer, keep it turned off but still plugged into a 3-prong grounded socket. Keep touching the outside of the computer’s case, which will be grounded. You can also keep touching other big metal objects in the room — so you’ll shock them instead of your computer.

Avoid directly touching the chips.

When fiddling inside the computer’s case, make sure you don’t loosen any of the cables inside, since if a cable gets loose you might forget which socket it belongs in and which direction it should be twisted in.

To remove dust, wipe it off — or just take a deep breath and blow, but try to avoid blowing spit.

Professional cleaning

That’s how to clean your computer for free. Professional repair shops usually spend extra money:

Instead of using water,

they use isopropyl alcohol, which dries faster.

Instead of using a paper towel,

they use a soft lint-free cloth.

Instead of blowing from their mouths,

they blow from a can of compressed air, bought at Radio Shack.

Instead of touching objects to dissipate static electricity,

they wear an electrostatic-discharge wrist strap (ESD wrist strap), which is a wrist strap that comes with a wire you can run from your wrist to a grounded metal object (such as the outside of a grounded computer case).

When cleaning a monitor’s screen, do not use alcohol or traditional “glass cleaners”, since they can harm the screen’s antiglare coating.

Clean your mouse

Here’s how to clean a traditional mouse (which contains a ball instead of shining a light):

Turn the mouse upside down. Using your fingernail, scrape off any gunk you see. (Gunk tends to accumulate on the mouse’s rubber strips or rubber feet.)

In the mouse’s belly, you typically see a rubber ball, whose purpose is to roll on your desktop (or on your mouse pad). Remove the ball’s circular cover (by turning the cover counterclockwise or sliding it toward you). Remove the ball.

On the ball, you’ll probably see a little dust, dirt, hair, or food. Clean the ball by rubbing it against your clothes. (Oooooh! That felt Gooood!) If you prefer, you can clean the ball by using water, but do not use alcohol, which can shrink the ball and make it lopsided.

Look inside the mouse, in the hole where the ball was. On the sides of that hole, you’ll see two rollers (looking like rolling pins) that the ball is supposed to rub against. One of those rollers is for motion in the X direction (horizontal); the other roller is for motion in the Y direction (vertical). Dust and dirt are probably caked onto the middle of each roller. Scrape the dust and dirt off, by using your fingernail.

Then put the ball back into the mouse and put its cover back on (by turning the cover clockwise or sliding it away from you).

Clean your software

For over 25 years, I’ve given free help to folks whose computers got messed up. That extensive experience taught me most computer problems can be solved by software cleaning: just remove any software routines that distract the computer from what you want to accomplish! If you remove those distractions, the computer can concentrate on accomplishing your goal. The computer’s headaches — and yours — will disappear. The computer will run reliably — and faster.

Here’s how to clean your software. To get free help using these methods and my other tricks (which are more bizarre), phone me anytime at 603-666-6644.

Windows 7

I’ll start with the methods that are the simplest and most foolproof, then progress to methods that are more advanced and risky.

Shut down If the computer is on, try to shut it down properly:

Click Start then “Shut Down”. Wait while the computer tidies the info on your hard disk. Finally, the computer will turn its own power off.

If you can’t do that shut-down procedure properly, give up and just turn the power off.

Wait for the computer to quiet down.

Start the computer again Turn the computer on. Wait for the Windows main screen to appear, so you see the Start button (a circle at the screen’s bottom-left corner).

Stop the startup’s pop-up windows When you turn the computer on, some windows might appear automatically without your asking for them. Here’s how to stop them.

If the screen’s top shows the HP Advisor dock (ribbon bar that begins with the words “HP Advisor”) because you bought a Hewlett-Packard or Compaq computer), stop it (because it’s distracting) by doing this:

Click “HP Advisor” then “PC Dashboard” then “Settings” (which is at the window’s bottom-left corner). Remove the check mark from “Launch Advisor PC Dock at every boot” (by clicking it). Click “Apply”. Close the HP Advisor window by clicking its X. Close the HP Advisor dock by clicking the faint-or-white X that’s to the right of the dock’s top-right corner.

(Here’s how to see the HP Advisor dock in the future: click Start then “All Programs” then “HP Advisor”.)

Stop the wallpaper When you’re not in the middle of running a program, the computer’s screen might show you wallpaper (a photo, or rays of colored lights, or your computer manufacturer’s name & logo, peeking from behind all the icons). Though that wallpaper might cheer you up at first, after a month or two you’ll find it distracting, and it makes the icons harder to see. Here’s how to get rid of the wallpaper and change to a plain background:

Right-click in the screen’s middle, where there’s no icon. Click “Personalize” then “Desktop Background”. Near the screen’s top, you see a box labeled “Picture location” (and it probably says “Windows Desktop Backgrounds” in it); click that box’s down-arrow then “Solid Colors”. Maximize the window. You see 33 big colored squares. Click the dark-blue square at the top of the 6^th column (because that’s the traditional restful color) or click whatever other color you prefer. Press Enter. Close the window (by clicking its X button).

(Here’s how to see the wallpaper in the future: right-click in the screen’s middle where there’s no icon, click “Personalize” then “Desktop Background” then the Picture location box’s down-arrow then “Windows Desktop Backgrounds”; scroll down to see all the icons; click the last icon (which is in the Windows category); press Enter; close the window by clicking its X.)

Do disk cleanup Click Start then “Computer” then the “C:” icon then “Properties”. Click the Disk Cleanup button.

Put checkmarks in all the boxes. Press Enter twice. The computer will erase the files. Then close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Do that disk-cleanup procedure often: once a week.

Windows Vista

Windows Vista includes many features that are cute but useless. When you buy a Windows Vista computer, leave it in its original state for the first two weeks, so you can admire the cuteness; but then erase that crap, so you can get your work done faster, with fewer cuties to distract you and the computer from your goals. If you’re sharing the computer with friends or colleagues, get their permission before you clean.

Follow this step-by-step procedure to clean your computer.…

Shut down If the computer is on, try to shut it down properly:

Click Start. Click the right-arrow (4) that’s at the Start menu’s bottom-right corner. Then click “Shut Down”. Wait while the computer tidies the info on your hard disk. Finally, the computer will turn its own power off.

If you can’t do that shut-down procedure properly, give up and just turn the power off.

Wait for the computer to quiet down.

Start the computer again Turn the computer on. Wait for the Windows main screen to appear, so you see the Start button (a circle at the screen’s bottom-left corner).

Stop the startup’s pop-up windows When you turn the computer on, some windows might appear automatically without your asking for them. Here’s how to stop them.

If you see a window titled “HP Total Care Advisor — PC Health & Security” (because you bought a Hewlett-Packard or Compaq computer), stop it (because it loads slowly and is full of ads) by doing this:

Click the Preferences button (which is at the window’s top, near the right corner, and looks like a wrench). Remove the checkmark from “Launch HP Advisor automatically on start-up” by clicking there. Click “OK”. Close the window by clicking its X button.

(Here’s how to see HP Total Care Advisor in the future: double-click the “HP Total Care Advisor” icon, or click Start then “All Programs” then “HP Total Care Advisor”.)

If you see the Welcome Center window (which says “Welcome”), stop it (because you don’t need it) by doing this:

Remove the checkmark from “Run at startup” (which is at the window’s bottom-left corner), by clicking there. Then close the window (by clicking its X button).

(Here’s how to see the Welcome Center window in the future: click Start then “Control Panel” then “Classic View”, then double-click “Welcome Center”.)

Stop the gadgets Along the screen’s right-hand edge, near the screen’s top, you might see gadgets (such as a clock, a slideshow, and a news feed) in an area called the Windows Sidebar. Though the gadgets are cute, they’re distracting and also slow down your computer. Here’s how to stop them.

Find the green Windows Sidebar icon. (It’s at the screen’s bottom, near the right corner. If you don’t see it yet, make it appear by clicking the right-arrow there.) Right-click the Windows Sidebar icon. Click “Properties”. Remove the checkmark from “Start Sidebar when Windows starts”, by clicking there. Click “View list of running gadgets”. You see a list of running gadgets. Click the first gadget in the list, then the Remove button, then do the same for each other gadget in the list, until the list is empty. Click “Close” then “OK”.

(Here’s how to use those gadgets in the future: click Start then “All Programs” then “Accessories” then “Windows Sidebar” then the plus sign near the screen’s top-right corner; double-click “Feed Headlines” then “Slide Show” then “Clock” then any other gadgets you want to use; click the red X button to close the gadget window.)

Stop the wallpaper When you’re not in the middle of running a program, the computer’s screen might show you wallpaper (a photo, or rays of colored lights, or your computer manufacturer’s name & logo, peeking from behind all the icons). Though that wallpaper might cheer you up at first, after a month or two you’ll find it distracting, and it makes the icons harder to see. Here’s how to get rid of the wallpaper and change to a plain background:

Right-click in the screen’s middle, where there’s no icon. Click “Personalize” then “Desktop Background”. Near the screen’s top, you see a box labeled “Location” (and it probably says “Windows Wallpapers” in it); click that box’s down-arrow then “Solid Colors”. Maximize the window. You see 33 big colored squares. Click the dark-blue square at the top of the 6^th column (because that’s the traditional restful color) or click whatever other color you prefer. Press Enter. Close the window (by clicking its X button).

(Here’s how to see the wallpaper in the future: right-click in the screen’s middle where there’s no icon, click “Personalize” then “Desktop Background” then the Location box’s down-arrow then “Windows Wallpapers”; scroll down to see all the icons; if you have a widescreen, click the last icon in the Widescreen category, otherwise click the last icon in the Vistas category; press Enter; close the window by clicking its X.)

Stop the screensaver The typical computer is set up so that if you don’t touch the keyboard or mouse for 10 minutes, a screensaver comes on (which puts an animated cartoon on your screen); if you don’t touch the keyboard or mouse for 15 minutes, the screen turns off; and if you don’t touch the keyboard or mouse for 20 minutes, the computer goes to sleep. The 15-minute and 20-minute rules save electricity by having the computer partly shut down when you’re not using it; but the 10-minute screensaver serves no purpose (it doesn’t save electricity and doesn’t protect your screen), so you should turn that feature off (unless you’re in a hospital where the screensaver hides confidential patient data from passers-by). Here’s how to turn off the screensaver:

Right-click in the screen’s middle, where there’s no icon. Click “Personalize” then “Screen Saver” then the first down-arrow then “(None)”. Press Enter. Close the window (by clicking its X button).

(Here’s how to reactivate the screensaver in the future: right-click in the screen’s middle where there’s no icon, click “Personalize” then “Screen Saver” then the first down-arrow then “Windows Logo”. Press Enter. Close the window (by clicking its X button).

Stop the service ads Your screen shows icons that are ads for services. For example, if you buy a Compaq computer, your screen shows 7 icons that advertise: “AOL Sign-up”, “Easy Internet Services”, “eBay”, “Get Vonage”, “High-Speed Services”, “MSN”, and “Snapfish Photos — First 25 Prints Free”. To remove one of those icons from your screen, do this:

Click the icon, then press the Delete key then the Enter key.

(Here’s how to see those services in the future: double-click the “HP Total Care Advisor” icon then click “Internet Connection”; or click Start then “All Programs” then “HP Total Care Advisor” then “Internet Connection”; or click Start then “All Programs” then scroll down and click “Online Services” then “United States”; or use the Internet to go to www.aol.com, www.ebay.com, www.vonage.com, www.msn.com, or www.snapfish.com.)

Empty the Startup folder If you click Start then “All Programs” then Startup (which you’ll see when you scroll down), you’ll see what’s in the Startup folder. (If you don’t see anything, your Startup folder is empty.)

Each time you start running Windows, the computer automatically runs all the programs in the Startup folder. Some of those programs might even run continuously, until you turn off the computer.

The typical program in the Startup folder is junk you should remove. Here’s how to remove programs from the Startup folder (after you get permission from friends who share your computer):

Click Start (so you see the Start menu) then “All Programs” then “Startup” (so you see what’s in the Startup folder). If you want to get rid of one of the programs, drag the program’s name toward the right, toward the screen’s middle, until the program’s name is no longer in the menus. If the computer says “You’ll need to provide administrator permission to move”, click “Continue” once or twice until the computer stops griping.

For example, you can move “Compaq Connections” (which sends you ads from Compaq twice a month), “Adobe Reader Speed Launch” (which lets Adobe Reader consume your RAM immediately), and “Adobe Reader Synchronizer” (which checks whether your computer contains the same document versions as other computers on your network): they’re all junk that make your computer run slower.

The next day or next week, when you’ve convinced yourself that the programs were indeed useless junk, delete their icons from your desktop screen by doing this to each one: click the icon once, then press the Delete key, then press Enter. That moves them to the Recycle Bin (unless their author protected them by making them read-only).

(If you change your mind before you put them into the Recycle Bin, here’s how to put them back into the Startup folder: click Start then “All Programs” then right-click “Startup” then click “Open” so you see the Startup folder’s window, then drag the icons into that window, then close the window by clicking its X.)

Do disk cleanup Click Start then “Computer” then the “C:” icon then “Properties” (which has an orange check mark before it).

Click the Disk Cleanup button then “Files from all users on this computer” (if other users give you permission) then “Continue”.

Put checkmarks in all the boxes. (To see all the boxes, you might have to scroll down by clicking the down-arrow repeatedly or rotating the mouse’s wheel toward you.) Exception: if your computer is a notebook, leave the “Hibernation File Cleaner” box blank (so the hard disk will still have a hibernation file, which protects you if your battery runs out).

Press Enter twice. The computer will erase the files. Then close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Do that disk-cleanup procedure often: once a week.

Windows XP

I’ll start with the methods that are the simplest and most foolproof, then progress to methods that are more advanced and risky.

Shut down If the computer is on, try to shut it down properly:

Click Start then “Turn Off Computer” then “Turn Off”.

Then turn the power off.

If you can’t do that shut-down procedure properly, give up and just turn the power off.

Wait for the computer to quiet down.

Start the computer again Turn the computer on. Wait for the Windows main screen to appear, so you see the Start button.

If the computer refuses to show you the Start button, go into safe mode. Here’s how:

Turn the computer’s power on; then immediately hold down the F8 key, and keep holding it down. You’ll hear some beeping.

Take your finger off the F8 key; the computer will say “Windows Advanced Options Menu”; from that menu, choose “Safe Mode” (by pressing the Home key then the Enter key then the Enter key again). Eventually, the computer will say “To begin, click your user name”. Click your name. Press the Enter key.

Now you see the “Start” button, but all four corners of the screen say “Safe mode”. While you’re in Safe mode, you can repair your computer’s software but cannot use fancy features: you cannot use the CD-ROM, printer, sound, fancy colors, or tiny icons (you see big icons instead).

Close whatever is open Get out of any programs you’re in (by clicking their X buttons). Close any windows that are open (by clicking their X buttons).

At the screen’s bottom, to the right of the Start button, you might see some other buttons.

Narrow buttons (narrower than the Start button) are okay.

If you see a button that’s wider than the Start button, get rid of that button (by clicking it then clicking the X button that comes up).

Simplify the display Find a spot in the screen’s middle where there’s no icon yet. Right-click there (by using the mouse’s right-hand button). From the pull-down menu that appears, left-click the bottom choice (which is “Properties”). You’ll see the Display Properties window.

For Wallpaper, choose “None”. Here’s how:

Look at the Theme box (which is below the word “Theme” and above the word “Sample”. Make sure the Theme box says “Windows XP” or “Windows XP modified”. (If it says something else, click the box’s down arrow then click “Windows XP”.)

Click “Desktop”. In the Background box, make “None” be highlighted (by pressing the Home key).

Click the “Screen Saver” tab (which is at the top of the window). Then for Screen Saver, choose “None”; here’s how:

Look at the Screen Saver box (which is wide but not tall). In that box, you should see the word “None”. If that box doesn’t say “None” yet, make it say “None” by pressing the Home key.

Although wallpaper and screensavers are cute fun, you should delete them (by choosing “none”) because they consume RAM, slow down the computer, distract the computer, distract you, and are unnecessary (since all modern monitors are built well and don’t need to be protected by screensavers).

Click the “Appearance” tab. Then make the appearance be standard. Here’s how:

Look at the “Windows and buttons” box. In that box, you should see “Windows XP style”. If you see “Windows Classic style” instead, change it to “Windows XP style” by pressing the keyboard’s down-arrow button.

Click the “Settings” tab. You have to decide how many colors and pixels to request. For normal operation, you should request 1024-by-768 pixels and 16-bit color. But you have these choices:

Pixels            Comment

800-by-600     best for 15-inch CRT monitors

1024-by-768   best for 17-inch CRT monitors, most programs, most Web sites

1152-by-864   best for 19-inch CRT monitors

1280-by-1024 the writing is too small, and the screen flickers or is unreadable

Colors        Comments

16-bit color  “16-bit color” means 2¹⁶ colors, which is 65,536 colors

                    use this for most computers, most programs, most Web sites

                    Windows XP calls this “medium quality”

24-bit color  “24-bit color” means 2²⁴ colors, which is 16,777,216 colors

                    accurate color, but slow

                    intended just for artists & photographers fussy about color

                    Windows XP calls this “high quality”

32-bit color  “32-bit color” means 2³² colors, which is 4,294,967,296 colors

                    highest quality but too ridiculously slow

                    intended just for the absolutely fussiest artists & photographers

                    Windows XP calls this “highest quality”

                    Windows XP omits this choice if your video card can’t handle it

Suggestions:

Switch to fewer colors if your computer is old (with a slow CPU chip or with little RAM on the video card) or having trouble.

Switch to fewer pixels if your eyesight is poor or your monitor’s screen is blank, fuzzy, or unreadable.

To choose the number of pixels, do this:

Find the “Screen resolution” slider. Drag that slider towards the left or right.

To choose the color quality, do this:

Find the “Color quality” box. Click that box’s down-arrow, then click the color quality you want.

Click “OK”.

If the computer says “Your desktop has been reconfigured”, click “Yes” (before the image goes away).

Right-click in the screen’s middle (where there are no icons). Then click “Arrange Icons By” then “Name”.

Check your total RAM Windows XP requires 512M or RAM to run well. If you have less RAM, the main way you can make Windows run better is to buy more RAM.

To discover your total amount of RAM, click Start then “My Computer” then “View system information”. Read the message on the screen. When you finish reading, close any windows by clicking their X buttons.

Clean up your hard disk Double-click the Recycle Bin icon. You see the Recycle Bin window, which shows a list of what’s in the Recycle Bin. To see the list better, maximize the window (by clicking the box next to its X button).

That’s the list of files you said to get rid of. If the list is not empty, deal with it as follows:

Those files are still on your hard disk and consuming the hard disk’s space, until you empty the Recycle Bin. If you’re sharing the computer with friends, ask their permission before emptying the Recycle Bin.

If you’re sure you don’t need any of those files anymore, empty the entire Recycle Bin (by clicking “File” then “Empty Recycle Bin” then “Yes”). If you want to erase just some of those files, click the first file you want to erase, then (while holding down the Ctrl key) click each additional file you want to erase, then press the Delete key then Enter.

Close the Recycle Bin window (by clicking its X button).

Next, find out how full your hard disk is. To find out, click Start then “My Computer”. Right-click the hard drive’s icon (which says “C:”), then click “Properties”. You see a pie chart. Make sure the amount of free space (colored red) is at least 10% of the disk’s total capacity. If your free space is less, you’re in danger of having the computer gradually slow down or quit functioning, so you should delete some files. Later, I’ll explain the best way to delete unused programs.

Do this:

Click the Disk Cleanup button.

The computer shows this list of file types:

o Downloaded Program Files

o Temporary Internet Files

o Offline Web Pages

o Recycle Bin

o Setup Log Files

o Temporary files

o WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files

o Compress old files

o Catalog files for the Content Indexer

(If the list is too long to fit on the screen, see the rest of the list by using its scroll arrows.) Put a check mark in each type’s box (by clicking) — except for “Recycle Bin” and “Compress old files”, whose boxes should stay blank (since you dealt with “Recycle Bin” already, and “Compress old files” slows down your computer too much).

Click OK, then press Enter. The computer will erase those files.

Close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Clean Outlook Express. Here’s how (if you use Outlook Express 6):

Start using Outlook Express (by doing the Outlook Express “start” procedure on page 131).

Click “Inbox”. You see list of incoming e-mail messages. Which of those messages do you want to delete? In that list, select the messages you want to delete, so they turn blue. (To select one message, click it. To select several messages, click the first and then, while holding down the Ctrl key, click the others. To select several adjacent messages, click the first and then, while holding down the Shift key, click the last. To select all message, tap the A key while holding down the Ctrl key.)

Press the keyboard’s Delete key. That makes the computer move the selected messages to the Deleted Items folder.

Congratulations! You cleaned “Inbox”.

Click “Sent Items”. Use that same technique to clean “Sent Items”.

Click “Drafts”. Use that same technique to clean “Drafts”.

Right-click “Deleted Items”. Click “Empty Deleted Items folder” then “Yes”.

Click “File” then “Folder” then “Compact All Folders”.

Close the Outlook Express window (by clicking its X button).

Delete unused programs. To do that, click “Start” then “Control Panel” then “Add or Remove Programs”. You see a list of all programs that are on your hard disk and designed for modern Windows. (You see the list’s beginning; to see the rest of the list, use the scroll arrows at the list’s right side.) In that list, if you find a program that you’re sure you’ll never use again (such as a lousy game), here’s how to delete it:

Click the program’s name. Click the Remove button (which might be labeled “Change/Remove”). Then follow the instructions on the screen. The computer will try to delete the program completely: the computer will delete the program’s folder, the program’s icons, and (hopefully) all references to the program.

Using that method, find and delete all programs that you’re sure you’ll never use again. Then close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Examine the task list Here’s how to analyze what Windows is doing at any moment: while holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys, tap the Delete key (just once, not twice), then click “Processes”.

You see the task list. That’s a list of all tasks that the computer is running at the moment. The list of tasks is typically long, but don’t worry: Windows XP can handle a long list okay.

Although you can end a task by clicking the task’s name and then the “End Process” button, that ends the task just temporarily. To end the task permanently, so it won’t resurface the next time you boot up the computer, try the following strategies.…

Empty your StartUp folder If you click on Start, then Programs, then StartUp (yeah, it’s there, keep looking), you’ll see what’s in the StartUp folder. Each time you start running Windows, the computer automatically runs all the programs in the StartUp folder. (That folder is the Windows equivalent of DOS’s AUTOEXEC.BAT file.)

On a clean machine (such as mine), the StartUp folder should be empty (so your task list stays short). Microsoft Office tends to put two items into the StartUp folder (“Microsoft Office Fast Start” and “Microsoft Office Find Fast Indexer”), but if you eliminate those two items Microsoft Office will still run fine.

Here’s how to remove items from the StartUp folder:.…

Click Start then Programs. Then double-click “StartUp”.

You’ll see icons for all the programs in the StartUp folder.

To remove a program from the StartUp folder, click that program’s icon then press the Delete key then Enter. (To remove all programs from the StartUp folder, do this: tap the A key while holding down the Ctrl key, then press the Delete key then Enter.)

If you’re not sure whether to remove a program from the StartUp folder, go ahead and try it (after getting permission from any friends who share your computer). Trying to remove a program from the StartUp folder is an experiment that’s safe for three reasons:

“Removing” an icon from the StartUp folder just sends the icon to the Recycle Bin, so you can restore the icon later if you change your mind. (To be extra-safe, tell your friends not to empty the Recycle Bin for several weeks, until you’re sure your newly emptied StartUp folder makes you happy.)

The icon you’re sending to the Recycle Bin is just a shortcut icon (since it has a bent arrow on it) rather than the program itself.

No items in the StartUp folder are ever needed to start Windows. In fact, Windows starts itself up before it bothers to look at the StartUp folder.

When you’ve finished, close all windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Remove unwanted networking Click “Start” then “Connect To” then “Show all connections”.

You see a list of network components. Which ones do you need?

The typical computer communicates with other computers by using just an ordinary phone cord and an ordinary Internet Service Provider. Such a computer needs just 2 network components: Dial-Up Adapter (which teaches the computer how to use the phone cord) and TCP/IP (which teaches the computer how to communicate with the Internet). So for such a computer, keep just those 2 components and remove any others. For example, you can remove Client for Microsoft Networks. If you’re not sharing your computer with other people, or if you’re sharing just with people who all have the same privileges as you (no separate passwords, no separate screen setups), you can also remove Microsoft Family Logon.

If your computer is fancier, it needs more network components. For example, if your computer communicates with the Internet by using America OnLine (which is a non-standard Internet Service Provider), you must also keep a network component about AOL. If your computer communicates with the Internet by using a cable modem (which attaches to a cable-TV wire instead of a phone wire) or DSL (which attaches to a high-speed phone wire) or communicates with other computers by using an Ethernet card or a local-area network (LAN), you must keep network components that teach the computer about those features.

Remove components you’re not using; then your computer will run faster, stop asking for passwords to unused networks, and stop complaining about half-completed networks.

Here’s how to remove a component:

Click the component’s icon, then press the Delete key.

If the computer says “You cannot delete a connection while it is busy connecting”, do this: press Enter then click “Disable this network device”. (which is at the screen’s left edge).

When you finish saying which components to remove, click “OK”. (If the computer says “Your network is not complete”, press Enter. If the computer asks you to restart, let it restart.)

Close any windows (by clicking their X buttons).

Improve your hard disk’s structure Before trying to improve your hard disk’s structure, you should typically
switch to safe mode. (You can skip this switch if you’re in safe mode already, or you’re sure you’re not running any antivirus programs or other hard-disk writing programs.) Here’s how to switch to safe mode:

Shut down the computer (by following the “Shut down” procedure on page 156). Go into safe mode (by following the procedure in page 156’s second box).

Regardless of whether you switched to safe mode, click Start then “My Computer”. Right-click the hard drive’s icon (which says “C:”). Click “Properties” then “Tools” then “Check Now”.

If you have the patience to wait through an hour-long thorough check, put a check mark in the box marked “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors” (by clicking); otherwise leave that box blank.

Press Enter.

Then the computer will run the ScanDisk program, which analyzes your hard disk. While the computer analyzes, choose “Discard” whenever the computer lets you. That makes the computer discard useless files. At the end of the ScanDisk process, the computer will say “Disk Check Complete”; press Enter.

Next, run the Defrag program, by clicking “Defragment Now” then “Defragment”. Then the computer will rearrange your hard disk’s files, so you can access them faster.

After a long time (typically an hour), the computer will say “Defragmentation is complete”. (If the computer takes several hours because the Defrag program keeps restarting, the real cause is that you forgot to do the “switch to safe mode” procedure in column 1, and you should go back and do that procedure.)

Close all windows (by clicking their X buttons). If you did the “switch to safe mode procedure”, return to normal mode by doing this: shut down the computer (by following the “Shut down” procedure on page 156), then turn the computer back on.

Empty MsConfig A program called MicroSoft CONFIGuration (MsConfig) helps you configure Windows. Here’s how to use it.

Click “Start” then “Run”. Type “msconfig” and press Enter.

You see the System Configuration Utility window. Click “Startup” (which is near that window’s top right corner). You see a list of programs.

If you want to widen any column, do this:

Look at the column’s heading.

Look at the vertical line to the right of the heading.

Drag that line farther to the right.

Every time you turn the computer on, the computer automatically runs all the programs in that list — unless you deactivate a program by removing the check mark from its box. (To add or remove a check mark, click the box.)

Programs get into that list because they were mentioned in the StartUp folder or the Registry or a file called WIN.INI. On a typical computer, you can deactivate most programs from the list, and the computer will still work fine.

Which programs should you keep, and which should you deactivate?

You can deactivate these:

PowerReg Scheduler reminds you to register your software. Billminder, from Quicken, reminds you to pay bills today. Works Calendar Reminder (wkcalrem), from Microsoft Works, reminds you of your appointments today. Money Express reminds you to try using the Microsoft Money program, which can balance your checkbook and compete against Quicken. You don’t need those reminders, unless you want the computer to act as your tormentor and mother.

Several programs put extra buttons at the screen’s bottom right corner, in an area called the tray, next to the time. You don’t need those buttons: they’re redundant, since similar buttons already populate your screen’s desktop (or in the programs menu or control panel). Although having a redundant button can occasionally be convenient (I admit liking the System Tray program, which puts the volume-control button into the tray), but I recommend you deactivate most such programs, to avoid cluttering your screen with useless buttons. Examples of redundant-button programs (which you should deactivate) are AtiKey (for ATI’s video cards), Aoltray (for America Online and its Internet hookup), and Igfxtray (for Intel’s video-chip graphics special effects).

Microsoft has invented several programs that are supposed to make Microsoft Office run faster but actually make the Microsoft Office be slower. Deactivate them! These counterproductive devils are called Microsoft Office StartUp Application (osa.exe) and Microsoft Find Fast (findfast.exe).

AtiCwd is useful just if you have a TV attached to your video card.

To find out what some other program does, go to www.Google.com and type the program’s name into the search box.

You can experiment by deactivating most of the listed programs: just get rid of their check marks. (You can see an even longer list of automatically run programs by clicking “Services”.)

Then click “OK”.

If you made changes, here’s what happens next:

The computer says “You must restart your computer”. Press Enter.

The computer automatically reboots.

The computer says “System Configuration Utility”; to react, click the tiny square (at the window’s bottom left corner) then click “OK”.

If you don’t like the results of your efforts, run msconfig again and put the check marks back in.

Final steps Click “Start” then “Turn Off Computer” then “Turn Off”. Then turn the power off.

Test your computer When the computer has quieted down, turn it back on and watch what happens.

Probably Windows will start fine (faster and better!) because of the software cleaning you did.

Probably your DOS programs will work fine (even your DOS games!) if you start them the way Microsoft recommends: click “Start” then “All Programs” then “Accessories” then “Command Prompt”; then if you see just a small black window, enlarge it by pressing Alt with Enter. If you start DOS that way, the mouse & CD-ROM will work even while you’re running DOS software.