[dexterlevi]

Hi

I have just done a check with one of the online Optimiser tools and as usual hundreds of errors found.

Are these PC optimisers any good.The one I have found is called Perferct Optimiser. Anyone got any thoughts wether any good or point me in direction.


Thanks

[spot]

It depends to an extent on what operating system you plan to run one against. Some operating systems are more in need than others.

[dexterlevi]

Plain old windows XP

[spot]

There are more crooked review sites on the web than you could shake a stick at.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/15314..._registry.html is worth listening to.

I use ccleaner as part of my utility set when I'm getting clapped out computers back into shape and have no problems with it.

[spot]

Here, I wrote this to my daughter yesterday, she asked how to clean a mate's laptop. It might help, who knows.


Don't sit and watch, this will take all day.

Download all of these to the hard drive.

http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe
(no extras, just the download)

http://lavasoft.com/single/trialpay.php
(no plus, just the download)

http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds

http://www.defraggler.com/download

Remove the internet connection - this might involve the system tray and "disable" on the wireless icon. We don't want the window of opportunity with no antivirus to let in something creepy that knows a security hole in the operating system.

I assume Billy's not paying for an antivirus product - if he is then ignore the next bit otherwise make quite certain you fully uninstall all antivirus products on the computer. The one it came with needs paying for to keep running past the first 90 days or so.

Install and run the first two downloads in that order. Do full scans.

That ought to clean the machine to some extent.

You can go back online now.

See if you can work out how to download and install all the most recent versions of the drivers from http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downl...voe_en_GB_cons - it's not essential but it's desirable. Download as many as you can find and then run them all, don't reboot until it's all updated and then reboot once at the end.

The next bits I've stolen rather than typed from scratch, it's easier on the fingers. Make sensible decisions, don't go wild.

FIRST STEAL

1. Open Control Panel and click Uninstall a Program to launch Vista's Uninstall or Change a Program Window. In the Tasks pane on the left, click Turn Windows Features On or Off.
2. Check the list of features. Each feature is preceded by a checkbox which, if filled, indicates the feature is installed. If you hover the mouse over a feature, a help tooltip appears to tell you what it is.
Win Features
Do you really need Windows Meeting Space or Tablet PC components?
3. Uncheck any feature you don't need. Some of the features are headings with a sub-list below them; just click the little + sign to expand.

For my gaming system, I've purged everything except:

* Some of the games
* XPS Viewer (under .NET Framework 3.0)
* Remote Differential Compression (a network optimizer)
* Windows Ultimate Extras

Note that when you uncheck features, you're not removing these features from your system; you're simply turning them off so they don't sit in the background eating up resources. You can turn any of them back on by invoking this window and filling the checkboxes.

SECOND STEAL

Click the Start button and type in services.msc and hit Enter. (The cursor jumps to the Search bar in the Start Menu when you click the Start button; you can usually just punch in whatever program or module you want to run right there).

The Services applet appears. Each service is basically a little nest of software support code for something the computer can monitor or do.

Well-written services include a description of what they do (note that lots of third-party services don't include a description, to which we say: shame). The Status column in the Services window shows whether or not the service has been started. Startup Type means how the service starts:

* Automatic means the service starts when Windows starts.
* Manual means the service starts when Windows detects that something needs it.
* Disabled means the service doesn't start at all.

Most services are either set to Automatic or Manual. There's no need to change any manual services; they only start when it's necessary for them to do something. There are probably some automatic services you really don't need, though. You can find a full list of services at TweakHound, an excellent source of all kinds of tweaks.

To change how a service starts, right-click it and click Properties. If you don't want a service to load, first stop the service by clicking Stop. Then, pull down the Startup Type list and set the service to Manual or Disabled.

Maximize the window.

You'll see a column labeled Status. Double-click it so that all the services that are started are up top.

These are the only ones you need to worry about. If it isn't started, leave it alone.

See pics below for an example. (click on thumbnails for a larger image)

Disable whatever of these you can see - some might not exist.

DFS Replication
Diagnostic Policy Service (change to manual)
Distributed Link Tracking Client
IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules
IPsec Policy Agent
KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator
Offline Files
Remote Registry (for security reasons)
Secondary Logon
Security Center
SSDP Discovery (for security reasons)
Tablet PC Input Service
Terminal Services
Windows Defender
Windows Error Reporting Service
Windows Search
Server
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Themes (I assume Billy doesn't use them, they take up room)

THIRD STEAL - REMOVE INDEXING

Disable Indexing on all the hard drives
Click on Computer. Right-click on any drives/partition you do not want Indexed.
In the General pane uncheck Index this drive for faster searching, click Apply,
In the resulting window choose Apply changes to drive X:\, subfolders and files, click OK
Click OK or Continue for any pop-ups, and ignore all for any error messages.

FOURTH STEAL - DISK SPEED CHECK

Make Sure Your SATA Drives Are configured For Max Speed

Vista doesn't always set all the performance options to maximum for your SATA drives.

To set all the options to max, open device manager. Press the Windows + R keys and type devmgmt.msc > expand the Disk drives section by clicking on the plus sign > double-click on the drive you want to configure the click the Policies tab > Check the Optimize for performance button > Check both the Enable write caching on the disk and the Enable advanced performance boxes. See the warnings about power loss? They are there for a reason.

FINISHING OFF

Install and run the other two downloads.

[spot]

Though, looking at it, you'd do better with XP services than with vista ones, wouldn't you. And ignore the URL to sony-vaio.

Black Viper is the place to choose services to disable, he's good.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

[dexterlevi]

Thanks for all the advise and links.I downloaded a 30 day trial version of PC Optimizer. Because I am not 100% comfortable with them I created a System Restore Oint just to be safe.The programme found loads and apparantly optimised the PC.

Howver after following one of the links recommended I have downloaded and run Reg Cure and it has still found loads more problems, so much for the PC Optimiser?

I have attached the screen shot and would welcome again any advise.Do I need to invest in this type of thin to rectfy problems identified.

Oh and by the way I only want to look at this because my PC seems very slow.

Thanks again for all the support.

[Hybr!d]

Registry Mechanics are a bit gimmicky. Most do next to noting yet claim to fix 100's of errors, most of which need no fixing. Some also render whole machines useless if used wrongly.

Ccleaner is a free and trusted program that cleans junk from PCs, it also has a registry fixer, it's the only one I'd use, but overall I rarely run it.

If you really want to clean your system and tweak it, get a good Virus and Spyware program and run those, many people are supprised what they find.

Avast is a free Anti-virus, Superantispyware is a free spyware program, both recommended by almost everyone here.

[Glaswegian]

Some more comments on Registry Cleaners

http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/...eaking_13.html
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099