Best software for comp maintenence

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by skaught, Jun 1, 2008.

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  1. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    Honestly I use hijackthis and manually remove this shit when I have to.
     
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  3. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    Good lord, just slipstream SP2 into an install disk. I'll be doing that with SP3 soon.

    As for disabling XP services, there is quite a debate about the usefulness of that, http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=892729 . I no longer bother.
     
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  5. Creeptology Registered Member

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    I find it useful to disable or turn many in xp to manual just to speed things up. Many ones that you can remove safely don't have a massive effect on boot times and resource but can help, especially when slim down what loads at boot. I got my xp startup down to 8 seconds from around 30, also performance wise why run a service you don't need? However on my linux boxes it makes a big difference what services are running and has huge impact on bootup time and resources.

    As for security it can help to kill some services (my linux boxes wont allow any login except local bin/bash and ssh remote login services etc all stopped and disabled for instance) many exploits cannot be fixed simply but removing a service in xp, especially if it's one you use. HW/SW firewall, and regular updates are needed too along with basic knowledge and good housekeeping.
     
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  7. John99 Banned Banned

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    Usually it takes just as long to do all the other stuff to it anyway.
     
  8. Creeptology Registered Member

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    Reformat is overkill, you loose everything and it isn't needed unless you have major damage to OS files or complex problems you know how to deal with and data loss isn't issue so blitzing it saves time and energy.

    In this case though it's not needed especially since data loss is an issue and backup might not help since many backed up files could be infected and back to square one. The machine will need such measures put in place to secure for future use anyway so reinstall will make that even longer process and takes more effort. Only people who don't know what they are doing reformat at the drop of a hat, it's extreme measure that has it's place, this just isn't it.

    Wiping a machine clean doesn't solve the problem, it just gives a clean starting base. All suggested steps here need to be done whether reformat or not. Also if the people who will be using the machine are not knowledgeable then it will inevitably end up with some issues but good admin can reduce the amount of damage.
     
  9. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    Advising most people to fool with the services in XP is akin to handing the car keys to an eight year old. By far, most are better off left alone. I do heartily recommend that people type msconfig in the Run box, and uncheck most of the programs that are listed. Just about everything you install these days wants to have itself loaded at startup. It is better to only load programs as you need them.
     
  10. skaught The field its covered in blood Valued Senior Member

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    How do I know which ones to allow, and which ones I can safely disable from loading on startup?
     
  11. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    Look here, http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.html , and here, http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php .

    Knowing what you have on the computer will help you determine what to keep. For one example, MS Office, no matter what version, loads at startup. For most people most of the time, this is just dead weight. It is better to wait the fraction of time it takes to start when you actually want to use it than to have it load up and slow your boot time.
     
  12. Creeptology Registered Member

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    even if it is a service you use it's worth considering do you need it at boot time. Many times your net gain in time saving is negative value.

    For instance if a certain service takes 10 seconds to load on startup and then app opens in 5 seconds instead of 20 seconds that's all very well until you consider you only use it 1 in 5 times you boot up so it actually costs you time, not to mention resources.

    All I run is services essential to me, it's only hard if you don't know what they are. Just look them up to see if they are non essential and if so figure out if you need them running. Eg. on my machine with no printer I have all printer services killed. As for bootup unless it's essential or something I want every time I start I lose it. Good use of resource and fast startup with smooth running. Even if you start off clueless you can learn it quite quick, it's simple stuff and easy to learn. I admit people who are new to this shouldn't just start messing with admin service settings randomly but I recommend everyone learn how to do this. Once educated it'sa good thing.
     
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