I’m starting a new series on computers and intend to use this as a starting point. Unfortunately I haven’t had much experience with Macs over the last several years and so will limit my contributions to Windows and Linux operating systems.
For my next article I will discuss how to download & install spyware scanning tools and then run them to remove infections.
For this first blog, I’ll discuss three Windows OS’es: Win XP, Vista, and Win 7.
Computer maintenance
1. Introduction
2. Defragment
3. Turn on automatic update
4. Schedule defragmentation
5. Download and install Firefox
6. Download and install Firefox Addons
1. Introduction
Today computers are ubiquitous. Nearly everyone has access to computers and most people own one or more. However, not everyone has the time to learn enough about them to ensure the computers run efficiently and clean of viruses.
So here are a few things you can do to get your computer to get it running more efficiently.
Back to the top
2. Defragment
Note if you have never defragmented your hard drive, this could take a VERY long time (many hours) so you may want to run this over night.
The following steps should work for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7:
1. Right mouse click (abbreviated RMC) on the [Start] button and select the “Explore” option.
2. A window’s explorer window will launch.
3. RMC on your C: drive and select the “Properties” option.
4. The disk properties dialog will launch.
5. Click on the [Tools] tab.
6. You should see the “Error-checking”, “Defragmentation”, and “Backup”.
7. Select the [Defragment Now…] button.
8. The Disk Defragmenter application will launch.
9. Select the [Defragment] button.
10. When the defragmentation is complete, you should notice that many applications run much faster.
If your computer has not been defragmented in a long time, you should repeat the defragmentation process multiple times to ensure your disk is optimized.
Back to the top
3. Turn on automatic update
For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Security Center”
5. The “Windows Security Center” window should launch
6. Click on the link for “Automatic Updates”
7. Select “Automatic (recommended)” and then the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.
For Vista and Windows 7:
1. LMC on the [Start] button.
2. Click on the “Programs >” selection and then select “Microsoft Update”.
3. The “Microsoft Update” tool will launch (note that it will not be Internet Explorer).
4. In the left pane, click on “change settings” link.
5. Select the option to “Install updates automatically (recommended)”.
6. Next set the updates to occur every day and then set the time (the default would be 3 am and this should be OK).
7. Click the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.
Back to the top
4. Schedule defragmentation
For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Scheduled Tasks”
5. The “Scheduled Tasks” window should launch.
6. Double click on “Add Scheduled Tasks”
7. On the “Task” tab, enter the text “C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe c: /f” into the run field
8. On the “Task” tab, ensure that the “Enabled” check box is checked at the bottom of the page.
9. On the “Schedule” tab, select the scheduled task to run “Weekly”
10. On the “Schedule” tab, select a start time (I select a time shortly after midnight).
11. On the “Schedule” tab, select the number one in the “Every” box and select a day (I selected Monday).
12. On the “Settings” tab, you may choose your own settings but I would enable the ability to “Wake the computer to run this task.”
13. When done click the [OK] button.
14. You may be prompted to enter your username & password. If you are, enter them and click [OK] again.
15. Your computer is now set to defragment your hard drive every week.
Back to the top
5. Download and install Firefox
For all Windows operating systems:
1. Use your current web browser (likely Internet Explorer) to navigate to the www.mozilla.com web site.
2. Click on the button to [Download Firefox – Free].
3. Firefox will download onto your computer.
4. When the download completes, click on the [Start] button.
5. Select “Documents >” -> “My Documents”
6. Your “My Documents” folder should contain a “Download” directory. Double click on this to open the directory.
7. You should find your Firefox installer file in that folder.
8. Double click on the Firefox installer and follow the Firefox installation directions.
9. If your installation requests that you reboot your computer, then follow its directions.
Congratulations! You have installed Mozilla Firefox which I have found to be both more secure and faster than Internet Explorer!
Back to the top
6. Download and install selected Firefox Addons
Firefox developers and users have created a huge selection of utilities which supply all sorts of extra functionality to Firefox. Feel free to browse and download utilities that meet your needs but be sure to check the reliability of the people who make them.
I highly suggest downloading and installing a few add-ons which will improve the safety of your web browsing. Specifically I use a program called “NoScript”. NoScript prevents web site scripts from running on your computer (which can improve the speed at which pages load). However, the real reason to load it is NoScript prevents any script from running unless you specifically grant it access. This does mean that some pages won’t work properly but you can selectively grant access the scripts on pages you trust until it does work properly. Once you’ve enabled the proper set of scripts for a page, it’ll work properly ever after.
1. Double click on the Firefox icon to launch Firefox
2. At the top of the browser, select the “Tools” menu.
3. Then select the “Addons” option.
4. The “Addons” dialog should appear.
5. Select the “Get Add-ons”.
6. In the search window, enter the text “noscript” followed by hitting the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
7. You should see “NoScript” in the results, but if you don’t click on the link at the bottom that says “Show all results ()”.
8. From whichever screen you see NoScript, select the “(+ Add to Firefox)” button.
9. NoScript should install and when completed it’ll ask to restart your browser - allow it to restart the browser.
10. Now navigate to your favorite sites (e.g. Facebook).
11. The first thing you’ll note is that your site (e.g. Facebook) doesn’t load properly and a bar with a button called [Options] will appear in the bottom of the browser window.
12. Click on the [Options] button and select the “Allow Facebook” option.
13. In general I permit scripts to run if they are from sites to which I’ve navigated. By default I leave the scripts not from that site off. This will work for over ½ of the sites you’ll regularly visit.
14. For other sites, you’ll have to permit the other scripts one-by-one (I use the “temporarily allow” option if I’m not sure).
15. I recommend *AGAINST* using “temporarily allow all this site”, “Allow all this page”, and “Allow Scripts Globally”.
If used properly this simple add-on can prevent a lot of VERY nasty stuff from getting into your computer and prevent a lot of very bad problems later for you.
Back to the top
My next blog on this topic will be how to install and run spyware protection.
For my next article I will discuss how to download & install spyware scanning tools and then run them to remove infections.
For this first blog, I’ll discuss three Windows OS’es: Win XP, Vista, and Win 7.
Computer maintenance
1. Introduction
2. Defragment
3. Turn on automatic update
4. Schedule defragmentation
5. Download and install Firefox
6. Download and install Firefox Addons
1. Introduction
Today computers are ubiquitous. Nearly everyone has access to computers and most people own one or more. However, not everyone has the time to learn enough about them to ensure the computers run efficiently and clean of viruses.
So here are a few things you can do to get your computer to get it running more efficiently.
Back to the top
2. Defragment
Note if you have never defragmented your hard drive, this could take a VERY long time (many hours) so you may want to run this over night.
The following steps should work for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7:
1. Right mouse click (abbreviated RMC) on the [Start] button and select the “Explore” option.
2. A window’s explorer window will launch.
3. RMC on your C: drive and select the “Properties” option.
4. The disk properties dialog will launch.
5. Click on the [Tools] tab.
6. You should see the “Error-checking”, “Defragmentation”, and “Backup”.
7. Select the [Defragment Now…] button.
8. The Disk Defragmenter application will launch.
9. Select the [Defragment] button.
10. When the defragmentation is complete, you should notice that many applications run much faster.
If your computer has not been defragmented in a long time, you should repeat the defragmentation process multiple times to ensure your disk is optimized.
Back to the top
3. Turn on automatic update
For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Security Center”
5. The “Windows Security Center” window should launch
6. Click on the link for “Automatic Updates”
7. Select “Automatic (recommended)” and then the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.
For Vista and Windows 7:
1. LMC on the [Start] button.
2. Click on the “Programs >” selection and then select “Microsoft Update”.
3. The “Microsoft Update” tool will launch (note that it will not be Internet Explorer).
4. In the left pane, click on “change settings” link.
5. Select the option to “Install updates automatically (recommended)”.
6. Next set the updates to occur every day and then set the time (the default would be 3 am and this should be OK).
7. Click the [OK] button.
8. Your system should now update automatically.
Back to the top
4. Schedule defragmentation
For Windows XP:
1. Left mouse click (abbreviated LMC) on the [Start] button.
2. Click on “Settings >”
3. Click on “Control Panel”
4. Double click on “Scheduled Tasks”
5. The “Scheduled Tasks” window should launch.
6. Double click on “Add Scheduled Tasks”
7. On the “Task” tab, enter the text “C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe c: /f” into the run field
8. On the “Task” tab, ensure that the “Enabled” check box is checked at the bottom of the page.
9. On the “Schedule” tab, select the scheduled task to run “Weekly”
10. On the “Schedule” tab, select a start time (I select a time shortly after midnight).
11. On the “Schedule” tab, select the number one in the “Every” box and select a day (I selected Monday).
12. On the “Settings” tab, you may choose your own settings but I would enable the ability to “Wake the computer to run this task.”
13. When done click the [OK] button.
14. You may be prompted to enter your username & password. If you are, enter them and click [OK] again.
15. Your computer is now set to defragment your hard drive every week.
Back to the top
5. Download and install Firefox
For all Windows operating systems:
1. Use your current web browser (likely Internet Explorer) to navigate to the www.mozilla.com web site.
2. Click on the button to [Download Firefox – Free].
3. Firefox will download onto your computer.
4. When the download completes, click on the [Start] button.
5. Select “Documents >” -> “My Documents”
6. Your “My Documents” folder should contain a “Download” directory. Double click on this to open the directory.
7. You should find your Firefox installer file in that folder.
8. Double click on the Firefox installer and follow the Firefox installation directions.
9. If your installation requests that you reboot your computer, then follow its directions.
Congratulations! You have installed Mozilla Firefox which I have found to be both more secure and faster than Internet Explorer!
Back to the top
6. Download and install selected Firefox Addons
Firefox developers and users have created a huge selection of utilities which supply all sorts of extra functionality to Firefox. Feel free to browse and download utilities that meet your needs but be sure to check the reliability of the people who make them.
I highly suggest downloading and installing a few add-ons which will improve the safety of your web browsing. Specifically I use a program called “NoScript”. NoScript prevents web site scripts from running on your computer (which can improve the speed at which pages load). However, the real reason to load it is NoScript prevents any script from running unless you specifically grant it access. This does mean that some pages won’t work properly but you can selectively grant access the scripts on pages you trust until it does work properly. Once you’ve enabled the proper set of scripts for a page, it’ll work properly ever after.
1. Double click on the Firefox icon to launch Firefox
2. At the top of the browser, select the “Tools” menu.
3. Then select the “Addons” option.
4. The “Addons” dialog should appear.
5. Select the “Get Add-ons”.
6. In the search window, enter the text “noscript” followed by hitting the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
7. You should see “NoScript” in the results, but if you don’t click on the link at the bottom that says “Show all results ()”.
8. From whichever screen you see NoScript, select the “(+ Add to Firefox)” button.
9. NoScript should install and when completed it’ll ask to restart your browser - allow it to restart the browser.
10. Now navigate to your favorite sites (e.g. Facebook).
11. The first thing you’ll note is that your site (e.g. Facebook) doesn’t load properly and a bar with a button called [Options] will appear in the bottom of the browser window.
12. Click on the [Options] button and select the “Allow Facebook” option.
13. In general I permit scripts to run if they are from sites to which I’ve navigated. By default I leave the scripts not from that site off. This will work for over ½ of the sites you’ll regularly visit.
14. For other sites, you’ll have to permit the other scripts one-by-one (I use the “temporarily allow” option if I’m not sure).
15. I recommend *AGAINST* using “temporarily allow all this site”, “Allow all this page”, and “Allow Scripts Globally”.
If used properly this simple add-on can prevent a lot of VERY nasty stuff from getting into your computer and prevent a lot of very bad problems later for you.
Back to the top
My next blog on this topic will be how to install and run spyware protection.
This is very useful and informative guidelines. I've always been searching the internet about walkthroughs on computer maintenance. I really appreciate your post. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the praise. I'm preparing another article on fighting viruses. I should publish it in the next couple of days.
ReplyDelete