Routine Maintenance (P8)

With time a computer system gets slower and slower. This is caused by accumulation of unneeded registry keys in the windows registry, hard drive, and registry fragmentation, and sometimes viruses and other malware programs. You may experience loss of performance because of hardware problems, or more specifically accumulation of dust.

Software programs on Windows operating systems rely on the registry to store their settings and some information. It is more convenient than using the old INI files, because registry keys are more easily accessible. But since they are not stored in the program folder itself, when uninstalling, some may get left behind. This process is inevitable and there are two ways to fix it. I suggest using Revo Uninstaller as your default uninstallation tool. The first and best way is to prevent that from the very beginning. You can do that by tracking a program during the installation process. This is usually done by right clicking on the installer package and choosing “Install with Revo Uninstaller” from the context menu.The tracking software (in this case Revo Uninstaller) determines the changes that program makes to your system and records them. When you decide to uninstall the program, these changes are reverted back to normal and the registry cluttering is partially avoided. The second way is to search for files and registry keys by name. This is done when uninstalling a program with Revo. It runs the default uninstaller and after it finishes, it performs a scan of the system partition and the registry for files and registry keys with the same name. Then it gives you the option to delete them. This method is not as effective because some of the leftover files and/or keys may not contain the program name, so they will not be detected. Revo Uninstaller has two versions – Free and Pro. The professional version provides more functionality and more effective algorithms.

Corrupted registry keys are another cause of registry bloating. They are entries that are no longer valid and they can’t be used anymore. These entries are removed by most Cleanup utilities available, like CCleaner for example.

Files and folders are organized in a linear structure on the hard drive. Let’s say we have two files with different size: File1 (100 MB) and File2 (250 MB). File1 is currently on our hard drive and File2 is on a USB drive. If we delete File1, a hole is formed in the linear structure. If we then copy File2 on the hard drive, one part of it (100 MB) is written in the hole of free space, and the rest (150 MB) is written at the end of the linear structure. This is called Drive fragmentation. Some files which have many fragments (10,100, 1000 or more) may require the hard drive platter to spin several times, so that they can be read. This sometimes slows down the OS and individual programs. Disk defragmenters are the tools used to rearrange all the files and to restore the linear structure by combining the file fragments (like a jigsaw puzzle).

Over time, your browser may also slow down and it may sometimes freeze and crash. This is usually caused by accumulation of temporary browser files. Examples are Cookies, Browsing history, Temporary internet files, Cache and others. To clean them, you might do it from the browser settings or you can rely on standalone software to do it instead (CCleaner, Iobit Advanced System Care, Glary Utilities etc.). These programs usually clean multiple locations from junk files and free up disk space.

Sometimes loss in performance may be caused by malicious software. This is why antivirus scans should be performed regularly to remove potential threats.

A computer system may be running slower than usual if there are hardware cooling programs. All computer components require a specific temperature in order to operate efficiently. If the cooling systems are not working properly and the hardware temperature is higher than usual, heat will reduce performance and may damage the hardware components. Sometimes these problems are caused by accumulation of dust. When a significant amount of dust builds up in the heat sinks, heat from the processor cannot escape and causes the component to overheat. It is recommended to clean a computer system regularly, in order to avoid problems. You can use a small brush to remove dust from the components (mainly the heat sinks), or you can use a vacuum cleaner with an attachment, intended for cleaning computer components.

After long periods of time, even when you perform regular maintenance, your computer will run slower than before. This is caused mainly by accumulation of unused, undetectable registry files. The only solution in this case is to format the system partition, and reinstall the operating system along with all the software.

Note: If you want better functionality, you should stop relying on built-in Windows programs (like the Disk Defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, and Program Uninstaller utilities). Often even free applications do a better job. Here are some good programs used for system maintenance:

·         Cleanup: Windows XP/Vista/7 Manager (Shareware; There is a separate version for each Windows version), Piriform CCleaner (Freeware), Glary Utilities (Freeware),

·         (Un)Install Manager: Total uninstall (Shareware), Revo Uninstaller Pro (Shareware), Revo Uninstaller Free (Freeware)

·         Antivirus Software: ESET NOD 32 (Shareware), Kaspersky Antivirus (Shareware), Avira AntiVir Personal Edition (Freeware), Avast! Free Antivirus (Freeware)

·         Defragmentation: O&O Defrag (Shareware), Diskeeper (Shareware), Piriform Defraggler (Freeware), IObit SmartDefrag (Freeware)