Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PC Maintenance Guide
Simple Effective Tips for
Tuning, Upgrade, & Repairing
Your Windows PC
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Introduction:
As a weekly publication, Windows Secrets covers a broad swath of topics
especially
all things Windows. Some of that coverage is driven by the latest news in the world of
PCs, such as the latest malware threats or the release of Windows 7. Other topics are
generated by questions and suggestions
often sent in by readers like you.
Over the years, Windows Secrets has accumulated at vast amount of information about
Windows and Windows-related hardware and software. You can find all of it in the
WindowsSecrets.com
looking for, because our stories are organized by issue date, not subject category.
a Windows Secrets special-edition e-book comes in
concise guide
that presents our accumulated PC wisdom
such as it is
based on a theme.
Grouping the information this way can save hours of digging through back issues. In this
format, the most essential articles and links are collected into one, easy to use reference.
For this e-book, the Windows Secrets editors pored through several years of published
information and selected the best tips in three major categories:
1. Upgrading your system
2. Tuning up/speeding up your PC
3. Emergency troubleshooting
Each section starts with an anchor story covering the basics of a topic.
10 or so additional items, each with abundant direct links to the Windows Secrets
archives. (Paid-content links are shown with an asterisk.) Using these links, you can
quickly find the topics and subtopics that most interest you.
You
to read the entire e-book from front to back, but
quick-reference guide that you keep at hand. Each of the three major sections is a selfcontained unit that lets you rapidly hone in on the information you need
when you
need it.
Because each section is self-contained, some topics appear more than once. For
example, the defragmenting your hard drive tip appears both in the sections on
cleaning up your PC and improving boot times.
have to remember which section it resides in, nor will you have to flip back and forth
through the e-book to complete the overall task.
We hope you find this thematic approach a useful complement to the normal flow of
diverse information appearing every week in the Windows Secrets
like to give a special thanks to Fred Langa for providing most of the leg work needed to
put this e-book together.
Happy computing!
---The editors of the Windows Secrets Newsletter
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Table of contents:
Part 1: Upgrading your system
The absolutely safest way to upgrade to Win7 .............................. 1
What you need to start the transition to Win7
Back up your data and create the dual-boot system
Move your data to the new Win7 partition
When ready, toss out the old Windows partition
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all of it
Defrag
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When asked where you want to install Windows, select Unallocated Space.
The installation automatically creates a dual-boot system, letting you choose with each
boot between either version of Windows. As with any clean install, you'll have to reinstall
all of your programs in the Windows 7 environment. Because your old partition will still be
accessible, you won't have to move your documents, photos or music
at least, not yet.
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In either of them, click the Organize menu and then Folder and search options.
Click the View tab, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and uncheck
Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). Confirm and click
OK.
Drag the file bootmgr from D:\ and C:\. It's very important that you drag this file
and only this file.
bootmgr file, go back to the Folder Options
dialog box and undo those settings I just had you select.
If you haven't already done so, install EASEUS Partition Master into Windows 7 and
launch the program. Right-click the Windows 7 partition, select Advanced, and then click
Set Active. (See Figure 3.) At the warning that this may render your PC unbootable, click
OK. Then click the Apply button on the toolbar and then Yes twice.
Figure 3. EASEUS warns you that your system may be unbootable when
you set the partition as active. That's OK.
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Don't panic! That's expected and easily fixed. Reinsert your Windows 7 DVD, reboot, and
press any key when asked. When asked whether you want to install Windows 7, click the
Repair your computer link in the lower-left corner.
After considering the problem, the repair program will tell you it found problems. Click
Repair and restart. This time, don't press any key when asked
Windows should boot
normally.
computer, with
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that is, if
then a 64-bit system can be a great
But for most of us, 32-bit hardware and software is still perfectly fine to buy and use now
and for at least the next several years.
This is especially true if you wish to keep and use any 32-bit peripherals you already
have, such as printers and scanners. Older gear may not work with a new 64-bit system,
unless the vendor offers 64site to see if such drivers are available.) If you want to use your older hardware, and only
32-bit drivers are available, you should stick with a 32-bit PC running regular 32-bit
Windows.
Simply stated: f
still safe and cost-efficient to buy a new 32-bit PC with
regular 32-bit Windows 7 and to load the PC with the maximum 4GB of RAM. (That's the
physical ceiling for normal 32-bit memory addressing.)
With that, your system should be good to go for at least the next several years!
PCs ship with tons of useless software. If the friend you're helping has played with
her new PC for more than an hour or two, chances are good it has even more
garbage installed. Before you try to do anything else, defenestrate (to use my word of
the day) the junk.
Begin a thorough cleaning of a new PC by going into Windows 7's Uninstall or
change a program utility. Click Start, Control Panel; then, under Programs, click
Uninstall a program. Now sit your friend down next to you and decide whether any
of the more questionable programs are absolutely essential to her future happiness.
Those that are not
zap 'em.
And while you're at it, get rid of the trialware; she's likely to end up paying for apps
she doesn't need.
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If your cousin Bill's new PC came with a so-called free antivirus program preinstalled,
get rid of it. (The exception to this rule is Microsoft Security Essentials. Fred Langa
weighed in on the superiority of MSE in his Sept. 16 column in the paid section of the
newsletter.) Antivirus companies pay computer manufacturers big bucks to install trial
versions of their software on new PCs. These apps are usually good for a few
months, and then you have to pay to keep them current.
Once you've removed the trialware AV app, install Microsoft Security Essentials. It's
free for personal use or for use in companies with 10 or fewer Windows machines.
MSE is fast, very effective, and unobtrusive; and best of all, it never begs for money.
If your cousin has already paid for a different antivirus program, tell him to wait for the
subscription to run out and then replace it with MSE. One final
and extremely
important
point: make sure you download the real Microsoft Security Essentials
(download site), not one of the cleverly dressed malware fakes Fred discussed in his
Dec. 2 column.
Windows 7 has a handful of default settings that drive me nuts. Your opinion may
differ, but at the very least you should consider these changes:
Show filename extensions: In all my books, I rail against Microsoft's decision
to hide filename extensions by default. The 'Softies argue that neophyte users
don't need to see the .txt on a text file or .doc on a Word document or .xlsx
on an Excel spreadsheet.
But in my experience, not showing filename extensions leads to all sorts of
confounding behavior: errors such as accidentally naming a file incorrectly
mystuff.txt.doc, for example; running an unsafe or unexpected program
double-clicking on iloveyou.txt.vbs, for instance; or making their files difficult
for other people to open
such as sending XL2007sheet.xlsx to someone
using Excel 2003.
To make Windows show filename extensions, click Start and Documents.
Next, click Organize in the upper tools bar and choose Folder and search
options. Click the View tab and uncheck the box marked Hide extensions
for known file types. (While you're there, consider checking the Show
hidden files, folders, and drives box.)
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If cousin Bill has several PCs on his network, but only one with Windows 7, he can't
use Windows homegroups
Vista and XP don't support it. But on networks
containing more than one Windows 7 PC (even if there's currently just one) setting up
a homegroup now will make it much easier later on to get additional Win7 PCs talking
to the network.
I explained homegroups in detail in my October 1, 2009, Woody's Windows column.
Suffice it to say that, assuming you trust all PCs on your network, setting up a
homegroup makes sharing files, printers, and other hardware much simpler.
To set up a homegroup, click Start, Control Panel. Under Network and Internet,
click View network status and tasks. Look below the heading View your active
networks. If you see a house icon (as shown in Figure 4), you're connected to a
home network. In that case, get a homegroup going by clicking Start, Control Panel;
under the Network and Internet heading, click the link to Set up a homegroup.
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If you see an icon that looks like a computer with a shield (work network) or bench
(public network), it's easy to change to a home network. Click the link marked Work
network (or Public network), choose Home network, and click Close. As soon as
you change to a home network, Windows asks whether you want to join a
homegroup. Click Join now, and you're in.
Yeah, yeah
Setting up cousin Bill's new PC for regular backups? In Windows 7, it's easy. If the
machine has Windows 7 Home Premium and a second hard drive, he can use that
for backups. With a one-drive system, talk him into running out to the nearest
computer shop and buying an external hard drive. It's the best hundred bucks he'll
ever spend.
(If Bill is running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, and he's connected to a
network, he can use a network drive for backups.)
When you plug the new external hard drive into a USB port, Windows 7 should
automatically ask you whether you want to use it for backups. Follow the easy
instructions, and you're soon good to go for nightly backups.
If you don't get the prompt to set up backups when you plug in a new external hard
drive, click Start, Control Panel; then, under System and Security, click Back up
your computer. Click the link marked Set up backup, and follow the wizard. It'll take
two minutes, max, to get daily backups running.
This would also be an excellent time to make an emergency boot disc (see the Fred
Langa's Top Story item, "Build a rock-solid net for Win7") and a complete image
backup of Bill's machine. Win7 comes with its own image-backup tool: select Control
Panel and, under System and Security, click Back up your computer. Select
Create system image.
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There are certain base applications that every PC needs. No doubt you have your
favorites; permit me to list mine.
I won't preach about the superiority of Google Chrome for Web browsing
I'll simply
direct you to the Chrome download site. If you prefer the largest selection of browser
add-ins, head over to the Firefox site.
Every PC needs a PDF viewer. At this point, I'm thoroughly ambivalent about Foxit
Reader (product page) because the company has started infesting its installer with
junk. But if you carefully choose the correct check boxes when you install it, Foxit is a
much smaller and nimbler alternative to Adobe Reader.
Alas, most PC users still need a Flash player. The Chrome browser has a
sandboxed version of Adobe Flash Player built in (info page), but if you use any other
Web browser, the only real choice is to dance with the devil and download (page) the
standard Flash app.
For keeping your PC completely up-to-date, install Secunia Personal Software
Inspector (product page). This free-for-personal-use program periodically scans your
PC and tells you whether you need to update common programs to patch security
holes. It's worth its weight in gold.
Beyond the must-have base apps, there's a whole world of useful Windows add-ins
and utilities. A handful I highly recommend include the following:
7-Zip: Because we live in a world that still has Apple computers, I always
install 7-Zip (download page). (No! Put down that brickbat!) Seriously, people
are always sending me .rar files, almost invariably from Apple computers. You
need to have a .rar-savvy program to decompress them. If all you ever receive
is .zip files, Windows handles those nicely.
Paint.net: Windows Paint is good enough for very simple tasks, but I generally
install Paint.net (download page) on all the PCs I set up. It gives you excellent,
compact, fast tools for editing photos and otherwise manipulating image files.
IrfanView (info page) is another good choice, particularly if your cousin has to
cope with many different file formats or needs scanning tools.
VLC media player: Windows Media Player has its strong points, but it doesn't
play many kinds of media files. It also won't work with iPods (and I refuse to
struggle with iTunes). VLC media player (site) handles every type of file I've
ever thrown at it
and it connects to iPods, iPhones, and iPads, too.
Finally, two excellent utilities are ideal for anyone who depends on the Web. (And
who doesn't these days?)
Dropbox (site) lets you drag and drop files into a special folder on your
Windows desktop. The files then magically appear on all PCs, laptops, phones,
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Networking
How to pick and optimize your home router
What speed LAN hardware do you really need?
Miscellaneous
Problems purchasing hardware for custom-built PCs
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Regardless of how old your system or OS is, all systems benefit from regular
maintenance. A properly maintained PC is fast, stable, and a pleasure to use.
The basics of system maintenance are the same for XP, Vista, and Windows 7
in fact,
e largely the same for all operating systems. But because XP machines are the
or Windows 7, just make the mental adjustment as you read along. Some newer tools
(such as those built into Windows 7) are also covered in a later section.
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Figure 6. In all versions of Windows (Win7 shown), you can set the size
of the Recycle Bin via its right-click Properties dialog box.
3 Trim the browser caches: Newer browsers don't retain as much content as
older versions, but even they can have huge caches
and Windows has to track
and manage it all. For each of the leading browsers, use the following steps to
reduce cache size:
Internet Explorer: Click Tools and Internet Options; then, under the
Browsing History section, click Settings. Once the settings are open, you
can adjust the capacity of the cache to a smaller amount. (See Figures 7
and 8.) I typically use a 50MB Internet cache
plenty for normal surfing
on standard broadband.
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Figure 9. IE8 performs faster if you turn off the default add-ons and ancillary
features that can slow it down.
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Registry
Fine-tune your Registry for faster startups
Hard Drive
Are the benefits of defragmentation overblown?
Should you defrag a solid-state drive (SSD)?
Video
Unplugging streaming video bottlenecks
Laptop
Extend the life of your laptop's battery
User Interface/Shortcuts
Keyboard and mouse shortcuts can boost your efficiency
Twenty-six ways to work faster in Windows 7
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worst problems that can befall a PC: the system hangs during
or doesn't even try to boot.
For this stop-you-in-your-tracks event, here's what to do and how to do it, as explained by
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Figure 10. Puppy Linux gives you access to your hard-drive files when
Windows won't.
Puppy downloads as an .iso file, which is basically an image backup of a CD. Doubleclick it; there's a good chance any program that burns a bootable CD will load the file and
let you burn it to disc. If that doesn't happen, you need to download and install an app
such as the free ISO Recorder.
If you don't have an optical drive and therefore can't boot from a CD, see my July 8, 2010
Insider Tricks story, "Rescue Windows with a bootable flash drive," for instructions for
putting your Puppy on a flash drive.
After you prepare the CD or flash drive, insert it into your optical drive or USB port and try
to start your machine. If it fails, make sure your PC is set to boot from this device. When
you first turn on your computer, you might see an onscreen message telling you to press
a particular key for a boot menu (which is not the same as the Windows Boot Menu I
discussed earlier). Press that key to choose the right device.
The boot menu message may or may not appear, but you'll almost certainly find
instructions to press a particular key for Setup. In your PC's setup environment, which I
can't describe in detail because it varies from one computer to another, you'll find options
to control the devices it boots from and in what order. Look again for a boot menu. You
want your optical drive or USB ports at the top of that list.
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or who
Sleep/suspend/hibernate issues
Insomniac PC simply wakes on its own, won't stay asleep
month 6
Driver problems
Forcefully rooting out a bad hardware driver
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