The first thing I'm going to say most people will disagree with. Even many computer experts. Turn off all automatic update functions.
There is no reason you can't click a button occasionally to update manually. Nobody can really be that lazy.
The reason some experts give for automatic updating is that too many people forget to do it. I don't buy into that theory given the fact that everyone manages to remember thousands of other things every month. I think people just don't want to bother with it because they don't realize the importance of updating.
Just as there are good reasons to update there are good reasons to do it manually. The first reason is that having programs set to run automatically uses resources. You need free resources to keep your computer and programs running efficiently. When your resources get too low things slow down. If they really get low your computer will lock up, give you errors and even shut down.
Many other things use resources including programs you might have installed that by default start running the second you bootup whether you intend to use them or not. Even if every program you have is good the sum totall of resources being used adds up. Windows XP does handle memory better but even XP has its limits. So I always save resources wherever I can.
Windows Updates: Check for critical updates at least once a month. I suggest checking the second tuesday of the month. That's when Microsoft schedules planned updates.
Antivirus Updates: I suggest twice a week checks. Viruses change fast these days.
Antispyware Programs: Check for updates every two weeks if it's a spyware blocker program. I check weekly. If it's a spyware scanning and removal program update it before you run it. Otherwise update it once a month.
All Other Programs: Unless your having a problem you almost never need to update them. Sometimes newer versions have some better features and sometimes worse. Newer is not always better. Since way to many programs install with automatic updating by default turn it off from within the program or by MSCONFIG. After all would you want 20 or 30 programs constantly checking for updates. It sure can slow down web surfing as well as use resources. Check manually once a year then decide if you want to update to a newer version.
RUNNING TASKS
Once again I'm going to say it. Go into the "Control Panel" and turn off all scheduled tasks. It's a resource issue. See above. There are different kinds of tasks. Auto udating is just one. See above. A few more are Calendar Reminders, Setting Clock Time, Disk Cleanup, ScanDisk and Defragmenting the hard drive. The last three should be done periodically manually. See below.
Disk Cleanup: The most important things here are Cookies and Temporary Internet Files. I delete these every single day. I also clean my recycle bin everday. And my history is set to save for zero days.
I also delete my Index Dat Files every day. But unless your comfortable using DOS you'll need a third party program to delete Index Dat files. See my Program List Page. You can also go into Explore and delete the folders. You'll get some dire warnings if you do this but it is safe. Windows will recreate the folders when you reboot. But if you don't know what you're doing in Explore don't go mucking about. And the file folders might be hidden. That's another story.
ScanDisk or CheckDisk: Always scan or check your disk for errors before defragmenting. Run it in THOUROUGH mode and set it to AUTOMATICALLY fix errors. Not fixing errors here kind of defeats the purpose of checking it in the first place. Unless your an expert user. Run this task every single time before you defragment.
Disk Defragmenter: How often should you defrag? Tough question. I've heard some self proclaimed experts say they do it once a week. Hogwash I say. I can't even add, move or remove enough data and programs to make this neccesary. And I run an old 750 megahertz proccessor. And if all you've done is web surf you can go a long time without doing it.
I've Defragmented as often as once a month and I've waited as long as 7 months. It has taken as little as 20 minutes to run and as long as 3 1/2 hours. How long it takes to run does not depend on how long it has been. What matters is how many megabytes or gigabytes of information you have changed and the speed of your proccessor and the size of your hard drive.
Generally speaking the bigger your hard drive the faster your proccessor. So if your defrag time is under 45 minutes you probably didn't gain any benefit. If it took 3 1/2 hours you probably waited way too long. Experiment over time and you'll figure it out. The main reason it took me so long once is because I moved and deleted a massive amount of data before I did a complete backup of everthing. Of course it had also been a while and I work my system hard in order to learn new things. I doubt your needs are as intensive as mine. So forget that that once a week defrag no matter what you've done.
AntiVirus Scans: Scan once a month unless you suspect a reason to do it more. Forget that bull about daily or weekly scans unless you engage in illegal downloads or visit questionable web sites. Just keep your antivirus software up to date.
SpyWare & AdWare Scans: Scan once a month unless you suspect a problem. Just keep it updated.
That's all for this page. Go to the next page for my opinions on shutting down and disconnecting.
