Maintenance of Your PC

NOTES ABOUT WINDOWS VERSIONS:

Win2k and similar systems:

Windows NT (WinNT)

Windows 2000 (Win2k)

Windows XP (WinXP)

Windows XP Professional (WinXPPro)

Windows 2003 (Win2003)

Win98 and similar systems:

Windows 95 (Win95)

Windows 98 (Win98)

Windows 98 Second Edition (Win98SE)

Windows Millineum Edition (WinME)

Win31 and similar systems:

Windows 3.1

Windows 3.11

Windows 3.11 for workgroups

These notes do NOT apply to Windows 3.1 series!

ANTI-VIRUS SCANNING AND REMOVAL:

Downloading a Program:

Point your web browser to http://www.grisoft.com/

From the menu on the left, just above "search", click "AVG Free Edition".

Scroll down the resulting web screen and click the "Download your AVG Free" link.

Scroll down the next resulting page and click the 'avg70free_289a392.exe' (or similar name) link.

The download begins. Save the file where you can find it (like your desktop).

When the download is complete, you are finished with the web browser.

Program Installation and First Run:

Check your e-mail. You may have to retrieve the message from any spam filter you have working..

Double-click the 'avg70free_289a392.exe' (or similar name) file and follow the installation instructions.

Typically, you are asked to do a combination of initial settings, reboot the computer, and run an update routine.

A 4-color icon in installed in the system tray (lower right corner of Windows). Double-click that icon to open the "AVG Control Center".

Click the "Check for Updates" button.

Look through all the options, like the e-mail scanner, to be sure it it on!

Your Routine:

Click "Information" on the menu bar, then "About AVG" and look for recent (like within 2-3 days) dates.

Right click on the AVG icon in the system tray and at the "Control Center", choose "Test Center" and the big "Scan Computer" button.

You may want to use the "Test Scheduler" to have the tests run automatically.

Suggestions:

If anything is found, shutdown, restart and run the routine again.

Run the update at least once daily. Run a scan on your complete system at least once a week.

SPYWARE REMOVAL:

Downloading a Program:

Point your web browser to http://www.lavasoft.nl/

From the menu on the left, under the "Resources" heading, click "Download".

Scroll down the resulting web page to the "Choose a link below" section and click the name of one of the sites.

Notice you are now on another web site. Click the link similar to "Download Now".

Save the file where you can find it (like your desktop).

Program Installation and First Run:

Double-click the 'aawsepersonal.exe' (or similar name) file and follow the installation instructions.

Your Routine:

Start Ad-aware.

Click the "Check for updates now" link, then "Connect", then "OK" and finally the "Finish" buttons. The update downloads and installs.

Now, click the "Start" then the "Next" buttons.

When the scan finishes, a list is presented. Right click under the "Obj" column and choose "Select All Objects" to put checks in the entire list. Then click the "Next" button and "OK" to remove (the program actually quarantines the items).

Suggestion:

If anything is found, reboot and run the routine again.

Run the scan at least once a month, after installing new programs, or anytime your computer starts slowing down.

Take Steps to AVOID futher downloads of Spyware:

Discontinue use of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Follow the advise of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's US-CERT per their June 29, 2004 Vulnerability Note VU#713878.

Install a security-conscious web browser, such as Mozilla or .Firefox.

HARD DRIVE ERROR CHECKING (SCANDISK):

Your Routine:

Double-click "My Computer". Then right-click on the C-Drive and choose "Properties".

Choose the "Tools" tab.

The first item is "Error Checking". Choose it.

Here are some options you want to choose:

Win2k:

• Automatically fix file system errors
• Scan for and attempt recover of bad sectors
• Click the "Start" button.
• Win2k requires "exclusive use" of the hard drive, so you'll have to reboot before the scandisk starts.

Win98:

• Thorough
• Automatically fix errors
• Options: System and data areas
• Advanced: (optional)
• Be sure the screen saver is disabled (right-click on a blank space on the desktop, choose Properties, then the "Screen Saver" tab, and "None" under the pick list). Otherwise, the scan will stop when the screen saver activates.
• After a few minutes, you may receive a pop-up dialog box that tells you about restarting 10 times. The question is "Do you want to continue receiving these messages?" Answer "No" and the scan will continue without further stoppages!

Suggestion:

Run Scan Disk at least once a month, preferably before Degragmentation.

DEFRAGMENTATION:

Your Routine:

Double-click "My Computer". Then right-click on the C-Drive and choose "Properties".

Choose the "Tools" tab.

The last item is defragmentation. Choose "Defragment Now".

Win2k: Click the "Defragment" button. It's going to Analyze before it defragments, anyway.

Win98: "Show Details" only slows down the process. It's fun to watch, though. :-)

Suggestion:

Run Scan Disk at least once a month, preferably after Scandisk.

WINDOWS UPDATE

This is to protect yourself from Microsoft's stuipd errors of the past

Your Routine:

Usually: Start | Windows Update

You can also load your web browser and go to http://Windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Steps:

1. Scan for updates. In a few minutes, should return a list of updates.
2. Choose Updates to Install. Often, several can be downloaded at once. Some updates, however, must be downloaded one at a time. Usually, reboots are required between download sessions in order to install the updates.
3. Personalize Windows Updates. I could care less about the foreign language and the Microsoft .Net framework, so I deselect those from the updates.

Suggestions:

Run Windows Update monthly.

Enable the Windows Updater routine, if it's on your computer, to automatically download updates and let you know they are ready to install.

Resolution of Problems

BLUE SCREENS | PAGE FAULT ERRORS

Experience:

ALmost every time the "blue screen of death appears" it is associated with a "page fault" error.

That means the memory is messed up.

But, it's not actually your RAM at fault -- it's the "swap file" on the hard drive -- the "virtual memory".

If you have less than 128MB of RAM, you probably cannot disable virtual memory, as described below.

Your Procedures:

1. 1. Disable virtual memory -- Make note of existing settings before disabling or changing!

   For Win2k:

   My Computer | Control Panel | System | Advanced | Performance Options

   Under "Virtual Memory", click the "Change" button

   Change the size of the file to a small value.

   For Win98:

   My Computer | Control Panel | System | Performance | Virtual Memory

   Choose "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings."

   Then, you can choose "Disable virtual memory".

   A reboot is required after resetting.

2. Run scandisk and defrag routines (above).
3. Renable virtual memory -- essentially the opposite of disabling.

REINSTALL WINDOWS

From:

CD-ROM: Automatically runs

Win2k: C:\Installs\I386

Win98: C:\Windows\Options\Cabs

Usually double-click Setup.exe or similar name

Notes:

Does not wipe out your system UNLESS you get a message about formatting and data lost.

Does:

Adds a mess of icons you probably don't want, like AOL, other internet providers, Briefcase, etc.

After finishing:

Often messes up network settings, like ethernet cards, IP to those cards, and dial-up networking.

If messed up, you'll probably have to uninstall the drivers for the affected device, delete the device, reboot, then reinstall the drivers.

Often need to run Windows Update on the reinstalled configuration.

OTHER ISSUES

Other issues will be listed here when they develop.