thaichatham 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 (edited) first go to control panel, system, advanced, performance settings, adjust for best performance, dont ask questions just do it - will greatly improve computer speed and make it look more like windows 98- Spysweeper by webroot is by far the best for trojans and other spywareit current checks for 76 000 definitions, also has one pc mag awards- System Mechanic, is by far the best application for registry cleaning and maintaing (you registry is your computers nevous system) favorite palce for spies and viruses to hide, offers also sytem snapshot, to compare, will remove duplicate files, fix or delete broken shortcuts and comes with a start up gaurd so things dont start with windows u dont want, offers other things but its mainly a registry app- Tune up utilities has been good to me also, it will do a 1/2 assed registry jobfix some program problems check registry structure with a convient one click maintanance, this programs strenght is in its optamizer, will scan internet say something like u are reciving info bundles at this size change to this... it will optamize almost everything in windows, does an excellent job explainig what is doing and all changes are reverseable, they offer a free full program trial for 30 days at tune-up.com, nough said bout that- winpatrol, cheap one time 20$ for lifetime, like task manager but gives u much more info on whats running, what it does and so on, takes up very little ram and alerts u when changes happen on comp, asks if its ok, very handy for older version of windows with the poorer task manger- Diskeeper, just like windows de-frag, a thousand times better, gives way more info and different types of de-frag, also can schedule it, very cool and fast (well for de-fraggin) can also change priority of it so it wont slow down comp- most anti-viruses are acceptable, stick to the bigger ones like norton, panda, mcafee, all have been tested, and are constantly being updated, i personally use panda platinum 7.0, so far so good...- optional, windows washer also by webroot, like disk clean up for windows on steroids, more options... steganos internet anonamous is an excellent way to clean up any tracks, stay invisible online, will change your i.p. address every second if u want, will slow down conection though, pretty neat though, any coments or suggestins are welcomeenjoy your faster, safer comp! Edited November 7, 2005 by microscopic^earthling (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sadas 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Personally I don't have a single program from your "must have's". My PC is running perfectly without them. I use:1) Norton System Works Professional 20052) Spybot S&D3) Built-in Windows XP firewall (SP2)4) regedit.exe5) msconfig.exe6) My brains :)That's all I need to keep my PC running... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evion 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Unfortunately, I have to agree with Sadas. My computer runs perfectly without much anti-virus cum spyware software. I barely have a Full norton anti-virus (It expired and i didn't bother to renew it) and another ad-aware software. Thats all i need for my computer to be running fast. It's practically fool-proof! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warbird 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 Yes, it's not necesary, my computer have don't have any firewall, only the built-in firewall of SP2 but that's a realy primitive one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PC Astray 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 It depends on your extent of knowledge based on the OS you are using. Since I built my computer from scratch, I know it inside out, outside in and you don't need programs like TuneUp Utilities 2004 when you can tweak them yourself using the built-in Registry Editor but sadly, some settings cannot be tweaked via the registry and you'll need Tweak UI for that (That is if you're using Windows XP). However, you'll need an antivirus, antispyware, firewall and probably a registry monitoring tool in order to keep your computer safe against online threats and what kind of content you are handling. Right now, I use only Sygate Personal Firewall Pro and Prevx Home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thaichatham 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 maybe must have's was too strongthey are more designed for lazy peole or people who cant tweat there comp themselves, spysweeper though has won a pc mag award 3 years running i belivedont quote me on that, but like i said earlier it has 76 000 current defintions, 10 shields including for start up, hi-jacking, keyloggers, trojans... (real time protection)i think spy bot and ad- aware check for like 3 - 6 thousand, not even in the same league, i know alot of these definitions are cookies, but its nice to be able to find out where they came from and wether u want to keep them or not, just from installing and un-instaling different things your registry gets cluttered and slows down, hard to trace old registry keys as far as i know, sytem mechanic does that quickly, also de-fraggs, registry, of course none of these are absolutely nessasary, but i promise u run a sweep by these uttilities and u will notice some improvement, dramatic improvement if your not a comp buff, not saying i am, thats why i use the uttilities..., try diskeeper though, http://www.condusiv.com/, very cool, if u choose not to register it, or hit the cancel i think after u hit register there is an option to never register, i dont know if its an error or what, by i have the full registered app, and i didnt rip this onei have tried these though, and read alot on them and others before making a recomendation, and cause the p2p, was able to try out lots tooif you've used similar uttilies u like, let me know, id apreciate it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rapco 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 The only MUST HAVE to keep your pc runnig is creativity.....by this i mean, you don't to be a pc genius to fix your problems...Ok, creaticity...Read tutorials, participate in te forums such a Xisto, etc... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thaichatham 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 The only MUST HAVE to keep your pc runnig is creativity..... by this i mean, you don't to be a pc genius to fix your problems... Ok, creaticity... Read tutorials, participate in te forums such a Xisto, etc... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hard to be creative with comp when it dosent do what it's told, besides are u gonna check each registry key, open every file, manually de-frag (if that's possible), of course not, do u fell like doing a search for evey cookie u find to see if u want it or not, dont be silly, i have a packed 80 gb, hard drive, full of media mostlt, and media programs, my current read time is 24s for the entire volume, 22.5 being perfect, my average fragment per file is 1.06, it's taking 1.1 times longer to open fragmented file, im no genius, never claimed to be but i know things like that from diskeeper, alot of apps have great read ups in them too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rapco 0 Report post Posted March 26, 2005 thaichatham that's what i'm saying.. it's not a list of programs, it's knowing how to find them.. i manage 240 gb od data... i have lost over 120 gb caused by improper shutdown (ligths went off!!!!!!, if i only has an ups...)So, you're totally right, software is necessary...getting to it, and how to doit it's a metter of getting the right resources... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thaichatham 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2005 Did anyone give any of these a try or have already used them?whats your experience like with these,and would anyone recomned another, Im still learning too... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ill 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2005 don't have one single thing from that listi'm so going to get attacked by every virus on this world..but none have got me in a long while. only when my sister gets the occasional stupid click here virus from msn or something do i get anything and those are easily cleaned up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harriko 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2005 same here too!i dont even have anything that you have on the list. what i have to make my system run perfectly, is:norton anti virusnorton firewallad adwareregistry cleanerdisk cleanupdisk defragthats all! no problem at all with these. except when i accidently deleted one import file to make windows work. but the first 4 programs on the list fully protects me from the net. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowcrash 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2005 What you have on your pc in terms of security should be related to your surfing/downloading habits and how much you value your setup & data. The more risky u are, the more you should invest in the right s/w.Though as a must, having a firewall is critical (even if it is the xp one). And an anti-virus is needed these days. In terms of progs that I've used:anti-virus: nod32firewall: Look n Stop (seriously lean but not easy to configure, though the best for preventing any trojans from connecting to the internet). Also use a wireless connection which has a built in h/w router & NAT/SPI f/w. This means that the s/w f/w is hardly impacted in from the outside, and uses even less resourcesTDS-3: the best anti-trojanRegistry cleaner: Regsupreme ProDisk defragmenter: Perfect Disk (superb)Anti-spyware: spybot & Ad-Aware; PrevX Home (free)Cleanup: Crapcleaner (free)As u can see, I'm a bit paranoid If you set most s/w as scan on demand (but not your AV), then you don't use too much system resources.sc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iamrockandroll13 0 Report post Posted April 24, 2005 I find it interesting that though the topic of conversation is making one's computer secure for internet use, not one person bothered to mention firefox, IMO more important than anything listed so far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snowcrash 0 Report post Posted April 24, 2005 I find it interesting that though the topic of conversation is making one's computer secure for internet use, not one person bothered to mention firefox, IMO more important than anything listed so far. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yep, FF is cool Though without a firewall u can get infected by a worm in less than 10secs. That is the most essetial thing needed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites