Optimize XP guide...college IT dept says it's no good

[yeahlang]

i did a clean install of windows xp profressional on my girlfriends computer and used this guide to optimize xp http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html

she goes to college and brought her laptop to their IT department and they said that she has way too many programs and they were surprised her computer hasnt crashed and isnt running slow. they had no clue what utorrent was and made her uninstall diskeeper because they said it's no good. they said that she had too many antispyware programs. she had spybot, lavasoft adaware. spyware blaster, and windows defender. and for her antivirus software she had nod32. they basically told her she should undo everything i did in the guide when i set up her computer. they also had no clue what peer guardian 2 was. is the guide i used to optimize her copy of xp no good?

[gdodson]

That's overkill; 1 anti-spyware program would be enough, and peer guardian isn't necessary either. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with those apps.

[yeahlang]

they said that spybot and adaware were slowing her computer down but they werent running in realtime so i dont really see how that would affect anything. they were only there to be run every now and then

[D!ABOL!C]

I'd just ignore them. I use all that stuff also, except nod and peer guardian. I have AVG as my antivirus.

As long as she doesn't download shady files, the laptop will be fine.

[Tikimotel]

Spywareblaster and Spybot S&D, can prevent "spyware" from getting installed, they mod settings in registry. They don't run in realtime, no speed loss and should be used (by default) no matter what IT department says otherwise.

Defrag, on a laptop is overkill unless you download loads of files, but mainly use defrag after mayor windows updates in order for the bootfiles to be reorganized (once a month, maybe even less).

[yeahlang]

Spywareblaster and Spybot S&D, can prevent "spyware" from getting installed, they mod settings in registry. They don't run in realtime, no speed loss and should be used (by default) no matter what IT department says otherwise.

Defrag, on a laptop is overkill unless you download loads of files, but mainly use defrag after mayor windows updates in order for the bootfiles to be reorganized (once a month, maybe even less).

she downloads a lot movies and shows and deletes them after she watches them and has a butt load of music on her hard drive. and she had diskeeper 2007 which had auto defragmentation enabled. they made her uninstall it. should she put it back on or just use windows defragmenter like once a month.

[semifamous]

Maybe it just needs more RAM?

[yeahlang]

Maybe it just needs more RAM?

her computer was running perfect. it booted up in seconds and was running great. she had to go to IT because she couldnt get on to the network at her school. they use cisco clean access agent to log in to the network. at first they thought she couldnt get on because of utorrent and the anti spyware but it turned out it was that her default browser was set to firefox and not internet explorer. and she has 1 gig of ram. nothing was wrong her computer she jus couldnt log in to the network at school

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

While there is a bit of controversy surrounding the "SupportCD" web site, the advice on that particular page isn't particularly bad. While Spybot - Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-aware are similar in nature (removal of malicious software), often one might detect what the other does not. Javacool Software's Spyware Blaster performs site block (as does Spybot - Search and Destroy) which can help reduce the chance of accessing a site hosting malcode. Microsoft's Windows Defender is the only anti-spyware program you installed which has substantial real-time functionality (aside from ESET's NOD32, which is handles other things as well).

It sounds like your girlfriend's university's IT department is really trying to simplify students' computing environments in order to make them easier to manage and, theoretically, more robust by reducing the amount of software installed, and thus the likelihood of a conflict somewhere. In your girlfriend's case, though, it doesn't look like this cookie-cutter approach is needed, although removing the peer-to-peer file transfer software would probably improve the computer's performance and security.

Regards

Aryeh Goretsky

[AimLXJ]

i did a clean install of windows xp profressional on my girlfriends computer and used this guide to optimize xp http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html

she goes to college and brought her laptop to their IT department and they said that she has way too many programs and they were surprised her computer hasnt crashed and isnt running slow. they had no clue what utorrent was and made her uninstall diskeeper because they said it's no good. they said that she had too many antispyware programs. she had spybot, lavasoft adaware. spyware blaster, and windows defender. and for her antivirus software she had nod32. they basically told her she should undo everything i did in the guide when i set up her computer. they also had no clue what peer guardian 2 was. is the guide i used to optimize her copy of xp no good?

I wonder whats wrong with to meny spyware programs, it's not like their currently running for a long time, plus sometimes its good because each program has different difinition. The most proccess I got running on my computer is about 70-90 on a 1GB RAM, and still I see no performance loss, BSOD, or anything else...

[thagame]

lol on that optimize site they give review and info about opera and ie7 but say this about firefox

Firefox Myths

Firefox is not being recommended here for many reasons. Some of those reasons are that it is slower than Internet Explorer, insecure and not completely compatible with 10-15% of all web sites. Get the facts.

[MrCobra]

I wonder whats wrong with to meny spyware programs, it's not like their currently running for a long time, plus sometimes its good because each program has different difinition. The most proccess I got running on my computer is about 70-90 on a 1GB RAM, and still I see no performance loss, BSOD, or anything else...

When I had Vista installed there were 47 processes. The HD was thrashing a bit but performance wise it was snappy. Back on my trusty XP I have 23 processes (including anti-virus/malware scanners) and see no loss of performance at all. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a BSOD on XP.

[zhangm Supervisor]

I say dump all but one of the anti spyware programs. If she really hasn't a clue, no amount of software will help keep that computer clean. Would you install 7 AV programs because one may catch something that the others don't? How about firewalls?

[RaisinCain]

Completely ridiculous.

[KenCom]

Sounds like a good setup to me. Although I do not use Spyware Blaster, I use Spybot, Lavasoft, AVG anti-spyware, and AVG anti-virus to keep the crap out.

[Dick Montage]

Sorry, why do her college technicians even have a say in how her laptop is set up?

[AdverseDeviant]

people shouldn't install a million antispyware apps. one will do just as good as the other. unless its a crappy app. and the programs may not be running but it adds up in the registry and maybe it does have a dll running in the background at startup. installing any apps are gunna make the comp slow down a little. you just dont notice it till you got 500 apps installed.

[Jack 0Neill]

That's overkill; 1 anti-spyware program would be enough, and peer guardian isn't necessary either. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with those apps.

Not true, you need more than one to take care of spyware infections.

they said that spybot and adaware were slowing her computer down but they werent running in realtime so i dont really see how that would affect anything. they were only there to be run every now and then

And I would tell them that this is why they are simple college technicians; they obviously lack real world experience.

lol on that optimize site they give review and info about opera and ie7 but say this about firefox

Firefox Myths

Firefox is not being recommended here for many reasons. Some of those reasons are that it is slower than Internet Explorer, insecure and not completely compatible with 10-15% of all web sites. Get the facts.

Yeah the guy has it in for Firefox; I don't think he fully understands it at all.

Sorry, why do her college technicians even have a say in how her laptop is set up?

Cause they think they know everything. It's common for college technicians

people shouldn't install a million antispyware apps. one will do just as good as the other. unless its a crappy app. and the programs may not be running but it adds up in the registry and maybe it does have a dll running in the background at startup. installing any apps are gunna make the comp slow down a little. you just dont notice it till you got 500 apps installed.

Ad-Aware, Spybot and perhaps one other should be all you really need. Microsoft's Antispyware beta was really good, unfortunately Windows Defender is lacking. :\

[rehcamretsnef]

My optimized system? I installed XP, and did every Windows update they had, except for the 5 or 6 i knew i would never use.

I installed Windows Defender to keep a few of the random programs i have from ever starting on startup, and Firefox, Office, WinRAR, Nero. (and of course all my gaming stuff, EVE Online, Oblivion, America's Army, Ventrilo, Teamspeak.

Computer has been running perfectly for 3 years after 3 new built systems, current one in sig.

That list shows a few things that might get rid of a bit of the Windows extras you never need, but in my opinion, that large number of programs they say you should download is overkill. One main problem people have is that they have so many damn programs on their computer. Your computer has to boot up the registry every boot, and with all those programs in there, it just takes more time anyway. I've had plenty of friends that had have so much stuff installed, that when i go thru and clean everything out, Windows is still completely unstable.

People just need to be smarter when they use computers. All my friends parents and such that i go to visit always have 10-15+ icons down in the bottom right of useless programs that they never need or use. Waste. 2 or 3 freakin extra toolbars for internet browsers.... waste.

I have no active anti-virus, or antispyware. I have NO programs starting on startup. My Msconfig startup tab has no checkmarks.

Ive never had a virus, or adware on my systems in my whole life. Minus the one i caught when i had to download a certain file or two, but those were expected, and using google, they were gone in a matter of minutes.

long story short. The main problem people have with computers is TOO MUCH CRAP. Dont install it, you wont have problems to begin with.

This list the topic creator posted is seriously overkill. I can have a system set up in a matter of hours (never made XP disk with SP2 on it :( so ive had to go thru hours of windows update sessions) and as long as they know that they will probably never need any software EVER, they shouldnt have a problem. They dont need AOL packages. They dont need the software that came with their cameras. Never install anything that comes with a DVD, or a music CD. Dont install any third party DVD programs. If you bought a prebuilt system from HP, Compaq, Dell... If i were you, i'd delete every program that's pre-installed. You'll never need it. Might even be best to just do a fresh install of XP using whatever CD key is on the computer frame, and start from scratch, so that all those old programs arent still in the registry somewhere. A registry cleaning program is the only thing i ever downloaded to make sure my systems still sorta clean, since occasionally i'll get bored with a game and want it completely gone.

Maybe Photoshop, Nero, whatever new version of Windows Media Player they want, throw in Microsoft Office (or show them free online versions) and thats pretty much anything anyone will ever need for their computer. Maybe they'll need 7zip, WinRAR, or another zipping program to open certain files.

Teach them to have a secondary drive to hold all their DATA. and nothing else. Keep the OS drive for the OS, and programs. Keep all install files on the data folder, in case the system fails someday. Put XP CD in, install files from other drive, back to normal, all files still intact.

Simplicity is the best way to have a good system.

Edited February 1, 2007 by rehcamretsnef

[xxdesmus]

I wouldn't follow that guide either, but in my experience most college IT departments are fairly incompetent themselves. :yes:

One of the reasons I could never work for a college IT department is because of the level of stupidity of some of those people. I called them once to have them reset my email password and they told tell me that I needed to disable my antivirus (I kid you not). :blink:

It's scary how stupid some of them can be sometimes.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

An issue with running multiple anti-spyware (or anti-malware in general) programs simultaneously on the same computer is that the resident components, the portions of the program which sit in the background and continuously monitor I/O can conflict with each other. This does not always mean that they will, of course, but some strange things can occur such as error messages being displayed when trying to access a file or a URL due to the increased processing causing a timeout in the program requesting the action or one program seeing another program's signature files or updates as containing some form of malware (i.e., a false-positive alarm) and so forth.

With anti-spyware (anti-malware) programs which are non-resident in nature but run on-demand, like Spybot - Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-aware (the free SE Personal edition) the chance of having runtime conflicts is greatly reduced since the programs are not being run simultaneously.

Regards

Aryeh Goretsky

[Southern Patriot]

Sorry, why do her college technicians even have a say in how her laptop is set up?

I was wondering the same thing, especially when they made her uninstall the one really useful thing that was on it (Diskeeper).

[Marshalus Veteran]

Sorry, why do her college technicians even have a say in how her laptop is set up?

Cause they think they know everything. It's common for college technicians

I wouldn't follow that guide either, but in my experience most college IT departments are fairly incompetent themselves. :yes:

One of the reasons I could never work for a college IT department is because of the level of stupidity of some of those people. I called them once to have them reset my email password and they told tell me that I needed to disable my antivirus (I kid you not). :blink:

It's scary how stupid some of them can be sometimes.

1) I am a college technician. At least until next Friday.

2) We use Cisco Clean Access to enforce Windows Updates and require McAfee Enterprise Antivirus with regular updates to access our network (we give it to students for free).

3) We highly encourage the use of Spybot & Adaware, on top of using Windows Defender.

4) 90% of people who use our network have no idea how to use their computers or keep them secure... they're commonly loaded with all kinds of ######.

5) We have a say over what is on their computers because they're using OUR network. Unlike an ISP, who really doesn't have a say over what you do with your computer (for the most part) the network students use is directly shared with a business... the university.

Anyway, we're not all incompetent and stupid ;)

[neufuse Veteran]

1) I am a college technician. At least until next Friday.

2) We use Cisco Clean Access to enforce Windows Updates and require McAfee Enterprise Antivirus with regular updates to access our network (we give it to students for free).

3) We highly encourage the use of Spybot & Adaware, on top of using Windows Defender.

4) 90% of people who use our network have no idea how to use their computers or keep them secure... they're commonly loaded with all kinds of ****.

5) We have a say over what is on their computers because they're using OUR network. Unlike an ISP, who really doesn't have a say over what you do with your computer (for the most part) the network students use is directly shared with a business... the university.

Anyway, we're not all incompetent and stupid ;)

what the? sware filter not working tonight?

oh sure it works when i reply to it but not for the mod's...

[Bawx]

Ad-Aware, Spybot and perhaps one other should be all you really need. Microsoft's Antispyware beta was really good, unfortunately Windows Defender is lacking. :\

Wierd, I liked the beta too, but uninstalled when it went to Defender. Seemed really crappy afte that.