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

[AimLXJ]

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.

Thats Vista, and were talking about XP, not Vista, Vista runs a different Kernel with all those special features that uses lots of RAM( it's eating up my 1GB already ) and I never seen a BSOD either on my XP or Vista, not even once.

[Titoist]

At my University, Firefox is kept away from computers. People demand that the IT department put in Firefox but the IT Dept. refuses. Once I read their reasons, I understood, but somehow people still dont care, they want their firefox. Firefox at my university has some issues:

a) it IS slow on the network

b) not compatible with network... reason why there is (a)

c) WebCT does not render properly in FF and certain features dont work on FF

d) No professional support if major errors occur, if IE has problems, Microsoft IT is quick at hand.

[sacrifist]

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.

I agree with alot of the stuff you are saying but to say this:

"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."

is insane. If those are the only programs on your system then your not a hardcore computer user and certainly NOT a gamer. Im currently working on a hl2 mod with someone and I HAD to install more programs then that in an hour last night alone. You do what you have to do and when things start getting slow then backup the stuff you need and reformat. Its as simple as that.

[rehcamretsnef]

I agree with alot of the stuff you are saying but to say this:

"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."

is insane. If those are the only programs on your system then your not a hardcore computer user and certainly NOT a gamer. Im currently working on a hl2 mod with someone and I HAD to install more programs then that in an hour last night alone. You do what you have to do and when things start getting slow then backup the stuff you need and reformat. Its as simple as that.

Ive got plenty of other stuff. Buts its only stuff that i use. Eve Online, Oblivion, Morrowind, both games' Construction sets, America's Army, F.E.A.R. Adobe photoshop, and Premiere Pro, used with my Dazzle 150 for video-editing. I used to be a Heavy PC gamer, but i gave that up a couple years ago. Im back to playin semi-pro console games like Halo... but recently gave that up also, for the 4th time in 2 1/2 years.....And i used to be a Computer Science major, but that sucked balls, so i gave that up too. My main purpose for my computer now is gaming, and music. Over the past year or so, alot of the things people used to download programs for is easily done online, or built into other programs. Things are naturally getting better.

Mostly what i said way up above is for the traditional computer user. If someone like you ends up downloading X number of programs to make a HL2 mod, its not like you dont know what youre doing. For people like my mom, my older brother, my neighbor down the street, etc. what i said is probably the only thing they'd ever need. As long as you get that point across to them, they'll probably never have a computer problem again. It took me 2 years and 4 new OS installations to get the point across to my father, but hes been runnin the same system for the past year, and has been perfectly fine. I just finally convinced him that all that useless crap he downloaded never really does anything, and he never needed it in the first place. Too many things on the internet are just gimmicks to make u download something u really dont need.

[Marshalus Veteran]

what the? sware filter not working tonight?

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

:whistle:

[neufuse Veteran]

:whistle:

You stink :p

[solardog]

My pc is spyware free with this setup:

1. Ad-aware
   
2. Spy-bot
   
3. Spyware Blaster
   

• Now none of these are running in the background so there is absolutely no slowdown and Spyware Blaster is basically just a killer HOST file.
  
• Now, if you use IE this setup will eliminate the need for any of those as far as malicious cookies go: In IE Options select privacy tab and choose Advanced and check the box "Override automatic cookie handling" and for First-party Cookies - Accept, Third-party Cookies - Block and check "Always allow session cookies.
  
  

Guess what? ZERO cookies! Except the ones you want. :woot:

[Southern Patriot]

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 ;)

That still doesn't excuse the university IT tech in this case demanding that Diskeeper be removed.

[+shift. MVC]

I believe one AV, one antispyware, and one disk defragmenter, and a registry cleaner is good enough for a while. Although the disk defragmenter could be optional, since some people prefer the one that comes with Windows.

[NEVER85]

I have a combination of NOD32, ZA 7.0 Pro, Windows Defender running in real-time, and Ad-Aware SE Pro. Nothing has ever touched my system with that setup, and the guy who said Diskeeper is no good obviously has no idea what he's talking about.

[nub]

install firefox and don't worry about adware/spyware.

[thecableguy]

install firefox and don't worry about adware/spyware.

:yes:

[nub]

Nod32 has 2nd highest virus detection rate (behind kaspersky), doesn't hog resources, and isn't annoying.

[Sandor]

install firefox and don't worry about adware/spyware.

ah yes because spyware only comes from a website. good luck when you use firefox to download something like kazaa and lol as it fails to prevent it.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

I use Windows Defender and NOD32. I have done for many years now, and have never had to re-install XP since.

Before I used to have ad-aware and spybot but they always seemed to mess my computer up.

One note on Diskeeper. It is no good.

Defragging more than one disk at a time might cause them to defrag less intensly because the disk has to concentrate on more than one defrag task. Although that is just an educated guess, if it was better to defrag more than one then Windows would have it natively.

The other quencher is that is uses the Windows defrag anyway. Take a look at the exe's properties and you'll see it is just the Windows defragger with a nice GUI slapped on the top. Although I have "Perfect Disk" installed, i hardly ever use it and just stick with the Windows Defragger.

Some people choose other software because of speed issues - if that's the case, defrag when you're going out or overnight or having dinner or whatever.

[Deciever]

wow so much errorneous information and advice I am not even going to bother to quote it all... it'd run me late to work.... AS A COMPUTER TECHNICIAN.

I have spent countless hours removing spyware and virus infections and I can say full heartedly that IT IS CRITICAL to use MORE than ONE anti-spyware app. I will say it is a good idea to have probably no more than one maybe two running in the background, I usually only set one to run in the background. Used to it was MS Antispyware before it went to crappy defender, although it is still better than nothing.

And I use just about every antispyware app mentioned on that site, what one doesn't find the others will. Nothing is 100%! But you sure can come much much closer if you use more than one, it is the ONLY way other than reloading windows to make sure you've rid yourself of it all or at least to remove any bad processes running and even then it sometimes still requires a skilled hand at being able to use google to get rid of somethings by hand.

Boot discs such as winpe help out a lot in tough situations.

IMO you were on the right track, don't listen to those who say you just need one.(One realtime Anti-virus, and One realtime Anti-spyware app is the only thing but even then make sure those are two separate apps and not norton taking care of both >< lol, every app is designed to one thing well anything that says different and that it can do it all typically sucks)

[The Laughing Man]

You should be more worried with the fact that your gf went to another IT instead of you :p

[HardSide]

The fact of the matter is that you should not have all those anit-spyware and anti-virus program run at the same time, nor all of them should turn on when windows turns on.

Have one major spyware program on at all times, i say microsoft windows defender...but thats just me. The rest you should start when you turn off other programs and run it once a month only. As for diskeeper, I personally don't use it, you really dont need it.

[havokx45]

One note on Diskeeper. It is no good.

Defragging more than one disk at a time might cause them to defrag less intensly because the disk has to concentrate on more than one defrag task. Although that is just an educated guess, if it was better to defrag more than one then Windows would have it natively.

The other quencher is that is uses the Windows defrag anyway. Take a look at the exe's properties and you'll see it is just the Windows defragger with a nice GUI slapped on the top. Although I have "Perfect Disk" installed, i hardly ever use it and just stick with the Windows Defragger.

Some people choose other software because of speed issues - if that's the case, defrag when you're going out or overnight or having dinner or whatever.

Defragging more than one drive at a time does not have a negative effect on performance. Windows defrag can't defrag more than one drive because Microsoft was too lazy to make a proper defragger.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

^ perhaps yes.

But then this is the other thing. My point of view was from me, an experienced computer user.

How experienced is your GF? If she tends to click on the popups and stuff then yes, i would have more than one like Deciever said.

[Andre S. Veteran]

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?

Ok to make a long story short: nothing in this guide can slow a computer significantly. I use it every time I have to do a clean Windows Xp install on any system. At least the optimizations should compensate. Was her computer actually very slow? Or did they just noticed a couple programs they didn't know about and just uninstalled everything like parano?ds?

This guide provides advice but doesn't need to be followed to the letter. For instance I never install any anti-virus, if the person has any decent knowledge about safe use of internet and emails. They only slow things down and the only problems I have seen with people's computers are related to spyware infections.

Then Windows Defender is not needed. In fact, Ad-Aware, Spybot and Spyware Blaster are enough as long as you keep them up to date.

Pc Wizard is not needed.

Diskeeper will cause no slowdown if you set it to run when the Screensaver is active. In fact, you'll never notice it running but your disks will always be defragged. This is how things should be. :))

If after a format, windows installation and following of this guide, her PC is running slowly, then the problem must be within the hardware.

[yeahlang]

her pc was running perfect. it was running great. her only problem was that she couldnt log in to the network at her college. this was because she had firefox set as the default browser and not ie. that was the one thing the guide told her not to do but she did anyway. the IT dept at her college thought it was the optimize xp guide which wouldnt allow her to log in to the network. they said they were surprised her comp hasnt crashed because of all the programs. basically they were morons because the only things running in realtime were windows defender and nod32. and they have never heard of utorrent or k lite codec pack. i jus wanted to post what her IT dept told her to verify that they're morons.

[ShadowPHP]

I wouldn't call them morons for not knowing what the K-Lite Codec pack is.

If anything, i'd say they're fortunate for not knowing about that horrible little pack.

[rajputwarrior]

klite codec pack is great, though i am now a big fan of the vista codec pac

[matty13]

Omg i dont even use antispyware appz, im not dumb i only get suspecious cookies which everyone gets now. i never stupid enough to get applications which look dodgy.