Registry Cleaner Reviews

Besides scanning your PC afterwards with anti-spyware and anti-virus software to fix infections, you can do a lot to prevent being infected by spyware and or virusses. Click here to read our review of anti-spyware software.

1. Do not visit high risk websites – these websites include crack and serial websites. Adult related websites. Websites that offer “free” games/software/music etc. Usually the “not well known” branded websites are riskier than well known names.
2. Install special plugins to protect your system from spyware. For FireFox install the plugin no-script. You can download the plugin here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox
   You can download Firefox here: http://www.getfirefox.com.
   After you restarted Firefox it will block all Javascript. You can enable javascript for a certain website by clicking on the “S” image in the lower right corner. So if there are certain parts that do not load its because of this – just enable javascript for the sites you trust (youtube, google etc…).
3. Enable extra security features in browser. Check the security settings tab in Firefox and enable “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site and forgery”. Now you will get a warning if its a phishingsite (site to get to your information like bank details) or a known website for distributing spyware.
4. Update your software and anti-spyware/virus programs. Regularly update your system software or enable automatic updates for Windows. Download the latest security fixes for your browser.
5. Never download software from websites or peer to peer networks unless you really trust the website or the source.
6. Audit the installed software – regularly check the programs installed on your PC. If you suddenly have a program installed on your PC you are sure you didn’t install than this could be spyware.
7. Use firewall software – make sure that you can go on the internet but nothing can go from the internet to your PC unless you initiated it. There are several firewall solutions that even block installed programs from “calling home”. Calling home means that programs send information from your PC to a server on the internet. This can be for updates but also for more malicious reasons like sending personal information like banking details.

By using all these tips you can protect yourself better agains spyware infections.

Download and install the latest hardware drivers

By downloading the lastest drivers you could improve your current PC performance. Sometimes the vendor has software which can update itself.

Upgrading system BIOS software

Be very careful with updating your systems bios software. If interrupted it could render your PC unusable.

Moving the paging file

Disk cleanup part two

Windows stores a lot of information on your PC in case you want to uninstall updates. Usually if your PC is running perfectly you do not need to uninstall servicepacks and updates and its safe to delete these files.

If Windows is working properly you can delete the uninstall files from the servicepackes and windows updates. Unless you plan to uninstall the installed servicepacks it is safe to delete all the “C:\Windows\$Ntunsinstall…” folders which start with a “$” and end with “$”. Another forlder which can be safely deleted is “C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386″ unless you plan to uninstall the installed servicepack.

You could also delete the drivercache directory if you are not planning to install new hardware on your PC. Its best to backup these files to a cd in case you would need to restore these files later. Otherwise it will ask for the Windows install cd. In my case I do not need to install new hardware so I’ve backupped and deleted this directory saving me another 100MB of space. The folder to delete is: “C:\Windows\Driver Cache\I386″.

C:\Windows\Downloaded Installations\
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\
These folders contain the setup files of downloaded and installed applications and Windows updates. The last one contains the downloaded Windows updates, which are there in strange names without any extension. With most of those files you can add MSI or EXE and run them separately. Saving these files makes it possible to patch them on another Windows system or Windows setup files.

Disable services

Windows XP comes with a lot of services enabled by default, but if your PC isn’t using a wireless connection why should you have this enabled by default? In this chapter I will be guiding you to services you can shutdown safely if you are not using them.

How can I find the services? Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools and finally click on Services. You can also access it directly by going to Start, run and type services.msc and press enter. Many of the services are needed to properly run Windows. Read carefully what each service does before deactivating the service because you might need it. I will list a couple of services that you may disable depending on your PC and needs.

Alerter

Sends administrative alerts over the network for administrator purposes. Unless you run a network with several machines and want this service you can disable it.

Computer browser

It lists all the computers in your network and sends information to other computers in your network. So unless you have a network you can disable it.

Distributed Link Tracking Client
You only need this service if you are using the NTFS file system. If you are using another type of Windows filesystem you can switch this service off. This services makes sure that linked files on different volumes (possibly somewhere on the network) stay connected. If a file has been moved to another location, the link will be updated by this service.

Error Reporting Service
Sends system error messages to Microsoft. You can safely disable this service.

Fast User Switching Compatibility
If you are the only person using your PC you will probably not need this function. This function makes it possible to switch between users while leaving you applications open without saving your data.
If not needed, don’t use this function, it doesn’t always work properly.

Help and Support
Without this service, the Windows Help and Support center will not be available. If you don’t need this help, switch this service to manual.

IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
This service is needed if you want to burn CD-ROM’s with the Windows Explorer (copy-paste files to your CD burner). If you do not have a CD-burner, you can safely disable this service or switch it to manual. It is possible that this service can cause trouble in combination with other burning software.

Indexing Service
The indexing service lets you search faster for files and directories on your computer. This has one big drawback it comes at a cost of performance due to the indexing of your files and folders. Unless you really search often you do not need this service. I advise you to disable this service to increase (harddrive) performance.

IPSEC-services
IPSEC is a security system which allows to set up a VPN connection between a client and a server. Unless you want to setup a IPSEC VPN connection I would disable this service. If you have no clue what I was talking about then you can safely disable this service.

Messenger
This has nothing to do with the MSN messenger program. This service makes it possible sending messages over the network. It was used by administrators to send messenges to client machines. Its not needed and I would disable this service. There are also other ways to send messenges to other PC’s, like MSN messenger and others.

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
This service allows you to invite others to remotely access your computer as a remote desktop. There is no need for this service. For security issues, you better disable this option.

Performance Logs and Alerts
Unless you really want to test the performance of your PC on a regular basis its better to disable this service.

Portable Media Serial Number Service
This is needed to read serial number(s) of portable media player. If you disable this service it will not be able to open (downloaded) protected content. You probably can disable this service without any noticeable consequences.

Print Spooler
Necessary for printing. Unless you have a printer you can disable it.

QoS RSVP
Quality of Service is needed if you want to change priotities in certain traffic, for example you want all webtraffic to have a higher priority than bittorrent traffic. Most home users do not need this.

Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
If you are using a router you can disable this service. If you are getting problems with your internet connection leave this service on automatic.

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
If you don’t need remote assistance, someone controls your computer by sending him/her an invitation, disable this function.

Routing and Remote Access
If there is no need to dial in by others into your computer, disable this service.

Security Center (SP2)
With the installatie of Service Pack 2 came the Windows Security Center. The Security Center monitors your PC’s system security (Windows updates, firewall and virus scan). If something is not working properly, you will be informed continuously. You can safely disable this function if you have managed your firewall and virussoftware.

Server
This service is needed if you want to share files and printers with other computers on your network. If you are the only one or you have no network with other PCs or need for this you can safely disable this service.

Smart Card
If you do not have a smart card in your PC you can disable this service.

System Event Notification
Unless you have a network or a laptop or otherwise portable PC you can disable this service.

System Restore Service
With this service you can restore your system to an in the past stored state. This function doesn’t always function properly.

Task Scheduler
If you disable this service Windows will not be able to schedule tasks. Many applications need this service. If you prefer to do everything yourself, you can disable this service. I prefer automatic.

Theme’s
If you do not like the XP bubblegum look you can disable this function.

Windows Firewall (ICF) / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
If you have an external router/firewall you can disable this service. If you are connected directly to your modem and you want to share your internet connection with another PC do not disable this service. I recommend using an external router/firewall solution or at least an external router because if you have the incoming connection on your PC you cannot shut your PC down then the other PC cannot access the internet. Also there are better firewall solutions than Microsofts XP firewall.

Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
If you want to transfer images from camera/webcam or scanner to your PC do not change this setting. Otherwise you can disable the service.

Wireless Zero Configuration-service
Needed for automatic configuration of your wireless network connection. If you do not have any wireless network adapter, disable this service.

WMI Performance Adapter
No need for performance information? Disable this service.

The second part of our quick tips section.

1. Still in the system properties window. Disable error reporting. This sends error reports to Microsoft. Click on the error reporting button at the bottom of the screen. Check the box that says “Disable error reporting” and uncheck the box that says “but notify me when critical errors occur”. Click on ok and apply.
2. Turning off harddrive indexing. Windows XP makes an index of all the files on your harddrive to speed up file searching. Using this option will slow down your pc and unless you use it a lot you can disable this option. Open “My Computer” or press the Windows key and E. Then right click on each of the drives and select properties. Uncheck the box that says “Allow the indexing service to index this disk for fast file searching” under the General tab. In the pop up window select the box that says “Apply change to (drive letter):\, subfolders and files” and click on ok. After you have done each drive I would recommend to reboot.
3. Uninstall unwanted programs. Besides increasing your available space on your harddrive it will decreases the number programs to start up. Go to the Control Panel, then select Add/Remove Software to see what packages are installed. Remove software you don’t want or use. In the top corner there is a dropdown menu called “Sort on”. Here you can select different sorting options. Besides “Name” you can also sort the list on the last time you used the program. Programs which aren’t used that often are probably safe to remove.
   
4. Uninstall windows components. Remove windows components which you are not using. Besides saving you valuable hard drive space it reduces chances of having programs with security issues on your pc.
5. Microsoft Bootvis. Microsoft BootVis is a program which analyzes your system during the startup of Windows and can optimize start up and shutdown times. It was originally developed for developers to analyze boot times and see where there are slowdowns.  You can download BootVis here.
   
6. Microsoft PowerToys puts Windows XP on steriods. You can download Microsoft PowerToys here.
   

These quick tips will help you to get your pc back into shape.

1. Defragment your pc regularly! Every time data is written of removed from your hard drive the windows file system gets fragmented resulting in performance degradation. Defragmenting your file system results in better arranged files which makes the harddrive access files faster. I recommend at least once a week or after big changes in software removal or installation.
   How? Click on start select all programs, accessories, system tools, disk defragmenter. Select the volume (partition) you want to defragment and click on the defragement button.
2. Msconfig. Click on Start , Run and type “msconfig” and press enter. The last tab is called “Startup”. Here you can disable programs which are started automatically. If you are not sure what a program does you can leave it untouched.
   Also if you are infected by a virus you can find the virus (most of the time) as well in this list. To disable a virus it is better to startup windows in safe mode (press F8 key during startup) and then disable the program in the “Startup” tab because otherwise it can reactivate the program automatically.
3. Scan your registry regularly for errors. A common cause of Windows crashes, error messages and performance problems are the result of an inconsistent registry. See our page with free registry cleaners for more information and download links.
4. Scan for malicious programs on your pc. These programs also called spyware, adware, keyloggers, dialers and worms decrease system performance and even more importantly send information to other people. The following programs can be used to scan for these programs: xoftspy, noadware, Adware Alert.
5. This one is really a no-brainer. Activate automatic updates for Windows. You can activate these settings by going to the security center. Software bugs are constantly found and fixes are released regularly to fix these bugs. Besides performance enhancing fixes there are important security fixes which are released.
6. Adjust Windows Visual Effects. Select system from the control panel or right click on the “My Computer” icon and select properties. Select the “advanced” tab and click on the settings button at the performance section. Choose the option Adjust for best performance and click apply and then ok. Now there are no effects and this frees up memory. It is also possible to disable a few settings. You can use the custom setting for this.