PC Maintenance Guide Windows 7

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC
PC Maintenance Guide
Simple Effective Tips for Tuning, Upgrade, & Repairing Your Windows PC
www.WindowsSecrets.com
Introduction:
As a weekly publication, Windows Secrets covers a broad swath of topics especially all things Windows. Some of that coverage is driven by the latest news in the world of PCs, such as the latest malware threats or the release of Windows 7. Other topics are generated by questions and suggestions often sent in by readers like you. Over the years, Windows Secrets has accumulated at vast amount of information about Windows and Windows-related hardware and software. You can find all of it in the WindowsSecrets.com archives. It can, however, take some time to find what youre looking for, because our stories are organized by issue date, not subject category. Thats where a Windows Secrets special-edition e-book comes in; its a concise guide that presents our accumulated PC wisdom such as it is based on a theme. Grouping the information this way can save hours of digging through back issues. In this format, the most essential articles and links are collected into one, easy to use reference. For this e-book, the Windows Secrets editors pored through several years of published information and selected the best tips in three major categories: 1. Upgrading your system 2. Tuning up/speeding up your PC 3. Emergency troubleshooting Each section starts with an anchor story covering the basics of a topic. Thats followed by 10 or so additional items, each with abundant direct links to the Windows Secrets archives. (Paid-content links are shown with an asterisk.) Using these links, you can quickly find the topics and subtopics that most interest you. Youre welcome to read the entire e-book from front to back, but its most useful as a quick-reference guide that you keep at hand. Each of the three major sections is a selfcontained unit that lets you rapidly hone in on the information you need when you need it. Because each section is self-contained, some topics appear more than once. For example, the defragmenting your hard drive tip appears both in the sections on cleaning up your PC and improving boot times. By putting it in two sections, you wont have to remember which section it resides in, nor will you have to flip back and forth through the e-book to complete the overall task. We hope you find this thematic approach a useful complement to the normal flow of diverse information appearing every week in the Windows Secrets Newsletter. Wed also like to give a special thanks to Fred Langa for providing most of the leg work needed to put this e-book together. Happy computing! ---The editors of the Windows Secrets Newsletter
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Table of contents:
Part 1: Upgrading your system
The absolutely safest way to upgrade to Win7 .............................. 1
What you need to start the transition to Win7 Back up your data and create the dual-boot system Move your data to the new Win7 partition When ready, toss out the old Windows partition
An alternative: Install Windows from a USB drive ......................... 5 Buying a new system with Windows preinstalled? ....................... 5 Seven simple steps for optimizing your new Win7 setup ............. 6
Get rid of the preinstalled junk software Free does not always mean useless Change Windows settings for safety Show filename extensions Create a user account Consider turning off Automatic Updates Need it or not, set up a Windows homegroup Get automatic daily backups working Install the basic helper applications Add useful but unobtrusive utilities
Other Upgrade Information ........................................................... 11

Solid-state hard drives Networking Miscellaneous
Part 2: Tuning up/speeding up your PC

Start with a thorough system checkup......................................... 12
Check the hardware Check your hard drive's physical health Check your hard drive's logical health Correct driver errors now, while you can
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Review and update your PC's security system ........................... 13
Patch and update Windows and apps Verify system security
Give your computer a thorough file cleaning .............................. 13

Take out the trash all of it Rein in XPs three worst space hogs Defrag
Use disk imaging to preserve your new setup............................. 14 Build a rock-solid safety net with Win7 ........................................ 15
System repair disc Use the new Create a system image tool Fully automate your routine backups Restore a previous version
A step-by-step guide for improving boot times ........................... 16

Clean the Registry Shrink the Recycle Bin Trim the browser caches. Defrag, defrag, and defrag again Try a different anti-malware tool Also: speed shutdowns
Make Internet Explorer 8 faster, better ......................................... 19

How to manually reset IE8 to as first installed condition How to automatically reset IE8 to as first installed condition How to adjust Internet Explorers settings to your own preferences
Other tune-up/speed-up information ............................................ 21

Networking, Registry, Hard Drive, Video, Laptop, and User Interface/Shortcuts
Part 3: Emergency troubleshooting

What to do when your PC gets hosed ......................................... 22
Try Windows' built-in repair tools Use Linux to restore data and test your PC When you know you have a hardware problem
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Use the tools on the Windows CD-ROM Bootcfg, Fixboot, Fixmbr, and Diskpart Your last, desperate move: reinstalling Rescuing Windows with a bootable flash drive Fixing your damaged Windows with bootable rescue CDs Fixing Windows disasters with custom boot CDs
Resources for solving other issues.............................................. 25

Boot and startup problems Networking problems Sleep/suspend/hibernate Issues Viruses, malware, and so on Driver problems More free troubleshooting/repair tools
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Part 1: Upgrading your system

Upgrading can mean anything from buying a single stick of RAM to buying an entire new PC or installing a totally new operating system. Of course, Windows Secrets covers it all. If youre buying a brand-new Windows PC or are planning to upgrade selected hardware components, skip ahead. But if youre upgrading a current PC to Windows 7, let Windows Secrets author Lincoln Spector explain a great way to proceed:
The absolutely safest way to upgrade to Win7

Few things are scarier than installing a new version of Windows at least, few things you can do while sitting at a desk. The safest route to a successful Windows 7 upgrade is a dual-boot configuration on your PC, letting your old OS and Win7 coexist during the transition.
What you need to start the transition to Win7

Nothing causes PC-induced heartburn faster than upgrading to a new OS and finding out, too late, that some critical program or peripheral no longer works or discovering that an all-important document was lost in the transition. Sure, you can (and should) use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (download page) before you even buy the upgrade. But the advisor is not perfect and you could still run into problems during and after the upgrade, anyway. By keeping your existing OS (which I'm assuming is either Vista or XP) alive while you install Windows 7, you always have a working fallback system, should the unexpected happen. Before you start the upgrade process, check that your main drive or partition has at least 30GB of free hard-drive space (more is better). You should also have an external backup medium, as well as backup imaging software. (If you don't have the latter, I offer a recommendation in the next section.) In the following sections, I tell you how to install Windows 7 for dual booting and how to remove your old version of Windows when you no longer want it. I strongly suggest you read all of these instructions before trying them. Let's begin:
Back up your data and create the dual-boot system

Although I consider this the safest way to upgrade, things can still go wrong. Create an image backup of your hard drive before upgrading the OS whether or not you're going the dual-boot route. An image backup allows you to restore everything on the hard drive, including Windows and your data, to its pre-backup condition. Use an external hard drive as your backup medium.
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You may already have an image-backup program, such as Ghost or True Image. If not, I recommend Macrium Reflect Free Edition (download page). It's easy, creates a bootable rescue CD, and as the name implies it's free. After you're backed up, you need to shrink your current Windows partition to make room for another one. Although Vista comes with its own partitioning tool (as does Windows 7), I've found it unreliable. So I recommend the EASEUS Partition Master. If you're using 32bit Windows, go to the download page for the free version. But if you've got a 64-bit version of Windows, you must shell out $40 for the Professional Edition (info page). You should shrink the partition by at least 30GB. (See Figure 1.) Freeing up more space is better the larger your Windows 7 partition, the easier it will be to make the transition. You won't actually have to create the new partition. A big, blank spot on the hard drive is sufficient.
Figure 1. Use the EASEUS partitioning application to create a new Windows 7 partition.
Now you're ready to start the upgrade: Insert your Windows 7 DVD into the drive and reboot. Press any key when asked to do so, and start the installation process.
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The installation program will ask what kind of installation you want. Click Custom (Advanced), as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Choose the custom installation in the Windows 7 installation-type dialog box.
When asked where you want to install Windows, select Unallocated Space.
The installation automatically creates a dual-boot system, letting you choose with each boot between either version of Windows. As with any clean install, you'll have to reinstall all of your programs in the Windows 7 environment. Because your old partition will still be accessible, you won't have to move your documents, photos or music at least, not yet.
Move your data to the new Win7 partition

You probably want to keep the dual-boot setup for a few weeks. (I kept mine for approximately a month.) But eventually, you'll feel comfortable leaving XP or Vista behind. And even if you decide against staying with the new OS, your old OS is right there: nothing's lost but the cost of Win7 and a little time. First, you must move or copy all your data from the old partition (probably drive D: when you're in Windows 7) to the new one (C:). That includes documents, music, photos, and so on. The trickiest files to move are those in the hidden appdata folder (Application Data if your old OS was XP). Simply copying them into Windows 7's appdata folder may cause problems. So copy them to a separate folder called, say, old appdata, so they'll be handy if you need to import their information into specific programs. Before going on to the next step, create another image backup of your entire drive (all partitions, in their new configurations and sizes). You need this because something could go horribly wrong, and you may discover, weeks after deleting your old partition, that you
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had not moved all your data. Any decent image-backup program (I don't count the ones that come with Vista or Windows 7) can restore individual folders and files. At this point, you don't need to keep the original image you created before installing Windows 7. You are now ready to transfer your files: Boot Win7 and open two Windows Explorer windows one to C: drive and the other to D: drive. In either of them, click the Organize menu and then Folder and search options. Click the View tab, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). Confirm and click OK. Drag the file bootmgr from D:\ and C:\. It's very important that you drag this file and only this file. After youre finished dragging the bootmgr file, go back to the Folder Options dialog box and undo those settings I just had you select.
If you haven't already done so, install EASEUS Partition Master into Windows 7 and launch the program. Right-click the Windows 7 partition, select Advanced, and then click Set Active. (See Figure 3.) At the warning that this may render your PC unbootable, click OK. Then click the Apply button on the toolbar and then Yes twice.
Figure 3. EASEUS warns you that your system may be unbootable when you set the partition as active. That's OK.
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When your PC reboots, select Windows 7 from the boot menu. Instead of booting Windows, the EASEUS environment loads, alters your system, and reboots it. And you know what? That warning was right your PC is now unbootable. Don't panic! That's expected and easily fixed. Reinsert your Windows 7 DVD, reboot, and press any key when asked. When asked whether you want to install Windows 7, click the Repair your computer link in the lower-left corner. After considering the problem, the repair program will tell you it found problems. Click Repair and restart. This time, don't press any key when asked Windows should boot normally.
When ready, toss out the old Windows partition

Back in Windows 7, reload EASUS and delete the old Vista or XP partition. Then move and resize the Windows 7 partition to fill all available space. Once again, the program must reboot your system to do its job. After you're back in Windows 7, the old partition will be gone, but you'll still be asked about it every time you boot. Let's fix that: Click the Start orb, type advanced, and select View advanced system settings under Control Panel. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery. Make sure the Default operating system setting indicates Windows 7. Uncheck Time to display list of operating systems, and click OK.
Congratulations! You now have a Windows 7 and only a Windows 7 computer, with a full image backup of your previous OS safely tucked away!
An alternative: Install Windows from a USB drive

If you need to set up Windows 7 on more than a couple of computers or if you need to add Win7 to a PC without a working DVD drive you can save yourself time and bother by converting a USB drive into a Windows setup "disc." With a couple of free utilities, a 4GB or larger USB drive, any Windows 7 setup DVD, and a little time, you can build your own Win7 universal USB installer. For compete step-bystep information, see Woody Leonhards article Install Windows 7 many times from one USB drive.
Buying a new system with Windows preinstalled?

One of the most fundamental questions about new hardware is whether to get a 64-bit system, or to stick with the classic 32-bit architecture. The main benefit of 64-bit hardware is access to vast amounts of RAM. However attractive that seems, you might not actually need more than the 4GB supported by 32-bit hardware at least, not yet.
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A useful rule of thumb says that 4GB to 6GB of RAM is the sweet spot for most users today 6GB for 64-bit systems (and those modified 32-bit machines that can support it) and 4GB for standard 32-bit systems. (Want to see the background on this reasoning? Check out the articles Is 4GB of system memory a poor investment? and My new computer has too much RAM? You also can dig further into the topic with the Ehow.com article, "How to determine if you need more RAM in your computer," or Microsoft's less-detailed article, "Determine how much RAM you have and how much you need.") If you truly need large amounts of RAM, or if youre looking towards the future that is, if you plan to keep your new PC for many years then a 64-bit system can be a great choice. But for most of us, 32-bit hardware and software is still perfectly fine to buy and use now and for at least the next several years. This is especially true if you wish to keep and use any 32-bit peripherals you already have, such as printers and scanners. Older gear may not work with a new 64-bit system, unless the vendor offers 64-bit drivers for the older hardware. (Check the vendors web site to see if such drivers are available.) If you want to use your older hardware, and only 32-bit drivers are available, you should stick with a 32-bit PC running regular 32-bit Windows. Simply stated: for most of us, its still safe and cost-efficient to buy a new 32-bit PC with regular 32-bit Windows 7 and to load the PC with the maximum 4GB of RAM. (That's the physical ceiling for normal 32-bit memory addressing.) With that, your system should be good to go for at least the next several years!
Seven simple steps for optimizing your new Win7 setup

Whether you upgraded an older PC or bought new hardware with a fresh copy of Windows already installed, this article (by Woody Leonhard) shows you how to set it up the correctly:
1 Get rid of the preinstalled junk software

PCs ship with tons of useless software. If the friend you're helping has played with her new PC for more than an hour or two, chances are good it has even more garbage installed. Before you try to do anything else, defenestrate (to use my word of the day) the junk. Begin a thorough cleaning of a new PC by going into Windows 7's Uninstall or change a program utility. Click Start, Control Panel; then, under Programs, click Uninstall a program. Now sit your friend down next to you and decide whether any of the more questionable programs are absolutely essential to her future happiness. Those that are not zap 'em. And while you're at it, get rid of the trialware; she's likely to end up paying for apps she doesn't need.
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Next, remove all the space-wasting programs preinstalled on the PC, starting with the devils you know such as manufacturer-specific utilities, unwanted browser plugins, and other digital detritus. Then take a few minutes to download and run PC Decrapifier (download page), a remarkable, free-for-personal-use utility that roots out and destroys the most common offensive programs. PC Decrapifier is particularly good at finding stubbornly attached pieces of unneeded antivirus programs.
2 Free does not always mean useless

If your cousin Bill's new PC came with a so-called free antivirus program preinstalled, get rid of it. (The exception to this rule is Microsoft Security Essentials. Fred Langa weighed in on the superiority of MSE in his Sept. 16 column in the paid section of the newsletter.) Antivirus companies pay computer manufacturers big bucks to install trial versions of their software on new PCs. These apps are usually good for a few months, and then you have to pay to keep them current. Once you've removed the trialware AV app, install Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free for personal use or for use in companies with 10 or fewer Windows machines. MSE is fast, very effective, and unobtrusive; and best of all, it never begs for money. If your cousin has already paid for a different antivirus program, tell him to wait for the subscription to run out and then replace it with MSE. One final and extremely important point: make sure you download the real Microsoft Security Essentials (download site), not one of the cleverly dressed malware fakes Fred discussed in his Dec. 2 column.
3 Change Windows settings for safety

Windows 7 has a handful of default settings that drive me nuts. Your opinion may differ, but at the very least you should consider these changes: Show filename extensions: In all my books, I rail against Microsoft's decision to hide filename extensions by default. The 'Softies argue that neophyte users don't need to see the .txt on a text file or .doc on a Word document or .xlsx on an Excel spreadsheet. But in my experience, not showing filename extensions leads to all sorts of confounding behavior: errors such as accidentally naming a file incorrectly mystuff.txt.doc, for example; running an unsafe or unexpected program double-clicking on iloveyou.txt.vbs, for instance; or making their files difficult for other people to open such as sending XL2007sheet.xlsx to someone using Excel 2003. To make Windows show filename extensions, click Start and Documents. Next, click Organize in the upper tools bar and choose Folder and search options. Click the View tab and uncheck the box marked Hide extensions for known file types. (While you're there, consider checking the Show hidden files, folders, and drives box.)
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Create a user account: Most people get a new PC with just one administrator account, typically with a name such as Admin, Owner, or even something silly such as Satisfied Customer. Whatever it's called, this default admin account usually doesn't have a set password. You know the dangers of unrestricted system access, but many PC users don't. Give the user a leg up on safe computing by first assigning a password to the default admin account (it doesn't have to be anything fancy). Then, set up a new account under the user's name that is set to the more restrictive Standard user security level. You can add a password for that new account, too, or create additional accounts whatever the situation dictates. Give your friend the password to the admin account, but emphasize that only the standard account should be used. Consider turning off Automatic Updates: I always get a flood of hate mail when I make this recommendation. If your Aunt Gertrude doesn't understand Windows security and fears that winning a game of solitaire will make her PC blow up fair enough she needs to have Windows Automatic Update turned on. If a PC is likely to run unsupervised for a while, it should get automatic updates, too. But most moderately alert PC users are capable of regularly checking whether the monthly Black Tuesday, er, Patch Tuesday updates are safe to install. Excellent information on the latest patches can be found in the Patch Watch column of the paid section of Windows Secrets, on my AskWoody site, and in many other sources. Give the recommendation that it's better to apply patches when the user want to not when Microsoft first rolls updates out the chute, sometimes to ill effect.
4 Need it or not, set up a Windows homegroup

If cousin Bill has several PCs on his network, but only one with Windows 7, he can't use Windows homegroups Vista and XP don't support it. But on networks containing more than one Windows 7 PC (even if there's currently just one) setting up a homegroup now will make it much easier later on to get additional Win7 PCs talking to the network. I explained homegroups in detail in my October 1, 2009, Woody's Windows column. Suffice it to say that, assuming you trust all PCs on your network, setting up a homegroup makes sharing files, printers, and other hardware much simpler. To set up a homegroup, click Start, Control Panel. Under Network and Internet, click View network status and tasks. Look below the heading View your active networks. If you see a house icon (as shown in Figure 4), you're connected to a home network. In that case, get a homegroup going by clicking Start, Control Panel; under the Network and Internet heading, click the link to Set up a homegroup.
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Figure 4. To set up a homegroup, you must tell Windows that you're connected to a home network.
If you see an icon that looks like a computer with a shield (work network) or bench (public network), it's easy to change to a home network. Click the link marked Work network (or Public network), choose Home network, and click Close. As soon as you change to a home network, Windows asks whether you want to join a homegroup. Click Join now, and you're in.
5 Get automatic daily backups working

Yeah, yeah do as I say, not as I do. Setting up cousin Bill's new PC for regular backups? In Windows 7, it's easy. If the machine has Windows 7 Home Premium and a second hard drive, he can use that for backups. With a one-drive system, talk him into running out to the nearest computer shop and buying an external hard drive. It's the best hundred bucks he'll ever spend. (If Bill is running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, and he's connected to a network, he can use a network drive for backups.) When you plug the new external hard drive into a USB port, Windows 7 should automatically ask you whether you want to use it for backups. Follow the easy instructions, and you're soon good to go for nightly backups. If you don't get the prompt to set up backups when you plug in a new external hard drive, click Start, Control Panel; then, under System and Security, click Back up your computer. Click the link marked Set up backup, and follow the wizard. It'll take two minutes, max, to get daily backups running. This would also be an excellent time to make an emergency boot disc (see the Fred Langa's Top Story item, "Build a rock-solid net for Win7") and a complete image backup of Bill's machine. Win7 comes with its own image-backup tool: select Control Panel and, under System and Security, click Back up your computer. Select Create system image.
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Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC 6 Install the basic helper applications
There are certain base applications that every PC needs. No doubt you have your favorites; permit me to list mine. I won't preach about the superiority of Google Chrome for Web browsing I'll simply direct you to the Chrome download site. If you prefer the largest selection of browser add-ins, head over to the Firefox site. Every PC needs a PDF viewer. At this point, I'm thoroughly ambivalent about Foxit Reader (product page) because the company has started infesting its installer with junk. But if you carefully choose the correct check boxes when you install it, Foxit is a much smaller and nimbler alternative to Adobe Reader. Alas, most PC users still need a Flash player. The Chrome browser has a sandboxed version of Adobe Flash Player built in (info page), but if you use any other Web browser, the only real choice is to dance with the devil and download (page) the standard Flash app. For keeping your PC completely up-to-date, install Secunia Personal Software Inspector (product page). This free-for-personal-use program periodically scans your PC and tells you whether you need to update common programs to patch security holes. It's worth its weight in gold.
7 Add useful but unobtrusive utilities

Beyond the must-have base apps, there's a whole world of useful Windows add-ins and utilities. A handful I highly recommend include the following: 7-Zip: Because we live in a world that still has Apple computers, I always install 7-Zip (download page). (No! Put down that brickbat!) Seriously, people are always sending me .rar files, almost invariably from Apple computers. You need to have a .rar-savvy program to decompress them. If all you ever receive is .zip files, Windows handles those nicely. Paint.net: Windows Paint is good enough for very simple tasks, but I generally install Paint.net (download page) on all the PCs I set up. It gives you excellent, compact, fast tools for editing photos and otherwise manipulating image files. IrfanView (info page) is another good choice, particularly if your cousin has to cope with many different file formats or needs scanning tools. VLC media player: Windows Media Player has its strong points, but it doesn't play many kinds of media files. It also won't work with iPods (and I refuse to struggle with iTunes). VLC media player (site) handles every type of file I've ever thrown at it and it connects to iPods, iPhones, and iPads, too.
Finally, two excellent utilities are ideal for anyone who depends on the Web. (And who doesn't these days?) Dropbox (site) lets you drag and drop files into a special folder on your Windows desktop. The files then magically appear on all PCs, laptops, phones,
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and iPads that also have Dropbox installed. It has good password-based security and fine file-sharing options. LastPass (info page) stores your passwords in the cloud, where they can be retrieved with ease (as long as you're connected to the Internet) and are protected by strong security. I don't know how I ever managed without it.
Other upgrade information

Hardware evolves rapidly, and prices change almost every day. Therefore, referencing older hardware-specific articles runs a high risk of referencing obsolete information. But these next four articles discuss hardware in more general terms, and can help you make buying decisions regardless of what is actually on the shelves at the moment you decide to buy.
Solid-state hard drives

Windows, solid-state disks, and 'trim
Networking
How to pick and optimize your home router What speed LAN hardware do you really need?
Miscellaneous
Problems purchasing hardware for custom-built PCs
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Part 2: Tuning up/speeding your PC

Todays PCs and operating systems have serious legs: witness the huge numbers of XPera computers still happily running that OS some 10 years after its original release. Regardless of how old your system or OS is, all systems benefit from regular maintenance. A properly maintained PC is fast, stable, and a pleasure to use. The basics of system maintenance are the same for XP, Vista, and Windows 7 in fact, theyre largely the same for all operating systems. But because XP machines are the current Methuselahs of the PC world, well focus on those systems. If youre using Vista or Windows 7, just make the mental adjustment as you read along. Some newer tools (such as those built into Windows 7) are also covered in a later section.
Start with a thorough system checkup

Check the hardware: No operating system can be better than the hardware on which it's installed, and older systems are prone to age-related problems. One oftenoverlooked problem is dust buildup, which can cause chips and drives to overheat and malfunction. These hardware errors can masquerade as software problems, causing you to waste time troubleshooting the wrong thing. It's easy to clean your PC. Consult my how-to article, "Getting the grunge out of your PC." (It's a few years old, but still completely apt.) While you have your PC's case open, make sure that all plug-in cards and socketed chips are fully seated and all cables firmly connected. Check your hard drive's physical health: Most new and XP-era drives are equipped with Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, also known as SMART reporting. SMART data is stored within the hard drive itself and can often alert you to impending problems before they get serious. It's easy to check the SMART data. Two tools I like are PassMark's DiskCheckup (info/download page) and Active@ DiskMonitorFree (download page). Both programs are free for personal use and also come in commercial versions for organizations. Check your hard drive's logical health: Run chkdsk.exe to check the integrity of your hard drive's files and to repair any errors. Click Start and Run, then type chkdsk c: /f into the Run dialog box. Click OK. Chkdsk may tell you that it can't check the drive because the drive is in use. It will then offer to check the drive at reboot. Type Y (yes) and hit the Enter key. Repeat for all drives/partitions on your system. Correct driver errors now, while you can: Just as Microsoft is providing less support for XP, third-party vendors are withdrawing support for older hardware. Someday soon, you may discover that the drivers you need are no longer available. Fix problems now!
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Boot XP and right-click My Computer. Select Properties, Hardware, and then Device Manager. (Or, click Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Manager.) Click View and select Show hidden devices to make sure you're seeing everything. Correct any problem indicated by a yellow exclamation mark or a red X; in most cases, you should get correct or updated drivers from the hardware vendor's site. It might also be wise to save copies of any special drivers your system needs; burn 'em to a CD or DVD, and tuck the disc away in a safe place.
Review and update your PC's security system

Patch and update XP and apps: Starting with Windows Update, make sure your operating system is fully up-to-date with all necessary patches, fixes, and updates. Do the same for all your non-Microsoft software, visiting the vendor sites to download any new updates and patches for your applications and utilities. A tool such as Secunia's outstanding, free-for-home-use Personal Software Inspector (PSI) (download page) can make this step a breeze. Verify system security: Regardless of the antivirus and anti-malware tool(s) you're using, visit a competing vendor's site and run that sites free live or online scan to verify that nothing slipped past your usual defenses. Next, check that your firewall is providing the protection it should. There are many good, free, online firewall-test sites, such as Hackerwatch, Gibson Research ShieldsUP, and AuditMyPC.
Give your computer a thorough file cleaning

Take out the trash all of it: Needless file clutter makes a system harder to use and slower to operate. For example, AV scans and Windows' indexing both take longer when they have many junk files to process. Start by deleting old $NtUninstall{xxx}$ files from XP's C:\Windows folder; these files can occupy a shocking amount of space! You need these files only when a Windows Update fails and you (or the OS) have to roll back your system. If your system is working well, $NtUninstall files serve no purpose. Next, wade through your hard drive, folder by folder, making sure files are where they're supposed to be and that you're not storing needless duplicates or other useless files. Next, uninstall obsolete or unused software. Finally, use a tool such as Piriform's free CCleaner (site) to rid your drive of useless junk files and broken or obsolete Registry data. Rein in XP's three worst space hogs: System Restore, the Recycle Bin, and browser caches are like black holes for data, and your system can run better if you limit their voracious appetites.
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System Restore is at best a limited recovery tool, so I don't feel it's worthwhile to devote vast amounts of disk space to it. The Kellys-Korner article, "System Restore for Windows XP," tells you how to manage it. Windows' default Recycle Bin can consume hundreds of gigabytes on a large drive. Pare this down to a reasonable size by right-clicking the Recycle Bin and selecting Properties. Reduce the size of the Recycle Bin to a smaller percentage of the total disk space. (Click the disk tab e.g., Local Disk (C:) to determine its reserved Recycle Bin space in gigabytes.) I set it to around 500 MB (0.5GB) on large disks and 250MB (0.25GB) on smaller ones. To reduce Internet Explorer's cache size, click Tools and Internet Options. Then under the Browsing History section, click Settings and adjust the cache size downward to, say, 50MB. For Firefox, click Tools/Options and then click Advanced. Under the Network tab, look for the settings box in the Offline Storage section. Chrome's cache-size adjustment uses the command line, as described on a Chrome Help forum page. Defrag: Once your disk is rid of all unnecessary files and is organized the way you want, run your defragmentation tool to reorder your files for optimal performance. If your disk was badly fragmented, it may take several iterations of defragging to achieve maximum benefit. (Paid subscribers can read an in-depth discussion of defragging in my Aug. 5 column.)
Use disk imaging to preserve your new setup

After you've worked through all the preceding tasks, your XP system should be lean, clean, defragged, and fully up-to-date. Wouldn't it be great if you could somehow preserve your PC's current software state so that, should you ever need to in the future, you can bring it back to this nearly perfect condition in just minutes? You can! Use a disk imaging tool to create a perfect, complete, working copy of your current setup. You'll never again have to rebuild your system and reinstall all your software from scratch. XP requires third-party disk-imaging software (Win7 has it built in; well discuss it shortly) such as Acronis' U.S. $30 True Image (info page), Norton's $70 Ghost (site), or my personal favorite for non-Win7 systems Terabyte Unlimited's geeky-but-powerful $35 BootItNG (info page). All three programs make disk images and bootable recovery discs that can be used to restore a complete, everything-installed-and-working setup even to a raw, unformatted drive. There's plenty of free disk imaging software available, too. For example, see Freebyte's page titled "Free disk image software;" TheFreeCountry's list of "Free hard disk and partition imaging and backup software;" or OptimizingPC's how-to, "Create free bootable Windows XP image disk."
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Run through the preceding steps once or twice a year to keep your system in tip-top shape, and make a fresh disk image from time to time especially if you make any significant changes to your hardware or software. Store your disk images in a safe place (off the hard drive), such as on CDs or DVDs stored away from your PC. With this kind of routine maintenance, your XP system will most likely run well for as long as you need it. And, should the worst (major crash, hard drive failure, or something else equally dire) happen, you can use your disk images to rapidly restore your system to the near-perfect state you just created. You're now set for the long haul!
Build a rock-solid safety net with Win7

Window 7 is the first Windows to ship with a total backup solution built-in. It offers incremental and full backups plus disk imaging, System Restore, and ability to make a bootable system repair disc all with a few clicks. Theyre all worth getting to know and use. System repair disc: When you're starting out with a new OS or a new PC, things sometimes go awry. That's why it's always smart to make an emergency boot disk. An emergency boot disk lets you start your PC and perform repairs, even if the hard drive is trashed or the operating system is otherwise unbootable. Having an emergency boot disk on hand can be the difference between successfully completing a quick do-ityourself repair and having to send your system off to the repair shop! Windows 7's built-in system repair disc tool creates emergency boot disks, and the whole process takes just a couple of minutes. Click the Win7 Start orb and type the phrase system repair into the search text box. At the top of the search results you see Create a System Repair Disc (under Programs). Click it and follow the prompts. (See Figure 5.) That's all it takes!
Figure 5. Windows 7's built-in System Repair Disc feature makes it incredibly easy to build a bulletproof emergency boot CD or DVD.
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Put the new disk in a place that's safe but where you can grab it quickly if it's ever needed. Bonus information: Lincoln Spector's July 8, 2010, Insider Tricks column shows how to create a flash-drive version of the emergency boot disk. Use the new Create a system image tool: Windows 7 is the first Windows to include an app that makes a complete image backup of your setup. Unlike a conventional file-by-file backup, an image backup is a compressed, byte-for-byte clone of your entire hard drive's contents. Restoring a saved image puts your hard drive back into exactly the same state as when you made the image. It's the gold standard of backups and is the only way to absolutely, positively roll back a system to a prior state. Win7 makes image backups a snap. Open the Control Panel and, under System and Security, click Back up your computer. In the left pane, select Create system image and follow the steps. Should you ever need to restore a system image and you'd like some pointers, see the MS article, "Restore your computer from a system image backup." Fully automate your routine backups: Image backups are great for rolling back an entire system. But file-by-file backups are best for restoring one or more individual documents, photos, or other files you accidentally delete or destructively alter. Open the Control Panel and click System and Security, then Backup and Restore. In the right pane, select Set up backup and follow the steps. At the end of the process, before clicking Save settings and run backup, you can change your backup schedule by clicking Change schedule. (Find more info on backup and restore in an MS tutorial.) Restore a previous version: Couple Win7 backups with the OS's built-in Restore previous version feature, and you may never lose a file again ever! (See Microsoft's FAQ for the limitations and steps required for recovering previous versions.)
A step-by-step guide for improving boot times

Even powerful, capable hardware can sometimes get bogged down, and few things are more irritating than a needlessly long start-up process. There are many causes for slow PC boot-ups, but some simple maintenance will usually set things right. Some of these substeps have been mentioned previously, but are included here so that you have all necessary information in one place.
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1 Clean the Registry: Removing dead, obsolete, and broken Registry file references reduces the time Windows takes to load the Registry into memory and parse it. Probably the best of the free, easy-to-use cleaners is Piriform's CCleaner (download site). 2 Shrink the Recycle Bin: Windows sets up enormous Recycle Bins by default; they can consume hundreds of gigabytes on a large drive; Windows must parse and track the Recycle Bin contents, which takes time. Pare your Bins down to a reasonable size by right-clicking the Recycle Bin and selecting Properties. Next, reset the amount of disk space used by the Recycle Bin. (See Figure 6.) I usually use 500 MB (0.5GB) as a starting point on large disks and 250MB (0.25GB) on smaller ones.
Figure 6. In all versions of Windows (Win7 shown), you can set the size of the Recycle Bin via its right-click Properties dialog box.
3 Trim the browser caches: Newer browsers don't retain as much content as older versions, but even they can have huge caches and Windows has to track and manage it all. For each of the leading browsers, use the following steps to reduce cache size: Internet Explorer: Click Tools and Internet Options; then, under the Browsing History section, click Settings. Once the settings are open, you can adjust the capacity of the cache to a smaller amount. (See Figures 7 and 8.) I typically use a 50MB Internet cache plenty for normal surfing on standard broadband.
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Figure 7. All versions of Internet Explorer offer this dialog box (or a very similar one) for changing IE cache settings.
Figure 8. Once you're in the settings dialog box, select a smaller cache size.
Firefox: This browser's cache-size adjustment is similar to IE's. Click Tools, Options; then click Advanced. Under the Network tab, look for the settings box in the Offline Storage section. Chrome: The only way I've found to adjust Chrome's cache size is with a command-line switch, as described on a Chrome Help forum page.
4 Defrag, defrag, and defrag again: Hard-drive files neatly packaged into long, unbroken chains load faster than those whose segments are scattered all over the
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drive. Most defraggers also move the most-used or first-accessed files to the front of the disk, further speeding load times. All versions of Windows have competent defraggers built in or available. For instructions on using them, click Start, open the Help system, and then search Help using the keyword defrag. Any good download library also offers a huge range of third-party defrag tools. Take your pick. 5 Try a different anti-malware tool: Temporarily uninstall Trend Micro and try a smaller, simpler AV tool such as Microsoft's free Security Essentials (download page). If Trend Micro's software is causing your slowdown, you should see a big speed improvement with Security Essentials. It's a good time to run a different AV tool anyway, just to make sure the slowdown isn't caused by malware your Trend Micro setup might have missed. After all that, if your boot times still aren't what you'd like, here are some resources for deeper tweaking. For XP: TweakXP.com's index page of performance tweaks tips Microsoft's article, "Restore your computer's performance with Windows XP"
For Windows 7 and Vista: Microsoft's article, "Optimize Windows Vista for better performance"
Incidentally, many of the things you do to speed startups also speed shutdowns. A double benefit!
Make Internet Explorer 8 faster, better

As the gateway to the Internet, our browser might well be our most important app. Internet Explorer 8 is preconfigured with ancillary features that could slow it down. But you can review and selectively alter those options. Here's how: First, reset IE8 to its as first installed condition. Close any Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer windows that are open. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start orb, and then clicking Internet Explorer. Click the Tools button, or select Tools on the menu, and then click Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset.
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Select the Delete personal settings check box if you would like to remove browsing history, search providers, Accelerators, home pages, and InPrivate Filtering data. In the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog box, click Reset. When Internet Explorer finishes applying default settings, click Close, and OK. Close Internet Explorer, and then restart it.
Alternatively, you can use a free automated tool to restore IE8s default settings. Its available for download on this Microsoft page. Now youre ready to adjust IEs settings to your own preferences. When you first launch IE8 after restoring the defaults, you'll be asked to choose your settings. Select Choose custom settings. When asked whether you want to turn on IE8's suggested sites, select No, don't turn on. When asked to choose a default search provider, select Show me a webpage after setup to choose more search providers. Making a manual selection helps ensure that you bypass any associated initial default settings. I prefer Google over the default Bing anyway, but you can choose Bing or any other provider you wish. The point here is to avoid accepting the initial, built-in defaults. When asked to download search provider updates, select No. When offered a choice of accelerators, select Turn off all Accelerators that are included with Internet Explorer, as shown in Figure 9. (They don't really accelerate anything.)
Figure 9. IE8 performs faster if you turn off the default add-ons and ancillary features that can slow it down.
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When asked whether you want to use Compatibility View updates, answer Yes; compatibility view is useful on older and nonstandard websites, and having it enabled doesn't seem to slow down normal browsing. At some later point, IE8 will ask whether you want to turn on autocomplete. Select Yes; it is a time saver.
Other Tune-up/Speed-up information

Networking
Simple change speeds Win7 networks by up to 12% An old QoS speed-up hoax reappears Spectrum-analysis tools can help cure Wi-Fi headaches
Registry
Fine-tune your Registry for faster startups
Hard Drive
Are the benefits of defragmentation overblown? Should you defrag a solid-state drive (SSD)?
Video
Unplugging streaming video bottlenecks
Laptop
Extend the life of your laptop's battery
User Interface/Shortcuts
Keyboard and mouse shortcuts can boost your efficiency Twenty-six ways to work faster in Windows 7
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Part 3: Emergency troubleshooting

Weve all been there. Maybe its a subtle glitch where something just doesnt feel right with the system, or maybe the system wont boot at all. Problems come in all shapes and sizes, and Windows Secrets can help with them all. Lets start with one of the worst problems that can befall a PC: the system hangs during the initial startup or doesn't even try to boot. For this stop-you-in-your-tracks event, here's what to do and how to do it, as explained by Lincoln Spectors What to do when your PC gets hosed:
What to do when your PC gets hosed

Try Windows' built-in repair tools
If Windows can't start in the usual way, you may be able to boot and repair it in a simpler mode. Turn on the computer, and put your finger on the F8 key. The moment the first on-screen text disappears, just before Windows begins to load, press the key. Pressed at the precise moment, the F8 key should bring up the Windows Boot Menu. Depending on the PC, it may take a few tries with reboots to get the timing right. That's assuming, of course, that your PC and Windows are both in good-enough condition to get this far. If they're not, skip this section and go on to the next one. If you get to the menu, select Last Known Good Configuration. This option runs System Restore, which attempts to return Windows to a previous working condition. Should that effort not fix the problem, reboot, press F8 again, select Safe Mode, and try running System Restore from there. If you can load Safe Mode but System Restore doesn't do the trick, try running a good diagnostic and repair program (such as CCleaner) while still in Safe Mode. (If you don't already have CCleaner installed, I recommend the portable version download.) Still not fixed? Running in Safe Mode at least lets you back up your data a task that's arguably more important than rebooting the PC in serious situations. Plug an external drive into a USB port and drag important folders (such as your documents, photos, music, and videos) onto the external drive.
Using Linux to restore data and test your PC

If you can't boot into Safe Mode, recovering your data files becomes an even more important job. You may be able to access your hard drive and recover these files via a bootable (also known as live) Linux CD or flash drive. Booting Linux does more than help you recover your data: it helps you diagnose your trouble. If you can successfully boot this way but can't access the hard drive after you're
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in Linux, you know that the problem lies in your hard drive. If you can't boot at all, you've got a hardware problem that doesn't involve the hard drive. But if the whole process is a success, you've got a Windows difficulty, not a hardware one. There are a lot of live variations of Linux out there, but I recommend Puppy Linux (info/download). It's not the most powerful one by a long shot, but it's small, fast, and easy for Windows users. (See Figure 10.)
Figure 10. Puppy Linux gives you access to your hard-drive files when Windows won't.
Puppy downloads as an .iso file, which is basically an image backup of a CD. Doubleclick it; there's a good chance any program that burns a bootable CD will load the file and let you burn it to disc. If that doesn't happen, you need to download and install an app such as the free ISO Recorder. If you don't have an optical drive and therefore can't boot from a CD, see my July 8, 2010 Insider Tricks story, "Rescue Windows with a bootable flash drive," for instructions for putting your Puppy on a flash drive. After you prepare the CD or flash drive, insert it into your optical drive or USB port and try to start your machine. If it fails, make sure your PC is set to boot from this device. When you first turn on your computer, you might see an onscreen message telling you to press a particular key for a boot menu (which is not the same as the Windows Boot Menu I discussed earlier). Press that key to choose the right device. The boot menu message may or may not appear, but you'll almost certainly find instructions to press a particular key for Setup. In your PC's setup environment, which I can't describe in detail because it varies from one computer to another, you'll find options to control the devices it boots from and in what order. Look again for a boot menu. You want your optical drive or USB ports at the top of that list.
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After you successfully boot into Linux, you can click the hard-drive icon (or one of the hard-drive icons) in the lower-left corner to bring up the drive's contents. If the drive opens properly, find the files you need, plug in an external drive (you'll get a new icon, of a flash drive), open that drive, and drag folders from one location to the other.
When you know you have a hardware problem

So what do you do if you can't boot from a CD or flash drive? Unless you have an extremely recent backup, your first priority is to recover your files. Open your computer and remove the drive. (If you don't know how, check the manual.) After you remove it, you need to connect the drive to another computer but not as the main, bootable drive. If the other computer is a desktop machine, you can open it and plug the drive into a second SATA or IDE connector. If that sounds intimidating, or if the PC is a laptop, buy an adapter such as the Bytecc USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA Adapter Kit (info), which effectively turns an internal hard drive temporarily into an external one. I've seen them on sale for as little as U.S. $17. If you can't read the hard drive that way and there are files on it you really need, you have to take it to a professional data-recovery service. Kroll Ontrack (info) and DriveSavers (info) are the best known, but because I've never figured out a good, practical way to test these services, I can't honestly say they're better than their cheaper competitors. Beyond hard-drive issues, what do you do if your PC won't boot from the hard drive, a CD, or a flash drive? If you're comfortable enough with the inside of your PC to open it up and check connections and then test and swap components, go ahead. Otherwise, take it to a professional.
Using the tools on the Windows CD-ROM

If Safe Mode didn't boot or didn't fix the problem, but you were able to boot into Linux and access the drive, it's time to try the tools on a standard, retail Windows CD or DVD. But if you're using the version of Windows that came with your computer, you probably don't have an actual Windows disc. That's okay. You can make a bootable CD that can do everything that an XP, Vista, or Windows 7 disc can do except install an operating system. If Windows XP isn't booting, download the XP Recovery Console CD (download). Like Puppy Linux, it comes as an .iso file. Create the CD and boot it. At the main screen, press r for Repair to launch the Recovery Console. This brings up a DOS-like, command-prompt interface with several useful tools. The best are these: Bootcfg: This is used for viewing and repairing the boot.ini file. Fixboot: No, this isn't as wonderful as it sounds. It simply rewrites a partition's boot sector.
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Fixmbr: This fixes the master boot record. Diskpart: This one manages partitions, but be warned: it also destroys them.
The tools on the Vista and Windows 7 discs are much friendlier than the XP versions. But unless you have retail copies of the operating system, you must still make a disc. To make the Vista recovery disc, download the appropriate .iso file, available on the NeoSmart Technologies site, and burn it to a CD. You need BitTorrent installed to properly download this file. Windows 7 comes with a tool for creating its recovery disc. Click the Start orb, type backup, and select Backup your computer. In the resulting window's left pane, click Create a system repair disc. You'll be prompted to insert a blank disc. When you boot from either the Vista or the Windows 7 disc, the boot process just might find your problem and offer to fix it before anything else happens. If not, or if this doesn't work, follow the prompts to the System Recovery Options menu. Everything is pretty obvious from there.
Your last, desperate move: reinstalling

If your luck is good, you won't get to this point. But if all else fails, you're left with reinstalling Windows which most of us know is a long, boring, and sometimes scary process. Check out my how-to story, "Reinstall Windows without losing your data," for instructions. All the above can go a little more smoothly if you gather some recovery tools in advance of actually needing them. For example, see these: Rescue Windows with a bootable flash drive Bootable rescue CDs can fix your damaged Windows Custom boot CDs help fix Windows disasters
Resources for solving other issues

Boot and startup problems
Removing a false dual-boot option in Windows 7 (includes tools for managing Win7 and Vista system bootup) Tracking down and preventing unwanted reboots Using Task Manager to troubleshoot startup woes Using Bootrec.exe for startup repair
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Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC Networking problems

Solving Windows 7 networking problems More on Win7-NAS networking problems What or who is using your connection? Give your flagging WiFi signal a boost
Sleep/suspend/hibernate issues
Insomniac PC simply wakes on its own, won't stay asleep Network connection wont recover from sleep mode PC still seems active when 'standing by'
Viruses, malware, and so on.

How you can end a rootkit infection (as I had to) Microsoft Security Essentials (free) The 120-day Microsoft security suite test drive Security Essentials test drive month 6 Readers weigh in on MS Security Essentials
Driver problems
Forcefully rooting out a bad hardware driver
More free troubleshooting/repair tools:

Free utility suite bundles over 100 portable troubleshooting tools Windows Free Reliability Monitor Windows 7's built-in disk-imaging utility Beyond Chkdsk.exe Free 'Process Explorer' helps end shutdown woes Using Windows' System File Checker/ Windows File Protection (WFP)
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PC Maintenance Guide Windows 7

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PC Maintenance Guide Windows 7

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Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Other Upgrade Information ........................................................... 11

Part 2: Tuning up/speeding up your PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Give your computer a thorough file cleaning .............................. 13

A step-by-step guide for improving boot times ........................... 16

Make Internet Explorer 8 faster, better ......................................... 19

Other tune-up/speed-up information ............................................ 21

Part 3: Emergency troubleshooting

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Resources for solving other issues.............................................. 25

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Part 1: Upgrading your system

The absolutely safest way to upgrade to Win7

What you need to start the transition to Win7

Back up your data and create the dual-boot system

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Move your data to the new Win7 partition

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

When ready, toss out the old Windows partition

An alternative: Install Windows from a USB drive

Buying a new system with Windows preinstalled?

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Seven simple steps for optimizing your new Win7 setup

1 Get rid of the preinstalled junk software

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

2 Free does not always mean useless

3 Change Windows settings for safety

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

4 Need it or not, set up a Windows homegroup

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

5 Get automatic daily backups working

7 Add useful but unobtrusive utilities

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Other upgrade information

Solid-state hard drives

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Part 2: Tuning up/speeding your PC

Start with a thorough system checkup

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Review and update your PC's security system

Give your computer a thorough file cleaning

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Use disk imaging to preserve your new setup

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Build a rock-solid safety net with Win7

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

A step-by-step guide for improving boot times

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Make Internet Explorer 8 faster, better

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Other Tune-up/Speed-up information

Extend the life of your laptop's battery

Upgrade, Tune-up, Repair Your Windows PC

Part 3: Emergency troubleshooting