The Repair and Maintenance of Your Own Personal Computer

One of the main problems you may be experiencing with your computer is "old-age-slow-down." Without any maintenance, regrettably, your computer will continue to ...slow down. Crashing or freezing is another common complaint.

The short term solution is to restart your computer. This too can be extremely frustrating if your computer takes forever to restart. But, unlike humans the computer can be rejuvenated and restored.

By taking the bull by the horns a novice user can follow in the footsteps of a computer technician and easily carry out preliminary computer repair tasks. Maybe there is no need to call a tech or buy a new computer.

The first step on the road to repair is to make use of the disk cleanup facility located in the Windows Accessories folder under Programs. By running this utility it will safely remove all unnecessary files. After a couple of years the build up of temporary files can be a substantial burden.

The next step is to remove all unused software. In particular the free software you may have downloaded on a trial basis or for short term use. Assuming your antivirus software is up to date and not reporting any viruses you next need to scan your PC for any other threats that may be lurking.

There is free software available on the Net that may do a satisfactory job. Go to Microsoft.com and download the free Windows Defender program and run it on your computer.

Another useful free utility can be found at the German site Lavasoft.de. An excellent heavy duty performer you can download to check your computer, can be located at Noadware.net. (see below) If any problems are discovered, you will need to fork out money to register this software for a removal remedy.

After completing the above tasks a registry cleanup is the next step. One thing you will always see in a technician's tool kit ...is registry cleaning software. "What is the computer registry," you may ask? Think of the registry as a huge database that holds the computer's inventory of every file, folder and program that resides on your computer.

The problem is when you add or remove programs and files ...the registry gets bloated, disorganized and the result is ...a slow PC. Manual repair and maintenance of the registry would be a highly complex task ...but with good software the task becomes easy. Run the software to clean out the remnants of old software and bugs. An excellent registry cleaner can be located at Regcure.com.(see below)

The last step is making sure all security updates have been applied to your Windows operating system. A quick solution is to turn on the Automatic Updates. Go to the Security Center in the Control Panel and make sure the Updates are turned on as well as using a firewall protection system. The Security Center will keep you informed if there is any problem with outdated software.

Using the MSCONFIG Command to fix the slow PC problem

Computer systems often slow down over time due to the number of entries added in the Windows start up settings. Software vendors want to ensure their software start by default every time the computer is switched on.

What most people don't know is that every time you boot your computer a whole glut of hidden programs load in the background. By disabling these unnecessary features you can regain some of the original performance of your machine.

Built into Windows is a special tool called the Microsoft System Configuration Utility or MSCONFIG. It is designed to help you troubleshoot problems on your PC. One option gives you the opportunity to make changes by turning off some of these unseen programs and retest the speed of your PC for improved performance.

To start the utility, type MSCONFIG in the RUN box and then click the Start-up tab. Under Start-up you will see a comprehensive list of files which activate software on the computer boot up. For newcomers the list may seem like a load of gobbledygook, but with careful inspection one can make associations with common programs. By un-checking the boxes next to the files you can turn off software at will. For unknown file names, a search by Google will quickly provide results.

The Microsoft Baseline Analyzer or the MSBA

For the keen amateur, MBSA is a free standalone scan tool designed for IT people. It helps determine the security state of a PC and offers specific guidance for remedial action. Use MBSA to check the security on your computer and find out if any important updates are missing.

MBSA was originally released as a response to an intelligent breed of man made worms that analyzed individual PCs or a network of PCs for missing security patches and other common security flaws. Go to the Microsoft site to locate and download MBSA. It can then be installed and run on your PC at regular intervals. MBSA simplifies security appraisals and delivers another tool in the quest to secure computing.

Recommended Software for servicing your own computer

Download and run on your PC to check for any super bugs	Download and run on your computer to check for registry errors