Post: #1

I need to get more serious about keeping my computer virus free and performing at its max. For a guy who works online, I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to computers, at least far more than I should be, but I want to change that.

I'm aiming to put together a checklist of tasks to perform as a periodic review. I found the attached PDF checklist online. A lot of this stuff I don't know how to do, but I'm just going to learn each item one-by-one to get up to speed.
  Computer Maintenance Checklist.pdf (Size: 95.27 KB / Downloads: 11958)

To those of you who work with or know computer tech well, how does this checklist look? Is it missing things? Does it contain unnecessary stuff? Do you have a better one you can share?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #2

Is this for you or for a company?

If this is for you, throw the list out.

Once a year, back up your important documents, pictures, music, etc. and completely wipe and re-install your computer.

It doesn't matter if this is a PC or a Mac. Both suck and will start to get crusty.

You can try and fight it by dumping caches, defraging, etc etc. but nothing will slow the gradual march towards a slow computer. The only thing that helps is clearing the junk out once a year.

Since I've owned Macs for awhile Apple has a pretty consistent policy of having completely new versions of OS X out once every 2-3 years which simplifies the whole process. Never use the "upgrade in place" option, always back up and completely wipe the hard drive to start fresh.

If this is for a company, I'd suggest using a program that deletes everything on shutdown and then forces the computer back to a new image. Use network shares for user data. The less access a user has to the core OS the better. Terminals were awesome back in the day.

As for fighting viruses and the like. I suggest using a browser like Chrome or FF with adblock plus. Almost every virus that you will come into contact with on the net comes from hackers hijacking flash and banner ads with malicious content. Secondary is to always keep your browser plugins up to date (Flash, Java, etc).

This can be done on the enterprise level by pushing an advertising block list through the hostsfile. You can set up a local DNS server to do this or push a hostsfile through active directory with a group policy update.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials as my virus protection of choice. It's free and works faster than the bloatware of Symantec and the like.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Experience: 6 years of working in enterprise IT support

Post: #3

Learn about hard drive partitioning. Figure out how to setup a computer to dual boot 2 different operating systems. You should at least be able to clean install Windows.

Learn how to recover files from a corrupted OS that won't boot.

Max out your ram and install Windows on a SSD.

Post: #4

Great topic for a post. I was also thinking about asking something similar, what are some good programs I shoudl have on my computer to run maintenance tasks, protect from viruses and malware and all that.

My girls brother is an IT guy at a university. He helps me out with my computers from time to time. He's a big advocate of Glary Utilities. THey have a one click maintenance thing that checks and repairs your registry, cleans junk and does a bunch of other stuff. There are also individual tools you can use to do other things as well.

Anohter program he always recommends to me is revvo uninstaller. I'm not too saavy but from how he explains it even when you delete something from your computer there are files leftover nad pieces still onyour registry. Revoo does the best job of removing any tidbits of files leftover which may slow you down or cause problems or take up space.

He also recomends malwarebytes. I've also heard a number of IT and compuer guys say they are big fans of avast for antivirus. For any computer guys, is it necessary to have something like avast and malwarebytes or is one sufficient?

Lastly, I heard someone on this forum mention you should use a guest account on your own computer. If I recall I think they said if anything happens only that profile is corrupted not the admin profile. Is that really the case?

Post: #5

Run your OS from an SSD and then store all of your documents on a hard disk in your PC. Buy a NAS drive, plug it into your router and use that to back up all your important documents. For extra safety encrypt your most valuable documents and upload them onto some kind of cloud storage.

Post: #6

That's a good list, however it's from 2003 and mentions Windows 95. I'd skip anything that mentions specific things like floppy drives or cleaning mice (they're optical now).

Clearing temp files is always a good idea, however since Windows XP came out, it automatically defrags the disk when not in use.

Post: #7

Assuming you're using a PC to work, here’s a monthly maintenance checklist to maintain your computer. Make sure to follow it every month. Doesnt change much if you're using a Mac. Only some steps need minor changes.

1. Run Disk Cleanup – Running disk cleanup will remove temporary files, compressed old files, offline web pages, downloaded file programs and empty the recycle bin. You can run Disk Cleanup utility tool by going to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. You can also use CCleaner for this.
2. Update Windows regularly – Microsoft releases system security patches on Patch Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of each month. If you haven’t already done it, be sure that you run Windows update and install the patches. To run Windows Updates, go to Start ->All Programs -> Windows Update.
3. Update Installed Software – In addition to updating Windows, you will also want to make sure that the third-party software installed on your PC is also current. This especially rings true for Adobe Reader, Flash and Java since they are often exploited in cyber-attacks. So make sure they are all up-to-date with the latest security fixes.
4. Do a Full-System Antivirus Scan – Double-check that your antivirus program is up-to-date with the latest virus definitions and perform a full-system scan to verify that your system is still clear of any Trojans, viruses, or other malware.
5. Complete Data Backup – You should be backing up your files on a weekly basis, but in the event that you’ve been slacking off, be sure to do a full system backup on a monthly basis. That way you can pick up with the most recent backup if anything were to happen.
6. Delete & Organize Files – Chances are you create or adde plenty of files throughout the month, so go through your files and clean them up a bit. Remove any files you don’t need and organize the ones you do so they are easily accessible for later use.
7. Uninstall Unused Programs – If you have the tendency to install a lot of programs then review the list of the ones currently installed & remove any that you don’t need.
8. Clear Dust – Dust can clog your system fans, lead to overheating issues and even cause hardware failure if it’s allowed to get too out of hand. If you have the technical know-how, carefully open up your computer and use a can of compressed air to remove any dust that has collected. Consult a computer professional if you don’t feel comfortable opening up your PC and/or cleaning out the dust.

Post: #8

An off topic question:

I am trying to change my IP location to United Kingdom due to ''online work'' reasons. I have installed the tor browser, however this is not doing the job, because is showing my IP in different countries every few minutes, I just want to have a specific country. I did what I was told here http://malwaretips.com/threads/how-to-ch...try.27653/ , however the new tor browser doesn't come with vidalia panel so I am finding it hard to configure my IP location to United Kingdom. Can somebody help me out? I would appreciate it, pm me if you can help.

Post: #9

(09-24-2014 12:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  An off topic question:

I am trying to change my IP location to United Kingdom due to ''online work'' reasons. I have installed the tor browser, however this is not doing the job, because is showing my IP in different countries every few minutes, I just want to have a specific country. I did what I was told here http://malwaretips.com/threads/how-to-ch...try.27653/ , however the new tor browser doesn't come with vidalia panel so I am finding it hard to configure my IP location to United Kingdom. Can somebody help me out? I would appreciate it, pm me if you can help.

Tor is designed to change frequently to hide your IP, what you need is a true vpn service like https://www.astrill.com/ which allows you to "throw" your ip to one of their servers, you will install astrill on your pc then before you login for work, select a server in UK then browse as usual. Check Astrill to make sure the have servers in UK. let me know if you need help setting it up.

Post: #10

(09-24-2014 11:16 AM)villageindian Wrote:  Assuming you're using a PC to work, here’s a monthly maintenance checklist to maintain your computer. Make sure to follow it every month. Doesnt change much if you're using a Mac. Only some steps need minor changes.

1. Run Disk Cleanup – Running disk cleanup will remove temporary files, compressed old files, offline web pages, downloaded file programs and empty the recycle bin. You can run Disk Cleanup utility tool by going to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. You can also use CCleaner for this.
2. Update Windows regularly – Microsoft releases system security patches on Patch Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of each month. If you haven’t already done it, be sure that you run Windows update and install the patches. To run Windows Updates, go to Start ->All Programs -> Windows Update.
3. Update Installed Software – In addition to updating Windows, you will also want to make sure that the third-party software installed on your PC is also current. This especially rings true for Adobe Reader, Flash and Java since they are often exploited in cyber-attacks. So make sure they are all up-to-date with the latest security fixes.
4. Do a Full-System Antivirus Scan – Double-check that your antivirus program is up-to-date with the latest virus definitions and perform a full-system scan to verify that your system is still clear of any Trojans, viruses, or other malware.
5. Complete Data Backup – You should be backing up your files on a weekly basis, but in the event that you’ve been slacking off, be sure to do a full system backup on a monthly basis. That way you can pick up with the most recent backup if anything were to happen.
6. Delete & Organize Files – Chances are you create or adde plenty of files throughout the month, so go through your files and clean them up a bit. Remove any files you don’t need and organize the ones you do so they are easily accessible for later use.
7. Uninstall Unused Programs – If you have the tendency to install a lot of programs then review the list of the ones currently installed & remove any that you don’t need.
8. Clear Dust – Dust can clog your system fans, lead to overheating issues and even cause hardware failure if it’s allowed to get too out of hand. If you have the technical know-how, carefully open up your computer and use a can of compressed air to remove any dust that has collected. Consult a computer professional if you don’t feel comfortable opening up your PC and/or cleaning out the dust.

Excellent check list I would also ad a defrag every month or as needed. It helps clean up and organize space on your pc, Also make sure to keep Java & Adobe flash updated most people ignore this update but it will prevent 80% of viruses coming through.

I have removed viruses and fixed software on 5000+ pc and macs and by following this list most people would prevent most of their computer problems.

Post: #11

you can automate a lot of those tasks (defrag, disk cleanup, etc) in windows so they just happen on schedule and you don't even have to mess with them.

Tons of freeware utilities and software are found http://www.techsupportalert.com/

Another thing to be aware of is your "Startup" folder. make sure you evaluate that once in a while too so you don't end up with tons of stuff starting up that you don't need.

Post: #12

I had a 'tech' ( just a guy who knew his way around computers) go through my computer at a Starbucks. In half an hour, everything was snappier.

So, I'd recommend a tech going through your computer. But my issue with this has been, trust. I've had a tech check my computer for .jpg's. Just that one incidence had me distrust techs because they have access to my stuff.

So, here's a service I'd use: A remote technician.

There's software available that allows a technician to logon to your computer from another location. Once he's in, he can move the mouse around and use whatever software tools he needs to do his work....and I can keep an eye on the whole process. If hardware work needs to be done, I'd simply get that done locally, but, remove the hard-drive first.

I tried using some brand of Registry Cleaner once, big mistake.

Antivirus, Comodo Firewall, Firefox with Adblock, never had problems.

Post: #13

(09-24-2014 10:09 PM)Zep Wrote:  I had a 'tech' ( just a guy who knew his way around computers) go through my computer at a Starbucks. In half an hour, everything was snappier.

So, I'd recommend a tech going through your computer. But my issue with this has been, trust. I've had a tech check my computer for .jpg's. Just that one incidence had me distrust techs because they have access to my stuff.

So, here's a service I'd use: A remote technician.

There's software available that allows a technician to logon to your computer from another location. Once he's in, he can move the mouse around and use whatever software tools he needs to do his work....and I can keep an eye on the whole process. If hardware work needs to be done, I'd simply get that done locally, but, remove the hard-drive first.

I tried using some brand of Registry Cleaner once, big mistake.

Antivirus, Comodo Firewall, Firefox with Adblock, never had problems.

Agreed all 5000+ virus removals, tune up etc I performed were all done 100% remotely. No reason to take into a shop or pay to have someone come to you, just another way to charge you extra.

Post: #14

Install MINT and you never have to worry about a virus again.. I have 2 linux partitions and one for windows and as soon as windows stops working I just switch to Mint (which is just like a shitty bloaty windows).

Post: #15

(09-24-2014 01:58 PM)txbeachbum Wrote:  

(09-24-2014 12:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  An off topic question:

I am trying to change my IP location to United Kingdom due to ''online work'' reasons. I have installed the tor browser, however this is not doing the job, because is showing my IP in different countries every few minutes, I just want to have a specific country. I did what I was told here http://malwaretips.com/threads/how-to-ch...try.27653/ , however the new tor browser doesn't come with vidalia panel so I am finding it hard to configure my IP location to United Kingdom. Can somebody help me out? I would appreciate it, pm me if you can help.

Tor is designed to change frequently to hide your IP, what you need is a true vpn service like https://www.astrill.com/ which allows you to "throw" your ip to one of their servers, you will install astrill on your pc then before you login for work, select a server in UK then browse as usual. Check Astrill to make sure the have servers in UK. let me know if you need help setting it up.

no need for a VPN
just install Zenmate for Chrome and choose a UK server. tada now all your browser traffic gets routed through the UK

best its completely free

Post: #16

(09-25-2014 04:53 AM)w00t Wrote:  

(09-24-2014 01:58 PM)txbeachbum Wrote:  

(09-24-2014 12:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  An off topic question:

I am trying to change my IP location to United Kingdom due to ''online work'' reasons. I have installed the tor browser, however this is not doing the job, because is showing my IP in different countries every few minutes, I just want to have a specific country. I did what I was told here http://malwaretips.com/threads/how-to-ch...try.27653/ , however the new tor browser doesn't come with vidalia panel so I am finding it hard to configure my IP location to United Kingdom. Can somebody help me out? I would appreciate it, pm me if you can help.

Tor is designed to change frequently to hide your IP, what you need is a true vpn service like https://www.astrill.com/ which allows you to "throw" your ip to one of their servers, you will install astrill on your pc then before you login for work, select a server in UK then browse as usual. Check Astrill to make sure the have servers in UK. let me know if you need help setting it up.

no need for a VPN
just install Zenmate for Chrome and choose a UK server. tada now all your browser traffic gets routed through the UK

best its completely free

Thanks to both of you, I will probably try Zenmate now. I have downloaded astrill last night and read their reviews and the guys on UK servers were complaining that their servers were too slow. Damn right, their server is super super slow, I couldn't even open a page after 5 minutes, however the guys using US servers said their experience was awesome. Trying Zenmate now.

Post: #17

(09-25-2014 04:53 AM)w00t Wrote:  

(09-24-2014 01:58 PM)txbeachbum Wrote:  

(09-24-2014 12:58 PM)pitt Wrote:  An off topic question:

I am trying to change my IP location to United Kingdom due to ''online work'' reasons. I have installed the tor browser, however this is not doing the job, because is showing my IP in different countries every few minutes, I just want to have a specific country. I did what I was told here http://malwaretips.com/threads/how-to-ch...try.27653/ , however the new tor browser doesn't come with vidalia panel so I am finding it hard to configure my IP location to United Kingdom. Can somebody help me out? I would appreciate it, pm me if you can help.

Tor is designed to change frequently to hide your IP, what you need is a true vpn service like https://www.astrill.com/ which allows you to "throw" your ip to one of their servers, you will install astrill on your pc then before you login for work, select a server in UK then browse as usual. Check Astrill to make sure the have servers in UK. let me know if you need help setting it up.

no need for a VPN
just install Zenmate for Chrome and choose a UK server. tada now all your browser traffic gets routed through the UK

best its completely free

This worked and is fast. Thanks very much. I just gave you a rep point.