Tips on keeping s Fresh system Fresh?

[iseethemtoo]

Hiya people
Just like the topic asks.

What sort of programs do you use to mainain your new rig?

What sort 0f practices do you have? (defrag, how often...other maintenace tasks?)?

Spyware stuff and all that...

What about file management practises?

Please post whatever you like including links !!!

Thanks a tonne!

edit* on a side note..are yall runnin sp2, or are ya sticking to sp1?

 

[D1gger]

I like your choices for the new rig. Here is the PC I built last month:

Thermaltake® VA3000SWA Tsunami Aluminum Silver w/ window ATX Case
Antec Silence Tru550W ATX Power Supply
AMD Athlon? 64 - FX-53 (Socket 939)
Thermaltake Venus 12
Arctic Silver 5 - 3.5gm
Asus® A8V - Deluxe, Socket 939, VIA K800
Corsair 1Gb PC/4000 XMS ProSeries (2 x 512Mb)
Pioneer DVR-107 DVD-RW & CD-RW Drive
Liteon 52/32/52 CD-RW Drive
Logitech® Cordless MX? Duo
2 x 74 GB Western Digital® Raptor? SATA-150 10,000RPM 8Mb OEM (RAID 0)
160GB Seagate Barracuda V SATA-150 7200RPM 8Mb 9ms OEM
BFG 6800Ultra - OC
SoundBlaster® Audigy? 2 ZS Platinum Pro

As far as keeping it running like new. I try to install all of the programs in the Raid 0 array, and keep all of my data on the 160GB Seagate drive. Then I run Spybot / Adaware weekly, and defrag monthly. It still seems that I need a fresh install of WinXp about every 8 to 12 months.

 

[addragyn]

Keep apps/OS seperate from data. Either seperate partition or HD. Tip is to take advantage of My Documents to do this. Makes it easy to keep your data seperate since it's so easily available throughout Windows.

Get all your apps on there and update them. Update Windows to the latest Service Pack.

Do your tweaks, security mods.

Do not use your box for anything but setup at this point.

Make an image of the OS/apps partition. Throw it onto a CD, nice to make it bootable.

- - -

It's very simple run, AV and do Windows update. Use an non-MS browser and mail client if you can. The tight integration of these apps make them relatively insecure.

With NTFS defrag every couple of months is plenty for a desktop.

Do not run as the Administrator. Only use that account for *administration*.

When you feel like the system needs a refresh. Just use the image you made after setting everything up.

- - -

Maintaing Windows is a Sisyphian task. I used to somewhat enjoy it but now it just seems like a waste of time. Life is too short. To that end I now prefer to use OS X, unfortunately Linux just isn't there yet and BeOS is dead.

 

[iseethemtoo]

Thanks D1gger

Do spyware and adaware do different things for you to need to use both?

And do I *need* the se version or will the free version suffice?

Wow, thats some helpful stuff Addragyn

One thing I didnt do is make an image

Also, all my apps are not on there yet.

The only stuff I have done is update drivers, installed a couple of bundled apps, installed several benchamrking utilities, installed and Updated Norton, and installed Doom3 (I mean, come on, I HAD to!)

At this point can I still make a good image?

I will be keeping data on a seperate drive (nothing at all on there yet) and my primary drive is only one partition for apps/games/os.

Also all I have for cd/dvd software is the Roxio "Basic DVD" disc that camed bundled with my dvdrw. What is best for backing stuff up and is it still good for other cd dvd rw projects?

 

[mauiblue]

I installed Win XP SP 2 and later found that because of SP 2 Adobe Premiere Pro would not export to DVD. So I googled the problem and found that others had the same problem. So I uninstalled it and now Premiere Pro is able to burn to DVD. I know that others may not have problems with SP 2, but for me I will wait till the bugs are worked out.

BTW, I made an image (using Drive Image 7) of a clean setup of Win XP Pro. When I do need to have a fresh setup of my OS again, I already have it ready to be restored on to my hard drive. I also like Symantec System Works to do regular maintenance.

 

[SickBeast]

Washandgo.

Best. Utility. Ever.

 

[iseethemtoo]

So when you make this image..there is nothing on your drive except for windows?

ie, Im screwed for making an image like that?

 

[mechBgon]

If you'd like to put a huge hurdle in the path of spyware, then make yourself a Limited user account and use that all the time, except when you NEED the power of the Administrator account. As a Limited user, you (and anything trying to run as you) cannot get very far with spyware/adware installation. Of course, if you purposely log on as the Administrator account to install Hotbar or BargainBuddy or Webshots or whatever, well...

Password-protect your Administrator-class accounts with strong passwords, such as p1zza=Yummy! (contains numerals, symbols, capitals, not a dictionary word and not short). More security suggestions under the Ongoing prevention header here. Personally, I had WinXP Pro and tried SP2, and I liked the enhancements in SP2 for home use. While I personally don't need it to do some of the stuff it does (babysitting my antivirus software for out-of-date defs, for example), I can see where that will be helpful to a lot of home users.

 

[mauiblue]

delete

 

[n7]

A few ways to keep a fresh install fresh...

After installing Windows & installing what drivers/programs/etc. you need to, do an image of your drive/partition using Ghost or Drive Image or whatever, so you can easily restore when needed.

Use Adaware & Spybot Search & Destroy regularly, as well as an antivirus program. Defrag regularly (i use Perfect Disk).

I like to use Black Viper's Windows services guide to disable any unneeded services as well.

Another simple way to keep bootups fast & extra processes to a minumum is to monitor what is being set to start upon install by checking msconfig regularly.

I've noticed a disgusting number of software titles seem to think they always needs to be running in the background when you start Windows (though they really don't).


/my $0.02