Vista Maintenance

  • Thread starter Thread starter roraniel
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roraniel

Does anyone have a list of "must have" maintenace apps for optimal Vista
Performance?

I have heard CCleaner is good, and I assume Defraging, but how often should
I defrag?

Beyond that what is good?

Do any of these so called reg cleaners really do anything?
 
I personally use CCleaner, but 'not' the registry option. My philosophy on
registry cleaners is: 'if you are not competent enough to edit the registry
manually, then leave well alone.' Registry cleaner cause more problems than
they solve.

Defragmenting the drive is a must. I don't use Vista's own defragmenter I
much prefer third party defragmenters. I use PerfectDisk and my hard drive
is defragged every week.

Make sure you also have a good anti virus application (not Nortons or
Mcafee) There are plenty of free ones about. I recommend AVG; others
recommend Avast.

My only other 'addition' is Malwarebytes Anti Malware (www.malwarebytes.org)
which is a free spyware/malware application. Yes Vista does have Windows
Defender, which I also use, but I also like to run Malwarebytes.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Thanks. I see PerfectDisk is not a free defrag program. Can you recommend a
free defrag app? Someone told me to try Smart Defrag.
 
Does anyone have a list of "must have" maintenace apps for optimal Vista
Performance?
Click to expand...

Regular reinstallations of XP until Vista is gone is a good policy.
I have heard CCleaner is good, and I assume Defraging, but how often should
I defrag?
Click to expand...

Be careful with CCleaner. It can clean out things you want.

Vista Defrag allegedly runs in the background and you never need to
defrag again. In real life, I suggest every couple weeks - if you wait
longer then it may take a while to do. A lot of folks are using 3rd
party defraggers since Vista gives no estimate of fragmentation level,
time required, or time remaining.
Beyond that what is good?
Click to expand...

Backup your data.
Do any of these so called reg cleaners really do anything?
Click to expand...

I don't think they matter all that much. Perhaps if you install and
un-install a lot of programs they might remove some unneeded entries
but it's not really a key performance item.
 
No sadly PerfectDisk isn't a free program but you get what you pay for.
However, if you are looking for a free disk defragmenter then Auslogic disk
defrag (http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag) is good.

I can't comment on Smart Defrag simply because I've never used it.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Thanks. I see PerfectDisk is not a free defrag program. Can you recommend a
free defrag app? Someone told me to try Smart Defrag.
Click to expand...

Don't clutter your OS. There is absolutely nothing wrong using the built-in
utility!
 
Hi Anne,

Vista's defragmenter is fine and as you are not a heavy user defragmenting
monthly should be okay.

The third party defragmenter I recommended, PerfectDisk, defragments the
drive far better than the one Vista has, after all, it is an extremely
'light' version of Diskeeper.

Vista's defragmenter does the job it is supposed to do but, like everything
else, free versions are only the basic, for more substantial features you
have to pay for them. PerfectDisk also defrags the boot files, something
that Vista defragmenter doesn't do, yes the boot files can be defragged
using command line parameters but it isn't something that the Vista
defragmenter does automatically.

Most users complain about the Vista defragmenter, not because it isn't any
good, but because they can't see what it is doing. If you used Windows XP
you will remember that the disk defragmenter displayed a progress bar
showing how much fragmentation you had and also how disk defragmenter was
re-arranging it. Windows Vista doesn't have this user friendly interface and
people resent that; but that was a decision Microsoft took and they will,
know doubt, stick to it.

Auslogic, on the other hand is free and has a user friendly interface where
you can see, block by block, exactly how the drive is being defragmented and
what the progress is.

Even though PerfectDisk has a friendly interface and also displays the
progress of the defragmentation it is very rare that I sit and watch each
block move around the screen. I just set it and forget it.

So, Anne, in a nutshell you aren't missing anything by using the Vista
defragmenter unless, of course, you want to see little blocks being moved
around. Personally I think it's like watching paint dry.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Am I missing something using Vista's defrag?
Click to expand...

The build-in utility is an *integral* part of the operating system; It is
doing what it is supposed to do very effectively. Yes, it hasn't got the
bells and whistles... And is slower than some of the 3rd party programs;
But we're about minutes not hours!
 
Vista's defragmenter does the job it is supposed to do but, like
everything else, free versions are only the basic, for more
substantial features you have to pay for them.
Click to expand...

I don't get it.

You mean to say the money paid for the Vista does not include defragmanter?
 
Jag Chan said:
I don't get it.

You mean to say the money paid for the Vista does not include
defragmanter?
Click to expand...

Find it at:
Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter
It seems to work fine but gives so little feedback that it's hard to be sure
just what it's up to. But you can safely set it to run on a schedule. Choose
a slack time when your computer is nevertheless switched on, set it up
forget it.
Doug
 
I'm glad I could be of help.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Spirnat of natt said:
Choose

Great idea.. when you are not using the computer leave it on so you can
help this planet burn itself up from global warming.
Click to expand...

Wanna help the environment? Stop wasting bandwidth.

****tard
 
Spirnat of natt said:
Choose

Great idea.. when you are not using the computer leave it on so you can
help this planet burn itself up from global warming.

Haven't you see the arctic melting? Do you have ANY ****ING IDEA what this
means?
Click to expand...
It means you're a moron plain and simple. When was the last time you saw the
artic melting you lying piece of sh*t moron.
 
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