Keeping it clean: how to stop good computers from going bad

Most of us keep our computers longer than their manufacturers would like. Like most modern miracles, they are designed to fail. Well, all right, probably not deliberately in this case. Instead of designing the components so they will wear out after a certain time, the manufacturers simply create new computers with features they figure we can't afford to miss. So they figure we'll "upgrade" - usually meaning we'll throw out the old, get the new - about every three years.

In fact, three years is starting to sound like "old". BUT! Many a computer can live a healthy, happy life well beyond that time frame. One way to help your computer last as long as you want to keep it is to keep it clean. Clear out the dust and broken stuff on a regular basis.

A good start on this fitness program is to find out what you've got in there to begin with. Use the Belarc Advisor. The Belarc Advisor is a web-based program that analyzes what you have on your computer and offers it up in a nice, compact, easily-readable (and printable) page. The page has so much information it will take your breath away. You'll get your processor, hard drive info (what they are, how full they are), memory info, and a list of all of your programs. You'll also see a list of the registration keys for those programs that require them. ALL in one place (so print this out; you never know when you will need those keys). You'll see a list of all the "hot fixes" (if yours is a Windows PC) installed and their status.

It's a terrific way to get all of the data about your computer in one place. And when you change something you may want to run it again. Oh, did I mention this program is free? All of the programs listed in this post are free. And come with no noxious fumes of advertising.

After you see what you've got you may want to look at the list of programs and see if there are any you can do without. Programs you installed that you thought did one thing but instead do something else, something you don't want. Programs that you haven't used in two or three years. You might want to mark those on your printout. And if the hotfix list indicates there is a fix that didn't take you might want to reinstall that fix.

Then get out a cleaner. I like Ccleaner, as do many techie folks. It's small, free, easy to download and install, and has several cleaning options. You can set it to remove different types of temp files, for example, as well as different types of files used by your applications. When you open it up you choose what you want to clean and click a button and wham! It's done. On my computer it usually cleans out tons of fluff and those dustbunnies don't have a chance.

When I've finished the cleaning I sometimes take a look at what else I can get rid of. Click the "tools" button. You can choose to uninstall programs or uninstall startup shortcuts.

I like this program for uninstalling programs. Just choose the program and tell it to uninstall it. It's faster and easier than the uninstall program that comes with Windows. I also like to clean up startup programs. These are the programs that start when you start your computer. A lot of them do not need to be running all the time and certainly don't need to start up with your computer. Again, it's easy to get rid of them. Click on one and tell it to delete it. Done. What I would like is if this part of the program would tell me the effects of removing each startup program. Unless I understand what I'm taking out I leave them in there.

But we aren't done with ccleaner yet. You can click "issues" and it will find where there are lost fragments of programs, left over from uninstalls and other changes, will pick up on obsolete software, much more. You can choose what you want it to find and then tell it to fix these issues. It will offer you the choice of deciding each issue by itself or you can tell it "just fix them all".

Finally, or firstly (your choice), get out the spyware cleaner. I use Spybot, but there are others coming on the scene all the time. Spybot keeps finding the latest spyware and checks your computer for it. If it find it you can leave it or kill it. Sometimes it isn't able to kill one or two but it gets most of them.

These programs are free, small, easy to use and fast. I have never had a problem with any of them and I've used them for quite a while now. You may find that you use them often because they are easy and they find problems faster than you could without them.

As the owner of a decrepit four-year-old computer who cannot afford the fancy dancy new one - yet - I take my own advice and clean early and often.