Friday, July 30, 2010

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Cleaning Up Windows XP

Anyone who drives a car very often knows that if you don't clean it out, your trash will eventually be the only one driving it. You have to clean it up from time to time to make room for yourself and others and to keep it performing and looking the way you want. The same is true of your PC!

There are several items in Windows that need a good cleaning from time to time. In this series, you will see the major parts that everyone can clean up without any extra software purchases needed. This article will describe how to do the following:

Cleanup temp files and clear disk space with MS Disk Cleanup
Cleanup your browser. (MS Internet Explorer or Firefox)
Uninstall unwanted programs and Windows Components
Deframent the Hard Drive.

Cleaning up Windows XP - Step 1: Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is a very easy to use tool that empties out many unused or unneeded files that tend to collect in windows. To use our call analogy, if you eat a candy bar in your car and don't eat the wrapper in the process (don't laugh, you know its happened), then you have trash left that needs to be removed. In the same way, there are consumables that are left over when you open files or surf the net. These are called "temp files" as they are used only while you are working on the file or looking at a web page. These files are rarely removed and over time will take up a lot of space.

Opening Disk Cleanup can be opened three ways:

Click on Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup
Click on Start -> Run and type in cleanmgr in the run box and click OK.
Open My Computer, Rt-Click on the C:\ drive and choose "Properties." In the Properties window, click the button "Disk Cleanup"

Steps 1 & 2 will bring up the Disk Cleanup Select Drive window:

Step 3 will automatically select the C:\ drive and bring up the Disk Cleanup window:

After selecting the drive, the first thing that you will see is that it scans the computer looking for all of the temp files and unused older files. This process can take up to 5-10 minutes to perform based on the age of the computer and the amount of files on the computer. After the scan completes you are presented with this window:

The Files to delete list shows you all of the sections of the computer that can be cleaned to free up disk space. Most of the items in the list can be selected to be cleaned without concern, however some items have greater consequences. Below is a list of the most common items listed and what the impact of each is on system performance. The list of options that you have will depend on installed components and programs as well as the version of Windows XP you have.

Downloaded Program Files - Some websites have small programs (often called applets or activeX controls) that add functionality to your browser. They allow certain parts of the page to be viewed correctly. If you "surf" the web frequently, then you will likely have applets that will never be used again. Cleaning these items will free space but will have to be reloaded if you go back to the site again. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
Temporary Internet Files - Everytime you open a webpage your browser collects the contents of the page into a temp folder so that when you come back to the site, the page will load faster. Removing these will potentially free large amounts of disk space and could also make some pages load correctly if you are having trouble opening a site. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
Recycle Bin - When you delete a file on your computer, it isn't actually deleted - not yet. The file is moved to a temporary location called the Recycle Bin. This is to help prevent accidental file deletion. The files in this location remain there till you either recover them or permanently delete them. Many people are unaware that this exists and wind up using up their hard drives when they think that they are cleaning it up. IMPACT: moderate - clean recommended. Before cleaning, check to make sure that there isn't something in here that you want to keep!
Temporary Files - Many programs will dump files into temp folders on the computer for various reasons. Removing these files is a good way to clear space without having to worry about hurting something. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files - According to the description given on the disk cleanup window, these files are for performance boosting purposes and can be deleted safely.IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
Temporary Offline Files - When you open files over a network with the Offline Files enabled, a temp file is created so that you will have access to these files when disconnected from the network. These files are redundant and can be removed safely. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
OfflineFiles - These are files that you would have specifically made available offline. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
Setup Log Files - These files are created when a program is installed. They are only useful if you need to troubleshoot a failed program installation. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.
Backup Files For Previous Operating System - If you upgraded from a previous version of Windows, you will have this option.You can remove these files if you do not intend on going back to the previous version of Windows. If you remove these files you will not be able to "uninstall" Windows XP and a fresh install of the older OS will have to be performed. IMPACT: moderate - clean recommended. Before cleaning, make sure that you don't want to revert back to your previous version of Windows.
Compress Old Files - Invariably, there will be plenty of files on your computer that will rarely get used. They won't fall into any of the other categories and are really just taking up space or may be needed in the future. Disk Cleaner will offer to compress these files - making them smaller but leaving them on the system just in case they are needed. The potential downside to this is that if they are needed, they will need to be "decompressed" before use and that may slow the system down. NOTE: when you select this option, an options button will appear that will allow you to set the number of inactive days to wait before being considered for compression. If you use this option, make sure that you do not set this to a short number of days or your system performance can be seriously affected. IMPACT: moderate - Use as last resort to free disk space.
Office Setup Files - If you have Microsoft Office installed on your computer, this option will be in your list. These are left over when office is installed. If you need to perform a reinstall, repair or add a feature, you these files are used otherwise the installer will ask for your office install CD. I recommend that people keep these files and not include this option. IMPACT: moderate - Use as last resort to free disk space.
Catalog files for the Content Indexer - Windows has a file indexing service that is used to speed up file searches. When it indexes new files, the old indexes are no longer needed and can be removed. IMPACT: minimal - clean recommended.

After making your selections by checking the boxes next to each option you want to clean up, click "OK" at the bottom of the window to begin. You will be presented with a window asking you to confirm that this is indeed what you wish to do. When click "OK" the options will be cleaned:

{xtypo_rounded_right2}Current Browser statistics for Powderworks.net

{mosmodule module=Browser Statistics}{/xtypo_rounded_right2}

Cleaning up Windows XP - Step 2: Cleaning your Web Browser

Disk cleanup will clean up the Temporary Internet files for Internet Explorer but what about the cookies? What about addins and my browser history? What if you are using Firefox or some other browser?

You can easily clean up any number of features from any of the more popular web browser available. This article will be focusing on IE 6, IE 7, and the latest version of Firefox browsers that run on Windows XP. Currently these are by far the most popular browsers that visit this site. (See sidebar)

The first thing to know is what items are there to clean up in a browser. The following list contains data elements that are stored when you surf the web and what they do.

Page Cache - Also known as temporary internet files, the page cache contains copies of all the pages and page elements such as pictures, sounds, videos, and cookies that are presented when you load the page. This cache serves as a local copy of the site that is quickly loaded in the browser if you revisit the site or if you hit the back button in the browser. Without this, websites that are revisited would take longer to load the second time. It is important to clear out these files from time to time just to clear out disk space.

Also, if the page cache becomes very large, browser performance will begin to degrade. This is because it takes longer for the browser to sift through all of the excess files to verify that the page being presented is newer than the page in the cache. There are also times when pages will not load properly due to a corrupted cached page file. Clearing this cache will fix this type of issue.

Cookies - Cookies are often the most misunderstood temporary file on a computer. They have been blamed for everything from spying, to tools for spreading viruses. This is not what a cookie is. Simply put, a cookie contains session information for web servers.

What this means is that when you go to a website, the server ask the browser if it has a cookie for the site. If the browser says no, then the server will give the browser session information to store in a file called a cookie. This session information will vary depending on the type of session you have. For example, when you login to a website like Powderworks.net, my server will verify your username and password and give you a session ID to store in your cookie. That way when you go to another page, rather than logging in again, your browser simply passes the session ID to the server.

So if this is all that happens, then why the fuss? Well, some websites will scan your cookies to see where you have been, then their servers will compile a profile for your history. This profile can be used to make sure that the adds that are presented on their pages would be interesting to you. This profile can also be used to gather statistical information about the internet itself.

Of course, this information could also be used to present pages to you that you might think were something else. For example, if your cookies paint a picture of someone that may not be particularly tech savy, then a malicious site may present you with a page that looks like you have a virus or other issue. They then have a link that will fix your problem (which of course is completely false) and instead have you install the very problem that it advertises to fix. This is called fishing. DON'T TAKE THE BAIT!

History - Your browser maintains a record of where you have been online. This can be used to find a site that you wish that you had bookmarked. Unless your computer has been compromised my a virus or other malware, then this information is only viewable to those who are using your computer.

Objects / Addons / Applets / ActiveX controls - The web would be a pretty boring place if there were no add ons for your browser. These items add functionality to the browser so that it can display website items that the browser alone doesn't understand. For example, for you to play a game in the Powderworks Arcade, you must have a shockwave plugin installed in your browser. Every so often these addons can become corrupt. Knowing how to remove them may save you some frustration in the future.

Saved Passwords - Most modern browsers will have the ability to store your website passwords so that you don't have to login to the site each time you go to it. This can lead to problems with logging in when passwords are changed. Also, having your passwords saved allows anyone who uses your computer as you to log into your private sites like banking or email.

Saved Forms - When you fill out a form online most browsers will retain that information by default so that next time you need to fill out a similar form, you won't have to retype the information.

Download History - Firefox has a built in download manager that automatically retains the names and locations of your recently downloaded files.

Cleaning these Items:

Internet Explorer cleanup:

You can clean up these items in Internet Explorer 6 & 7 with options found in the Internet Options applet. There are several ways to get into Internet Options. The three most popular are:

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Internet Options or Start -> SETTINGS -> Control Panel -> Internet Options.
Go to Start -> Run type in inetcpl.cpl and click OK.
In Internet Explore, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options.

IE 6 Internet Options window.

On the General Tab you can clean clean cookies, temporary files, corrupt objects, and offline files:

Cookies: On the general tab click on Delete Cookies and then choose Yes when asked to confirm.
Cached webpages & Offline files: On the general tab click on Delete Files. When the confirmation window opens, select "Delete all offline content" and clickOK.
History: On the general tab, click on clear history to clear both the browser history and the list of typed addresses that pops up under the address bar.
Objects & Addins:To clear out any corrupt or potentially problematic addins in IE, click on the Settings button on the general tab. You will be presented with the following window. In that window click the View Objects button.
This will bring up the Objects folder which lists all of the installed objects for Internet Explorer. If you see any in the list that report a status of unknown or Damaged, then I would recommend removing them. To do so, Right-Click on the file and select Remove.
Form History and Stored Passwords: Go to the Content Tab and click on Auto Complete. This will open the autocomplete options. From here just click the buttons for clearing forms history and password history.

Internet Explorer 7 is a bit simpler...

When you open the Internet Options window, you have a delete button that contains all of the settings except the objects button. For corrupt objects you will still need to click on the settings button as described for IE 6. When you click on the Delete button, you will be presented with this window:

Simply clicking delete all will clear all of the listed items at once.

FireFox Cleanup:

Cleaning up FireFox is more direct. All of these settings are in the same place. In Firefox, go to the Tools menu and select Clear Private Data or press ctrl+shift+delete keys together. This will open this window:
Simply check the options you want to clear and press the Clear Private Data Now button.

Uninstalling Unwanted Programs

Often programs are installed on a computer that no one wants anymore. If you just bought a computer, you will likely start it for the first time and be greeted by a mess of "Trial-ware" asking if you would like to try this or that program and why your computer won't be complete without it. While some of these programs can be useful, it is likely that you will never use them and they will just take up space.

This is true for older computers as well. Often people will install software from the Internet to view an e-card or because a friend said that it was the next great thing... but wasn't. Most people rarely uninstall these programs and they too wind up take up space.

How do you get rid of them? Add or Remove Programs

Add or Remove Programs can be reached by the following methods:

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs or Start -> SETTINGS -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.
Go to Start -> Run type in appwiz.cpl and click OK.

Once the window opens you will see a message that the list is being populate. The computer is not locked up! The list should display within a minute.

Once it populates the list, you can click on the program that you would like to get shed of and click the remove button. This will startup the program's installer. You should be able to just answer a couple of questions and uninstall any program you wish to remove.

{xtypo_info}One thing to consider when uninstalling programs that were installed from the Internet: Read the screens carefully! Many programs will show confusing screens that designed to mislead the user into making choices that will leave the program on the computer. Example: "Are you sure you don't want to uninstall this program?"{/xtypo_info}

Reorganizing After Cleaning Up

After you clean up all of these things, you may consider Deframenting the Hard Drive. What?!? When files are written to your computer, sometimes they are broken up and the parts are spread around to fill up the empty spaces. This is called file Fragmentation. This is usually not a problem, because the computer keeps track of where all the pieces are and can retrieve them usually very quickly.

However, if enough files become fragmented, then the computer may run slower as it takes time to gather and reassemble the files. This is where the Disk Defragmenter comes in. This program rewrites your files so that they are all together and in the right order so that when you access them again, they will load quicker. To start the defragmenter do one of the following:

Open My Computer -> Right-Click on your C: drive and select Properties from the menu. When the Properties window opens, click on the Tools tab and click on "Defragment Now"
Go to Start -> Run and type in dfrg.msc and click OK.
Go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

This will open the Disk Defragmenter window:

Click on the Defragment button to start the process. This may take up to 30 minutes to complete. Once it finishes, a status window will open describing the status of the hard drive. Just close this window.

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