If any of my help over the years as has saved you money and or frustration please click the Paypal link and donate whaever you like.A Quid/Dollar or Euro so I can buy a pint or two :)
Shep©2005
By popular request I've made a printable Checklist you can print out and stick on the wall :)
The Good Housekeeping Page
(To Enter Safemode.Re-boot the computer and keep pressing the F8 key to get the startup menu.)
Win95/98 Tip:You can download and copy the WinME Defrag into your Windows folder and it's up to 8X faster than the win95/98 version :)
Please Note:!!!There is a bug in Win9X/ME that may slow down your system.It's caused by having more than 100 folders in the,"My Documents" folder so move some out and make and use your own folder instead of that one!!
Warning!!
Scandisk and Defrag will keep restarting if any program is writing to the hard drive.Some of these can be hidden.Normally you can use Ctrl Alt Delete to,"Endtask"all programs except explorer before running however you*MUST*still disable any,"Screen Savers" even in "Safemode".Before running Scandisk and Defrag get rid of,"Dead-Wood" e.g useless files.My free Clearbat off my Free Programs will do this for you and also EMPTY the Recycled bin!!
(Note:Many Anti-virus programs are run,"Hidden" in the background and Ctrl/Alt/Delete combination will not show them.Re-booting to Safemode will disable them whilst in Safemode but still disable the,"Screen Saver")
Scandisk
I have found that the Scandisk AutoFix function can cause Problems so I never have it enabled and just let Scandisk convert lost files to .chk files and then delete them if it find any bad ones.If you don't use the Autofix then Scandisk will just make some files with the extension .chk on your drive.I've never found anything of use in these but you can look at them with notepad or Wordpad,but I just delete them.You can speed up Scandisk by using it's advanced options and set it to only report if errors are found and also if you have more than one drive/partition by holding down the Ctrl Key and highlighting ALL the drives/partitions you want to scan.If you are having trouble with Scandisk then try running it from pure dos/F8 bootup/command prompt only and typing scandisk and do a Full Scandisk of the surface area just to make sure that your hard drive doesn't have any physically bad sectors that Windows Should know about but only do this if you suspect,"Physical Hard Drive Problems"as it can take hours to complete!
Scandisk Problems
If Scandisk won't run use the Start/Find(or search)for the file Scandisk.log and delete it.If this file is damaged Scandisk may stop.Don't worry as windows will make you a new repaired one when you run it again.This is also why you should clean out your windows/temp folder and also your Windows/Temporary Internet Files folder as bad down loaded temp pages/cookies/old temp files and,"Spyware" can stop,"Both" Scandisk and Defrag from working.Scandisk can be also be by restarting in Msdos or from and F8 bootup/command prompt only and typing Scandisk c: and press enter or the drive letter you want.Scandisk can also be run in,"Safemode"

Defrag.exe is a,"Windows Only" program and cannot and should never be run from dos even if you could as it would damage the data!!!!
Defrag
Around once a week I Defrag.Defragging does not harm the drive nor reduce the working life of the drive and in fact can help prolong the life of the drive.It reduces the drive/s head movement be re-arranging the files for faster and easier access.I do not Schedule defragging as I don't want anyone switching the power off whilst it's doing it as this could wipe the drive and therefore require a full re-install and lose valuable work!!!!
Defrag Problems

There was an option added in after win95B to Defrag from Win98 onwards to,"Re-arrange Programs For Faster Loading".This options tracks program usage using a folder called Applog(Use Find/Search for this file).I've found this new option to be pretty useless with the newer/faster machines and disable it in Defrag's Advanced Settings.If you have this option enabled and defrag won't run then the Applog Folder may have become damaged.In this case delete it and re-boot.Windows will make a new repaired one but the next Defrag will take longer if you still have the option enabled as it has to re-arrange the files again.If you choose to disable this option as I do then delete the Applog folder and this will speed Defrag.exe loading :)
Note:Win95/98/ME users can also use ATM(Another Task Manager) and end all programs except explorer and then run Scandisk and defrag but still disable screen savers e.g set to none.
Autoexec.bat:config.sys files.
Windows does not need these two files to run.
A lot of people don't realize that some programs/demos/Anti-virus programs they may try on their system put lines in these two files and sometimes these lines don't get deleted when they un-install the program.Also when win95 etc is installed it puts a lot of lines in here that I have found totally unnecessary.It's worth learning a bit about these two files.Technically win95/98 etc doesn't need these files but they can be useful for all sorts of things.Wrongly configured or cluttered with useless entries,however, and they can cause all sorts of Problems.You can use them to load drivers for your mouse in Dos and your Cdrom.You can Right click and,"Edit" the Autoexec.bat and place REM and a space in front of any lines to disable the lines working.You can open Config.sys with Notepad and do the same.
The Registry
For win95/98/ME and XP you can use the free Easy Cleaner Easy Cleaner II (click here before you use Easy cleaner on WinXP/WinME from my Free Programs Page as it has a registry cleaner in it but,"Never!" use it's duplicate file finder unless you know what you are doing.Also a really deep Regcleaner Regseeker does a superb jobYou can also use the free RegScrub which is ONLY! for winXP as it has it's own tweaks in the Misc Tab but I use both in WinXP.Before running any reg cleaners In win95 use the free Wrp to back up the registry 1st.In win98/SE use start/run and type scanreg/OK and make a new reg back up.In WinME/XP make a ,"Restore Point.In win98/SE you can access the registry backups from an F8 bootup/Command prompt only by typing scanreg /restore and picking a .cab file.
Tip:Your Internet mail/Outlook Express folder will keep growing and,"Slow Down Your System" even when you think you have deleted messages.It only gets smaller when you Compact the messages.Look in their Outlook Express Help on how to use the File/Folders/Compact all folders options in Outlook Express.
Tip:Use A Registry Backup Program WRP(Win95/98) Although win98 makes 5 registry backups which you can re-install from Msdos or an F8 bootup/command prompt only by typing scanreg/restore WRP makes a better single backup.ME/XP users can make a,"Restore Point" before cleaning etc. Tip:If you haven't used a program for a couple of months and you have a copy of it on disc/s then back up your work and then un-install it.
Tip:Clean your Registry(Once a week or after removing programs).The free RegSeeker from my Free page is superb at this Free Programs Page Then Compact the registry.
Compress/Compact the Registry
As cleaning it is not Enough.It doesn't get smaller until you do.
Tip:Win95 users can use the info from hereReg Compact Page but back up the registry with the freeWrp Back up Before doing anything with the Registry.
Win98 Registry Compacting.
Win98 has some new tools to help with the registry.Once you have cleaned it up with a Registry cleaner I use then you can restart in Msdos mode and then type scanreg/fix and then scanreg/opt to clean and compact it even more.Also Win98 keeps 5 days back ups of the registry which you can use to get out of a Jam by tying restarting in Msdos and typing scanreg/restore.My free small Son Of Clearbat on my Free Programs will do this automatically for you and clean all the temp files and caches.
Use a Slim Boot System
Many program makers like to Advertise their software by installing it to your system tray near the clock.This is all it's there for in most cases and hogs your RAM and system resources and can be the cause of many windows problems and slow downs.My Startup Page will show you how to take control of these.
Problems
F8 bootup/Safemode.Many windows problems can be resolved by cleaning up the Device Manager and getting the correct and best drivers for your hardware installed correctly Drivers Page for more info on this.
Spyware
This has become one of the nastier sides of the Internet IMHO.Many web page makers and companies are now trying to invade your system and track your usage.This also can cause no end of Surfing problems with browsers and the system.Go and get Spybot and clean your system of it before doing your,"Good Housekeeping".If any of your so called,"Free" programs you have down loaded won't work after using it then those programs weren't worth having and there are free,"None Spyware" alternatives around.See my Free page.Click Here for more Spyware information

Tip:Press the Flying windows Key+ the Pause key on the keyboard to get to the system menu/Device Manager quickly.

Some Games Need Updated Patches to Work.Always go to the Game's Maker's site before you try anywhere else,but this is a reasonable site but I've found some of their patches not as good as the ones from the original game's maker's sites. GamesDomain

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