Computer Maintenance How to Keep Your Computer Running Fast & Smooth

Summary

In this tutorial by Britec09, viewers are guided through essential weekly computer maintenance tasks to keep their PCs running smoothly and efficiently. Brian from b.co.uk emphasizes the importance of cleaning the desktop, uninstalling unused programs, and running CCleaner to clear unnecessary files. Additionally, he highlights the need for regular hard drive defragmentation and error checking. Brian also stresses the significance of backing up data and using registry cleaning programs, antivirus software, and antispyware tools for optimal computer performance. By following these basic steps, users can maintain trouble-free computing and enhance their computer's longevity.

Highlights

• Clean up your desktop to avoid slowing down the boot process. 🖥️
• Remove unused programs from control panel to free up space. 🔍
• Run CCleaner to analyze and clean unnecessary files. 🧼
• Defragment your hard drive monthly to keep files organized. 📅
• Perform error checks regularly to maintain system health. 🔧
• Use registry cleaners to eliminate leftover software remnants. 🧹
• Scan for viruses and spyware weekly to keep your system safe. 🚫

Key Takeaways

• Keep your desktop clean to speed up boot times and system performance. 🧹
• Uninstall unused programs to free up space and resources. 🚮
• Use CCleaner to remove unnecessary files and improve efficiency. 🚀
• Defragment your hard drive regularly for optimal file storage. 💾
• Back up your data consistently to prevent loss. 🔄
• Regularly run antivirus and antispyware scans for security. 🛡️
• Don't forget to check for errors and fix them to avoid future issues. ✅

Overview

Maintaining your computer's performance is as simple as following a few essential tasks each week. Start by cleaning your desktop, removing any unused shortcuts or files that can bog down the system. Ensuring your boot process is free of unnecessary clutter directly contributes to a faster and more efficient computer experience.

One key aspect of computer maintenance is managing your software effectively. Uninstall programs you no longer need and use applications like CCleaner to tidy up your system. Additionally, routine tasks like defragmenting your hard drive and checking for errors can significantly enhance the longevity and reliability of your machine.

Security is paramount, so regularly update and run virus and spyware checks to safeguard your data. Don't forget the critical step of backing up your information—this practice can save you from headaches if things ever go awry. Adopting these habits ensures your computer remains in top shape with minimal disruptions.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Desktop Cleanup In the tutorial hosted by Brian from b.co.uk, basic computer maintenance techniques are discussed. The focus is on weekly routines to keep a computer running smoothly and efficiently. A primary task is cleaning up the desktop, which involves deleting unused icons and avoiding leaving folders with numerous files, such as MP3s, on the desktop.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Uninstalling Unnecessary Programs In this chapter, the focus is on improving a computer's boot-up speed by removing unnecessary programs. It is advised to access the 'Add and Remove Programs' feature through the Control Panel to uninstall any unwanted applications, including games. Keeping a drive free from unused programs is emphasized as it enhances system performance.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Using C Cleaner This chapter discusses how to use a program called C Cleaner on your PC. It advises users to first download the software from the internet and check for updates to ensure it's the latest version. Users are instructed to run C Cleaner on their system, making sure to check certain options, including advanced settings like 'prefetch', to optimize the cleaning process.
• 02:00 - 04:00: Disk Cleanup and Defragmentation The chapter 'Disk Cleanup and Defragmentation' discusses the process of analyzing and cleaning up disk space using tools like CC Cleaner. The transcript mentions the steps of analyzing the disk and running a cleaner to eliminate unnecessary files. Although traditional disk cleanup methods are mentioned, the use of CC Cleaner is highlighted as a more effective modern alternative.
• 04:00 - 05:30: Error Checking In this chapter titled 'Error Checking', the discussion focuses on cleaning the C drive, particularly through clearing temporary internet files. Most of these files would be cleaned using the CCleaner tool, rendering them obsolete. Users are advised to clean these files to maintain system efficiency. After cleaning, the next recommended step is defragmenting the hard drive to improve performance.
• 05:30 - 07:00: Registry Cleaning The chapter titled 'Registry Cleaning' explains the process of accessing tools for maintaining a computer's performance. It guides the user to select a drive through 'My Computer,' access its properties, and perform a defragmentation analysis by clicking 'Analyze.' Following this, the user can proceed with defragmenting the drive to optimize its performance.
• 07:00 - 09:00: Virus and Spyware Scanning In the chapter titled 'Virus and Spyware Scanning', the process of defragging a hard drive is discussed. After the defragmentation process, a report is generated to inform the user about the status of the hard drive, including the presence of any bad sectors. The transcript mentions that if the drive is highly fragmented, it will be indicated by red sections in the report. The speaker notes that they need to defrag their drive due to its high fragmentation.
• 09:00 - 11:00: Windows Updates and Conclusion This chapter discusses the importance of organizing files on a computer's drive through defragmentation. It explains how defragmenting a drive can help in sorting files (referred to as blue and green files) and optimizing the drive's performance by removing unnecessary data (referred to as red files). It also notes that drives without Windows installed tend to have less data and perform quicker post-defragmentation due to less frequent use.

Computer Maintenance How to Keep Your Computer Running Fast & Smooth Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello everyone you're watching Brian from b.co do.uk and in this tutorial we're going to be covering some very basic uh computer maintenance uh technique so you should be doing on your computer every week to keep it running smooth and fast so let's start off with the basic really of cleaning up your desktop making sure you delete any any dead uh icons that you don't use and basically don't leave folders on your desktop with masses of files in it as you like MP3s
• 00:30 - 01:00 or videos because that will slow down the PC's boo up process the next thing to do is go to start control panel and add and remove programs and then we want to be removing any programs in here that we don't need anymore there's no point keeping them on there if you don't want them if you want to delete any games don't leave piles of games on there that you don't use anymore uninstall them uh make sure you're not using the drop full drive full of junk otherwise it will slow your
• 01:00 - 01:30 PC up the next thing we want to be doing is running a program called C cleaner uh and this is what it is once you've downloaded you can get it from the internet check for updates make sure you got the latest version uh and then you want to be running um and then you want to be running uh the C cleaner on your system so basically put the tick in here there's a few missing so you want to go advance so make sure you got with of prefetch and all that in there
• 01:30 - 02:00 and then push analyze once you've done that it will analyze like so and then push run cleaner and then it will run the clean up and get rid of all the crap basically but we don't have to do that cuz we've already done it so that's basically that one out the way you could also run um programs system tools and disc clean up there's not much call for it with CC Cleaner nowadays but you could do if you
• 02:00 - 02:30 wanted to make sure you select C drive but in the uh temper internet which has already been cleaned anyway say for instance that will be zero cuz CC cleaning would have cleaned it all and just anything that you want to get rid of in there is pretty much obsolete now with all these other programs of our nowadays and you can clean some of this stuff up if you wanted to but you know you probably won't find much after you've done that it's time for defragmentation of your hard drive so
• 02:30 - 03:00 we want to go into uh my computer select the drive that you want to go on right click properties and now once we're in here we want to go tools now we want to be doing defrag now so click on there click the drive that you want to um defrag and then click Analyze This nag box will pop up and once that's popped up you can and defrag
• 03:00 - 03:30 the hard drive once you finish defragging the hard drive you will get a report like so to tell you what's what the outcome was whe there was any bad sectors and whatnot this is what you'll see when you're defragging the hard drive there'll be red sections like this if you've got a very fragmented drive like I have and uh I need to frag defrag my drive now once this has been defragged
• 03:30 - 04:00 all these files will be moved about into the right areas of the drive and all this red will be defragged and you will just be left with blue and green files all sorted out on my CD fraged and you can go through all your drives now you will find that some of the other drives aren't got much stuff on once you defrag those they should be very quick because they're not using it as much because it hasn't got windows on using Windows all the time and it gets
• 04:00 - 04:30 fragmented very quickly you should be doing that at least once a month up or two now once we're going to stay in this window it's the same thing basically right click on C drive properties tools and then you're going to get error checking now a lot of people skip this but you shouldn't really you should actually do some error checking on Windows to make sure there's no errors it's a common silly little thing that people get just actually automatically fix errors you can search for bad sectors if you want but if it's a brand
• 04:30 - 05:00 new computer I wouldn't thought so so click Start and it will go through the process that fixing any errors on the operating system minor errors that is and then um you can go through command prompt CMD and you could do it this way if you wanted to and put check dis like so and push and that will do a check dis if you wanted to if it's found errors and you want to fix them basically you'll have
• 05:00 - 05:30 to go check disc like so and push for slf which is fixed obviously but it can't do it uh while it's in on the booted up to the desktop so you'd have to say yes on the next reboot or no if you don't want to do it I don't want to do it cuz I know there's no problems so basically that's that way of doing it um the next thing you want to be doing is some uh regge cleaning program
• 05:30 - 06:00 to clean out your registry from all the uh programs that You' uninstalled that's left remnants of it uh the in the registry this will also be handy for once you've cleaned out viruses and whatnot to run registry Cleaners clean up all amendments so basically the free version for this if you if don't want to spend any money all these programs so far free um if you don't want to spend any money this is the free version that you can use it's it's called aexo and
• 06:00 - 06:30 you can just type that in Google and you'll get it always back up your registry three most important things to do on a computer is back up back up and back up they'll always tell you that and the amount of people that don't do it and think I'll do that tomorrow and it's too late the computer crashes and all your data is on there and it's going to cost you a lot of money to get it back or fix so back up your registry first in case you've got an error and then it crashes your PC because I'm not responsible for what this program can
• 06:30 - 07:00 do click registry clean next and then run and then it will clean the registry basically I'm not going to watch it all the way through cuz I've I've done it if you want to buy one I would advise something like R cure or something like that it's very very good this is okay uh for a freebie uh the next thing we want to be doing is again searching for viruses now a lot people skip skip this to in
• 07:00 - 07:30 computer maintenance but it's part of pre preventive maintenance um so you should be doing this regularly as well and it stops you from getting uh any viruses or whatnot so always update before you run any scans to make sure you got the latest definitions and also this is a paid version of kasbari uh so basically if you want to use a free version the free versions out there are uh
• 07:30 - 08:00 AVG um Avast and antivi now antivi has got quite a good uh detection rate so I would tend to go for that one for detection rate but you do get this nag box popping up so you can disable that some way I'll maybe cover that in another tutorial but anyway this is the the version we're going to be using now it's a paid version do a full scan click click on the actual uh parts that you want to scan and then click
• 08:00 - 08:30 scan don't do quick scans it only skips across certain files it doesn't do a full deep scan of the whole computer make sure you do that and cleans it the main part of the computer you want to be scanning is the windows part so that's that the next thing that I would advise you to do in computer maintenance as well nowadays is uh spyware this should be done weekly too super add spyware is a great program it's it's a free
• 08:30 - 09:00 program and it seems they've got a good team there because they update it regularly so open that and download so you need to put this in Google super Inspire Weare click check for updates and then scan your computer now once you've scanned this computer it will go on to the next page in a minute click the drives that you want to scan uh basically see which is the windows drive it will be on default perform quick scan we don't want to do that we want to to make sure we do a
• 09:00 - 09:30 complete scan so it searches the whole computer the registry and everything if you wanted to do uh you know uh the custom scan you can but I mean basically do a perform a quick complete scanner and that will get rid of the real difficult ones too to get rid of you can do this in uh safe mode if you want it to but it's probably advisable too but it's up to you um the next one you could use use as well is Mal bites that's another decent
• 09:30 - 10:00 bit of kit uh for getting rid of spyware um adwar used to be the top dog years ago but I think it's been surpassed by these two m m bites and this one so anyway that's the end of this uh computer maintenance tutorial I hope it helps you out it is only very basic uh but if you follow those steps and follow those um you should be having trouble free Computing uh also one last
• 10:00 - 10:30 thing make sure you update Windows if you want to that is I don't so but if you want to it lives up there in my uh programs Windows update so basically I don't want service back free but if you do then update if you want to do automatic updates you can set the timer here day and you can do this on all the programs that we've used Set uh times to it to do it on Monday morning say 12 12:00 or whatever anyway that's the end of this
• 10:30 - 11:00 tutorial thanks very much for watching my name is Brian and I'll be making some more tutorials in the future about uh computer related um topics so thanks very much for watching bye for now