7 Tips to Keep Your Computer Running Fast & Smooth

[Kevin]

1. Do not install software unless it is completely necessary. Extra software slows down your system. If you don’t need it, don’t install it. In fact, go into your control panel, select ‘Add/Remove Programs’, and remove any programs that you don’t use. Make sure that you don’t need it before removing it.
2. Do not install toolbars. If a program requests permission to install a toolbar in your version of MS Internet Explorer or Firefox, just say no. Most toolbars contain spyware and malware that will slow your system down.
3. Keep your startup programs to a minimum. Look in your system tray and see all the icons there (small little icons next to your system clock). Chances are, there are several programs that you don’t even know about. Configure those programs so that they do not run at startup (check that program’s documentation.
4. Run disk Cleanup. Run the disk cleanup utility by going to Start --> Programs --> Accessories--> System Tools about once a month. This will keep your computer clean and running fast.(In Windows 8, search for Administrative Tools under Settings)
5. Keep desktop clean. Instead of storing all those files and folders on your desktop
6. Be careful of the websites you visit. Viruses and spyware can enter your computer through websites that have malicious code in them.
7. Keep your inbox clean. By using good folder structure Outlook will stay clean and fast, not only that but you will be able to find the emails that you need faster.

[Richard]

Hi Kevin,

7. I find the free email programs often get so clogged up with spam that I am lucky to find any email messages I want.
Not sure about folders in 'Outlook' - I am using 'Yahoo mail' as my 'Outlook' behaved badly and wouldn't accept my password for some reason.
I think I used Livemail generally but now won't go there again.

What we need is an email system where all mail is held back until the user accepts a request to receive it - simples !!.

[moonjiver]

Thanks, Kevin, useful. I know some of it but not all of it. Are you saying that even downloading toolbars from MS Int Explorer or Firefox is unsafe? Have people found a way of highjacking those browsers to add on their malware? I can understand the dangers of downloading a toolbar from an obscure, unknown source ..

[moonjiver]

Reading your post again, you mean toolbars from a program which installs the toolbar into your browser .. presumably it depends how safe and reputable the program is ..

[moonjiver]

Re: Yahoo, I would add that I have just abandoned Yahoo after a number of years, gone to Gmail, much safer and more reliable. A great nuisance but for the sixth time this year Yahoo has locked me out, refused to accept my password and required me to create a new one. A couple of months ago, there were some attempts to hack into my account .. from the USA! Fortunately they couldn't get through my password.

You can actually go into Settings somewhere and locate your recent log-in activity, reveals if anything strange has been happening.

[Kevin]

Are toolbars dangerous? They can be! There are probably as many malicious toolbars around as there are legitimate ones. Any toolbar can track your every action online. This information can then be used (and sold) for marketing purposes. Besides basic privacy, some toolbars are merely portals for malicious software. If a seedy toolbar is installed, that can give it a level of access that can allow it to do some nasty things to your browser and the rest of your computer.
Toolbars can also negatively affect performance. If your browser loads slowly, removing toolbars will help, especially on older machines. It's not a huge performance loss, but if you're computer is a few years old or has less than a gigabyte of RAM it will be noticeable. And running multiple toolbars multiplies the problem. Unless you have a specific need for more than one toolbar, stick to just one.
Does this mean you shouldn't use a toolbar? No...er, maybe. First, I would recommend against using any toolbar if you're not sure how it got there. If you did not consciously install it you should remove it. Also, if privacy is a big concern be very careful what toolbars you use. That said, some toolbars provide nice features, and if you desire those features go ahead and use it,

[Richard]

I agree Google is safer - I had to provide further account information just to log in abroad presumably as my IP address was noted as unusual'.
and had an email from them warning me that someone may have used my computer without my permission.

so, possibly Google has the edge ?

[Kevin]

[quote="Richard"]
"7. I find the free email programs often get so clogged up with spam that I am lucky to find any email messages I want."

The question is not how to stop spam. Ultimately, there’s no way for you and me to do that.
The questions are really how to deal with it when you get it so that it’s merely a minor annoyance rather than an overwhelming chore, and how to avoid it, or at least minimize it, in the first place. You Can’t Stop Spam! The bottom line is that anyone can send you email, period. That’s good in that anyone who knows you and your email address can communicate with you via email. It’s also bad, since anyone who knows your email address can send you junk trying to sell you stuff or fool you into handing over your private information when you shouldn’t.
Preventing Spam in the First Place
As I said, there’s no way to stop spam, only deal with it in a way that makes it less of an issue when you get it. Similarly there’s no way to prevent it from starting. Eventually all email address will get spam. Eventually.
What you can do is avoid asking for spam. Asking? Yes, asking. Many people unknowingly ask for spam in various ways:
• Posting an email address publicly. If your email address is visible on a web page somewhere that anyone can get to, then “anyone” includes spammers. They have been known to harvest email addresses from web pages on the assumption that they are more likely to be real, active email addresses than simply guessing randomly (which they also do).
• Responding to or acting on spam. Replying to any form of spam is really just a signal to the spammers that they have a real, live person at this email address, and that they should send you more spam. Lots more spam. Even if you ask them to unsubscribe you. Similarly, acting on spam (such as clicking on spammer’s link, or – horrors! – purchasing a product through spam) also tells spammers “we got a live one!”.
• Enabling pictures on spam. The reason that pictures are disabled by default on most spam-filtered email is that the mere act of accessing an image so that it can be displayed can tell a spammer they have a real email address. Expect more spam.
• Giving your email address to the wrong person, company or agency. This is actually one reason many people have more than one email address, or create one-time or “throw-away” email addresses. Many companies will share their email lists with others, or even sell the list of their customer’s email addresses. Reputable companies do not, so keep shopping at Amazon and the like, but be careful when dealing with a company you’ve never dealt with before. Consider creating and using a different email address for this purpose.
The list actually goes on. What’s worse, is it includes items that are not in your control:
• When you send a joke, photo, urban legend, rant or what-have-you to a friend, and they then forward it on without removing your email address from the forward, your email address is now “in the wild”. Worse, when a friend sends you an email like that and does so by putting you and 200 other people on the “To:” or “Cc:” line, they’ve just advertised your email address to everyone else that got that email. And when they forward it without trimming … your email address make it out to potentially hundreds or thousands of people you don’t know. And some are spammers.
There’s literally nothing you can do, except perhaps admonish your friends not to do that – but by then it’s too late.
That’s why I say that sooner or later every email address will get spam.

[moonjiver]

At one time I was getting some poems published in a Hastings mag - with my email address quoted too at times. I got so much spam afterwards that twice I had to give up and open a new email account! I suspect also that friends and possibly one or two arts organisations had passed my email address around (displayed it in circular-letter type emails and so on) - I think some people are still quite irresponsible about this.

Been luckier lately, also much more careful. For websites, forums and so on I only use an alias, that can be dispensed with eventually if the spam gets too much. My "working" email address is for trusted friends and contacts only.