![\"Cloudeight](\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2016\/springcleaning.png\")
Spring Cleaning<\/h1>\nSpring Cleaning<\/h1>\nIf you live in the northern hemisphere, spring has sprung.\u00a0Hooray! Already I can see a few crocuses are pushing up out of the ground, some pussy willow buds bulging, and yes, I think I see a tulip or two stick its head up into the world. Why it wants to do this, I don’t have a clue. <\/span><\/p>\n And I\u2019m not hemisphereocentric (I love making up words) either. I realize some of you live in that hemisphere down south where water goes down the drain backwards and where winter is summer and spring is fall, so this will be autumn cleaning for you.. So for those of you in Oz and Kiwi country (and other folks in the southern hemisphere) please substitute the word \u201cautumn\u201d for \u201cspring\u201d and keep on reading (and cleaning).<\/span><\/p>\n You don\u2019t need any special tools to do a spring tune-up, you can accomplish everything on this short list without downloading or installing anything. But we\u2019re going to mention a couple of tools to make your job easier \u2013 and they are (for the most part) free.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ll assume most of you (hopefully all of you) have good antivirus\/antimalware installed that helps your guard against malware and PUPs. Many of them don\u2019t you know. And if your security software does not have adequate malware \/ PUPs protection, all the spring cleanings in the world probably won\u2019t help much. We\u2019ll assume you have a good antivirus, antimalware that protects you against malware and pups \u2013 if you don\u2019t – you can read about Emsisoft here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n OK let\u2019s get cleaning!<\/span><\/p>\n Step 1: Remove unused programs<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n One of the things people ask us most when we\u2019re doing Cloudeight Direct Computer Repair sessions is: \u201cWhat programs should I remove? I don\u2019t even know what half of them are or what they\u2019re for!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n We think this is pretty typical of everyone \u2013 including us. We all install programs that sound good or interesting at the time but then we never use them. We don\u2019t know many who don\u2019t do this \u2013 we\u2019re especially guilty of cluttering things up with a bunch of programs that we never use.<\/span><\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to download anything or install anything to clean up those unwanted or unused programs. Just open your Control Panel, head to Programs, Uninstall a program. In a few moments you\u2019ll see a list of all the programs installed on your computer. Start removing the ones you don\u2019t use or don\u2019t recognize. You\u2019ll see the date the programs were installed on the far right \u2013 that will tell you how long they\u2019ve been installed. If you see something there you don\u2019t recognize that was installed in October 2013, there\u2019s a good bet you don\u2019t use it and your don\u2019t need it.<\/span><\/p>\n To make removing programs easier (and more thorough) we recommend the free version of Geek Uninstaller. Geek does install, it runs as a portable app, i.e. when you\u2019re done with it your can remove it from your computer like a file \u2013 right-click and delete it. You can get the free version of Geek Uninstaller from http:\/\/www.geekuninstaller.com\/download\/<\/a> . BE CAREFUL! There are many big green download buttons that download bad things and which do not download Geek Uninstaller.<\/span><\/p>\n If you like Revo Uninstaller, that\u2019s fine too. Revo isn\u2019t quite as simple and you need to install it, but if you like it, it will work just fine too.<\/span><\/p>\n IMPORTANT: Removing unused programs isn\u2019t going to speed up your computer or increase its performance (unless you\u2019re running very low on hard drive space). You should remove unused \/ unwanted programs as a matter of good housekeeping. If you do a good job I\u2019ll send EB around with her Good Housekeeping Seal which you can proudly display on your desktop \u2013 or not.<\/em><\/span> Step 2: Clean out your Documents and Downloads Folders<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Lots of things end up in your Documents folder. Go on and take a gander. What a mess, eh? If you don\u2019t want to get rid of stuff at least organize it. My grandmother always told me to wear clean underwear in case I got hit by a car. It\u2019s the same thing with your Documents folder\u2026do you want people to think you\u2019re a disorganized slob like me? Of course you don\u2019t! So take some time this spring to rummage through your Documents folder, delete what you don\u2019t need and organize the stuff you think you do need by making folders for similar types of documents.<\/span><\/p>\n Your downloads folder is probably full of installers you\u2019ve downloaded over time. Most of these installers are now useless since the program is probably installed, and most of these old installers are out-of-date, so why not get rid of them? You pretty much can delete everything in the download folder without losing anything important \u2013 the only exception being if you have a portable app in your downloads folder that runs from that folder. If you do, and your remove it by mistake, big deal! You can re-download it in a minute or two anyway. There is no sense to hang unto installers you\u2019ve already used to install programs. Clean it up, I tells ya!<\/span><\/p>\n Again, cleaning up your Documents and Downloads folders aren\u2019t going to make your computer faster \u2013 ain\u2019t going to turn it into a screaming machine anymore than wearing clean underwear is going to make your run faster, but it\u2019s good housekeeping and you do what that seal don\u2019t you?<\/span><\/p>\n Step 3: Organize your Windows Start-up programs<\/em><\/span> If you\u2019re using\u00a0 Windows 7, you don\u2019t need to download anything to tidy-up your Windows start-ups. Just press and hold down the Windows Key and press the R key. In the Run dialog that opens type MSCONFIG and press Enter. Click the start-up tab and start disabling startups. You DO want to allow your antivirus to start with Windows and anything with a Microsoft in its name is a \u201cprobably should\u201d. You don\u2019t need to be a genius to do this. If you, for any reason, disable something you should not have, you\u2019ll still be able to boot into Windows. If something\u2019s not working right MSCONFIG (System Configuration Tool) puts the date you disabled something next to the disabled item. You can re-enable anything you disabled that may have caused your problem. But, I tells ya this \u2013 disabling Skype or iTunes or Adobe Reader, or QuickTime, or Adobe DRM isn\u2019t (aren\u2019t) going to cause you any problems. You can start those things from shortcuts or from your start menu when you need them \u2013 and not a minute before.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re using Windows 8.x or Windows 10, you have a slight problem. Windows 8.x and Windows 10\u2019s Configuration Utility doesn\u2019t have a start-up tab. You have to use Task Manger to disable start-ups. Woe is you. Windows 8x and Windows 10 Task Manager Start-ups Tab is woefully inadequate. It doesn\u2019t list ALL of the start-ups, we are not even sure it lists most of the start-ups. Woe is you!<\/span><\/p>\n No! Not woe is you. You have a choice. You can download SysInternals AutoRuns<\/a><\/span> and you\u2019ll get a complete picture and description of what is starting with Windows and you\u2019ll be able to disable unnecessary start-ups quickly and easily. But, here\u2019s the thing, don\u2019t go messing around with all those tabs you\u2019ll see on AutoRuns. The only one you have to worry about if you\u2019re not an advanced user is the \u201cLogon\u201d tab. See?<\/span><\/p>\n Now, of course, if you\u2019re an advanced user or you\u2019re crazy and love to see what will happen if you click this or that, AutoRuns is a great tool for tweaking things. If you\u2019re not computer savvy, just stick with the Logon tab. Notice how it explains what the highlighted item is? You just untick the box to the item you don’t want starting with Windows. If you right-click an item, AutoRuns tells you what it is and where it\u2019s installed so you can make an informed decision about whether to allow something to start with Windows or not. When it doubt, disable it. You can always re-enable it later. As a general rule if it’s printer-related, leave it alone, unless you don’t want your printer to work when you need it. If it’s antivirus\/antimalware related, leave it be. If it has the word Microsoft in it, it’s best to leave it alone. If you make a mistake, and you are keep to the Logon tab, you can’t do much damage. You can re-enable things as easily as you disabled them. It’s best to know what you’re doing though, so if you’re not sure, right-click the item to find out more about it before you go off and disable it.<\/span><\/p>\n You can download AutoRuns from here \u2013 it\u2019s free and it\u2019s by Microsoft\u2019s TechNet people<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike the first two cleaning tips, trimming and optimizing your start-ups will make your computer start up and shut down faster. It can also increase your computer\u2019s performance.<\/span><\/p>\n I hope you all enjoyed this article and that each and every one of you will earn EB\u2019s Seal of Good Housekeeping. She won\u2019t give me one \u2013 she says I\u2019m a slob. But what does she know, I asks ya?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Spring Cleaning If you live in the northern hemisphere, spring has sprung.\u00a0Hooray! Already I can see a few crocuses are pushing up out of the ground, some pussy willow buds bulging, and yes, I think I see a tulip or two stick its head up into the world. Why it wants to do this, I don’t have a\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10886,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10885\/revisions\/10886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Cloudeight](\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2016\/springcleaning-seal.png\")
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\nDo you really need Skype, iTunes, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Aunt Jenny\u2019s Greeting Care Maker, QuickTime, Adobe DRM, Adobe Reader, or stuff like that starting with Windows? NO you don\u2019t. You\u2019re not that lazy, I know you\u2019re not. Cut the programs starting with Windows down to a very few. Then use desktop or start menu shortcuts to open programs when and IF you need them. Everything you allow to start up with Windows runs in the background sucking up your system resources like a sponge sucking up water. Programs often set themselves up to start with Windows because they think they\u2019re so important \u2013 like iTunes and Skype for example. Do you constantly Skype? Do you constantly use iTunes? No, I tells ya! You don\u2019t. You don\u2019t need them running in the background just in case you might want to use them.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Cloudeight](\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2016\/autoruns-clean.png\")
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