Computer advice

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Kevin the grey

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Aug 26, 2005
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I am getting pop ups off the web stating my registry is corrupted . Download this registry cleaner and run it . I received this from two different sources . It is not that I do not doubt this . I do not download something off the web because someone on the web wants me to download it . What is the best way to alleviate this supposed problem and avoid it in the future ?
 
Firefox . My buddy upgraded me to windows xp which works well on my Pent 2 as long as I do a defrag every 48 hours .
 
Are these popups part of firefox or are they just appearing on the screen out of nowhere, when firefox is not running? If they are part of firefox, you can simply go into the preferences dialog box and disable the damned popups. If they're coming out of nowhere, it's more than likely that they are coming through microSoft "windows messenger service". This has nothing to with MSN, etc..

See: http://www.mynetwatchman.com/kb/security/articles/popupspam/

James
 
You might also consider using a hardware firewall. My wife had the problem a couple years ago. Putting a hardware firewall in stopped it dead in its tracks.

James
 
Windows XP has a firewall feature that should be activated unless you have a security suite like Norton or McAfee's. If Windows is loading and shutting down okay then your registry is probably okay and I wouldn't mess with it. Be sure you have an updated virus scanner/protector running in the background every time you turn the machine on.

Lastly, turn you machine off when not in use. This save you money by lowering your utility bill and it clears the various PC registers that contain small bits of programs loaded into memory that only clear if the machine is shut down.

There is also a program called "RegEdit" that can be run fromt he "Run" icon that will scan your registry. Lots of those popups are just alarming messages hoping to get you to buy something. Block them is you can.
 
This is all good advice . There is still the question of the registry cleaner . How do I know if I need this and how would I accomplish it ?
 
The answer is you don't need it. Not ever. Quadruply so, if your friend did a proper clean install and formatted when he put XP on there.


Registry 'cleaning' is pretty much nothing more than a gimmick unless you're literally installing two or three new programs a week and then uninstalling them right away. It doesn't really benefit your computer in any noticeable way and it certainly isn't merited for 99% of all users. It's sort of like selling vinyl cleaning teflon wipes for your car's dashboard - sure, they get it clean and make it stain resistant... but it was already damn clean and stain resistant!
 
Kazeryu said:
The answer is you don't need it. Not ever. Quadruply so, if your friend did a proper clean install and formatted when he put XP on there.


Registry 'cleaning' is pretty much nothing more than a gimmick unless you're literally installing two or three new programs a week and then uninstalling them right away. It doesn't really benefit your computer in any noticeable way and it certainly isn't merited for 99% of all users. It's sort of like selling vinyl cleaning teflon wipes for your car's dashboard - sure, they get it clean and make it stain resistant... but it was already damn clean and stain resistant!
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I like vinyl cleaning teflon wipes .
It saves on water for dishwashing...... though it does make my food taste funny . L:O:L

My buddy seems to be well versed in the inner workings of a computer . The format/instalation went well and the computer runs well . He did mention that it was necessary to defrag every 48 hours . The last time I defragged it said there was some data that could not be defragged . What can I do about this ?

So getting a pop up like this which does not appear to be from an official Windows site is not necessarily a good thing .
 
Kevin the grey said:
I like vinyl cleaning teflon wipes .
It saves on water for dishwashing...... though it does make my food taste funny . L:O:L

My buddy seems to be well versed in the inner workings of a computer . The format/instalation went well and the computer runs well . He did mention that it was necessary to defrag every 48 hours . The last time I defragged it said there was some data that could not be defragged . What can I do about this ?

So getting a pop up like this which does not appear to be from an official Windows site is not necessarily a good thing .
Click to expand...

First of all, :eek: to your usage of teflon! :D

Secondly, defraging is good, but every 48 hours seems excessive. I'd say twice a month would be more than enough. But then I usually forget and do it twice a year, so...

As far as files not being able to be defragged, that's just life. Some files can't be moved around. One thing you can do about it is look which files are still fragged afterwards. Sometimes they're big temp or downloaded files. If you don't need them anymore you can just delete them, and voila, less fragments (and more free space to boot).
 
Tinmandog . good advice . I will eventually get my geek friend in to look things over . It is sometimes hard to drag him out of his own computers innards .
 
Kevin the grey said:
Tinmandog . good advice . I will eventually get my geek friend in to look things over . It is sometimes hard to drag him out of his own computers innards .
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How often do you clear cookies and search history etc?
And do you run "Disk Cleanup"/ before you run Defrag?

BTW the "no script" extension for Firefox is worth the download!

(I'm on PII with Firefox and only a few sites (Computing.Net) still show the pop ups, only not as much with No Script installed)
 
I'd also like to chime in on the defrag issue - every 48 hours is simply nuts! On the other hand, a PII is a pretty ancient machine so keeping everything topped up isn't a bad idea.

Again, depending on what you're doing with the computer, defragging might be neccessary once a week (highly unlikely) or once a decade (grandma reading emails from her kids once in a while).

Defragmenting is easier if you have more free space on the drive - if you're not very familiar with your computer, the Disk Cleanup tool is good start to wipe up the cobwebs etc. before defragging. ;)

There's also software like Lavasoft's Ad-Aware which will help you find and remove spyware and malware (which causes popups and other unpleasant things) from your system.

I give a big thumbs up to Firefox, even without a single addon. :D

Anyways, it's mostly a question of what you're willing to tolerate.
 
I do not wish to tolerate very much as a consequence of my not knowing that much about computers . To a certain extent the more I safeguard against the less I have to concern myself with .

Do not quote me on this . I believe there is 14 % free space on my C drive . If I remember correctly optimal performance is achieved with a minimum of 20% free space .

I will do a clean disk when I figure out how before I defrag the next time .
I believe my buddy wanted me to defrag so often as a result of my computer being used so close to its capacity .
 
Just wanted to generally agree.

If you have to ask if your registry needs cleaning, you don't need it. (If you're one of the rare nut-jobs that has actually boogered up your registry to where it "needs" cleaning, you're probably better off reformatting and reinstalling.)

Ignore pop-ups from web sites urging you to download or buy stuff to enhance your computer's performance or security, etc. They should be taken as seriously as a guy selling commodity futures door-to-door.

Defrag every 48 hours? Heck, I usually don't reboot that often. If you NEVER defrag, you are not a bad person. Defrag, disk cleanup, etc. can help some, but it's nowhere near as important as changing your oil or checking tire pressure.

You should, however, have some kind of virus and spyware scanning software, plus some sort of firewall. I have both a software firewall and a router that serves as a rudimentary hardware firewall.

Most other preventive maintenance is BS. I think that now that cars lack chokes, carburators, points, etc., we crave having something to tune up and maintain.

Just make sure to keep air vents clear, plug into a grounded outlet, and be wary of your nephew or other kids "helping" you or otherwise reconfiguring all your stuff.
 
"Disk Cleanup" Start=Accessories=System tools=Disk Cleanup

It is right above Disk defragment on the menu.

You can also use "scheduled maintenance (or tasks)" to run defrag at night or whenever you are asleep or away fromthe computer for a time.

We won't even go into msconfig.......:)
 
The answer is very simple. Hardware and operating system made by the same company. No viruses, no spyware, no crashes. It just works when you want it. I'm sold.
 
Kevin?

I've always heard that purging by fire is the best way to get rid of any unwanted computer gremlins.
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Once it's done, get a Mac. I personally hate them, but thats because they don't readily lend themselves to be upgraded. Of course, Dell PC's are just as bad. I'll never own a another computer that was birthed by my two hands....well and maybe a little help from my IT buddy;)

Jake
 
Respectfully... Newer Macs are pretty easy to upgrade. The Apple website has very cool videos that show you how to do basic internal stuff, like installing RAM, hard drives, etc.

The recent operating system (OS-X) is based on UNIX, and is very stable. Networking is a snap, since Ethernet has been built-in from the beginning.

The new Core Duo Intel chips are supposed to be very fast.

No, not a zillion games and other software are available on the Mac platform. The ones I need all are.

I was a big Windows fan for years in a Mac-oriented department. Once I tried OS-X I was impressed. To me, it was a simple choice. It's the operating system.
 
1. You only have 14% free on your hard drive. Get another drive, have your buddy install it for you if you need to. I don't know how big yours is, but with only 14-20% free, you need another. Or just get one that doubles the drive you have now, and copy everything to it and run that one, or both, if your machine supports it.
2. Get ZoneAlarm with antivirus. http://www.zonelabs.com
This is the firewall and antivirus I use. Never have had any problems.
3. Get AdAware SE Personal. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
I also use this.
4. Get Spyware Blaster. http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Yes, I use this one too.
5. Get SpyBot Search and Destroy. http://www.safer-networking.org/
Yep, I use this one too.
6. Run the last 3 on alternating cycles, one a night, about once every 2 weeks, along with the disk cleanup and de-frag (not at the same time, tho).
7. Don't like all the required upkeep on a Windows based machine? Get a Mac. I don't have one, I like the challenge of keeping my XP machine up and running.
 
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