Cleaning, I am obsessed

[helloidistance]

I have Windows XP Home Edition...I am obsessed with cleaning and tweaking it to its best performance! I have a lot of programs (SpyBot, AdWare, Norton Anti-Virus, AdWatch, POW, Tweak-XP, System Mechanic, SwatIt, RegCleaner), but is their anymore that will stop any type of harm to my computer? Also if you know of any good tweaking things please tell me!

Thanks,
Distance

 

[filthy_mcnasty]

http://www.subzerotech.com/index.php?module=sz_articles_display&id=13&page=1

is a good guide. overkill is something to consider, there's a point where you're just not going to get any more performance

 

[helloidistance]

Lol, I know...I just want to make sure it's all clean and there's nothing floating around in the registry and things...

Thanks,
Distance

 

[Tarkus]

LOL, with all those spyware catching programs you're probably loading up the registry and slowing down your system.

Another program you may want is Zone Alarm firewall to keep intruders out and keep programs on your computer you don't want yapping from connecting to the internet.

My favorite tweak is to set a fixed sized pagefile so it doesn't fragment from changing size all the time.

 

[helloidistance]

What do you have your pagefile set to?

Thanks,
Distance

 

[Tarkus]

I usually use 600 MB, for some reason this last time I have 1GB. Gonna have to change that, then again, I thought I did. Got too many computers to keep track of!

 

[Rick]

Your might be cleaning sooo much that you run the risk of damaging your system. Software is smart these days, but not all of it.. And not THAT smart.

 

[Nodsu]

You should really consider the fact that you are installing a lot of different programs to clean up your computer... Can you see the absurdity?

Its better to stick with about 5 good programs for constant mainteance and only install something else temporarily when needed.

I have antivirus, firewall, spybot and adaware (not scanning real-time), Norton Utilities.

 

[SNGX1275]

Format c:\
d:\I386\winnt.exe

install 2k and forget about it.

 

[Goalie]

Or you could just put a linux/bsd on, edit hosts.deny to everything except localhost. At least there you can find out what's running (really) without too much hastle.

Seriously, I agree with the other guys, it sounds like you may be running severe risk of overkill. For my systems, I find one reg cleaner to use exclusively, one drive defrag'er, and a basic privacy program. The firewall type stuff is done by hardware. If you've got the money, a decent switch or router with a firewall built in isn't a bad investment, and can save you some windows headaches.