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LifeHacker's Five Best Windows Maintenance Tools
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mklopez- 1453 diggs
- digg it
- Betogonza, on 07/03/2008, -14/+8Need more!!
- kywirelessguy, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Hijack This!
Fixwareout
Smitfraudfix
Vundofix
Hmmm.can you tell what I spend most of my time doing with computers?- transfuse, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1OGC
- PURPLEDRINK, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Need comment!
- kywirelessguy, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Hijack This!
- quomen, on 07/03/2008, -8/+37Ccleaner and Auslogics Disk Defrag are definitely the best two of the five. They are light weight, free, fast, and very functional. I've found that I haven't had to use any sort of spyware or antivirus software since upgrading to Vista. Did anyone else notice that too?
- LifesSweetDrug, on 07/03/2008, -15/+3I never used any anti-virus or spyware when I was running Xp, I just trusted windows defender to look after that. So long as you don't surf for porno your ok. I haven't noticed any difference with Vista yet, all though it is supposedly more safe.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -1/+8I do surf porno and junk but i do some within Firefox... and Avast! (my anti virus scanner) takes care of both spyware and virus' I might run aground of that manage to exploit any weakness' in firefox (and yes that has happened a few times).
Then again I had this same arangement in XP so yeh... can't say whether it has mattered or not for sure.
I WILL say that the few client's of mine that have upgraded to vista have had a drastic reduction of problems with spyware... But I'm not there all the time so I can't say for sure what the actual cause for that is.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -1/+8I do surf porno and junk but i do some within Firefox... and Avast! (my anti virus scanner) takes care of both spyware and virus' I might run aground of that manage to exploit any weakness' in firefox (and yes that has happened a few times).
- ziyaad, on 07/04/2008, -11/+7I did'nt HATE vista, but I love the switch to XP, games (Ehm Team Fortress 2) Run a lot more smooth.
- foofightrs777, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5smoothLY
And yes, in Xp TF2 runs much better. Though a good autoexec.cfg can iron out most of the hangs. - foofightrs777, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4Why do you people digg down these comments. Personal experience isn't valid? Some of you must hate the truth.
- renegadeafk, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1TF2 runs the same as in XP in vista x64 for me (9600GT) although it does crash on exit for some reason which is annoying. the new DOD:S does too, seems like a source 07 engine problem.
- foofightrs777, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5smoothLY
- Scully1981, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6I still use AVG and SpyBot occasionally but that's because Windows Defender annoys the hell outta me.
- KyjL, on 07/04/2008, -4/+9You use AVG? Good lord, are you insane?
- PatoLucas, on 07/04/2008, -1/+2Excuse me, what's so wrong with AVG?
- KyjL, on 07/05/2008, -1/+2It's not an Anti-Virus. It's a program that says I FOUND ME SOME VIRUSES and points at them. Nevermind actually attempting to clean it, oh no.
That's on a good day when it actually finds anything - I've seen countless computers use AVG and be riddled with viruses that something like Avast! cleaned out after a pre-boot scan.
tl;dr - AVG is a horrible AV - PatoLucas, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3That's what I love about Digg: I can always find someone nerdier than me! I'll try Avast, thanks a lot.
- foofightrs777, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1Avast is great; especially so because of the boot time scan. Any antivirus that doesn't include it is more or less a joke.
- stucktildekey, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Power Defragmenter/Contig is lighter and faster than Auslogics Disk Defrag.
It might be a little outdated, but I'm surprised they always leave out Cablenut. - WhoopteyDoo, on 07/04/2008, -0/+0Ive noticed that too, but on the other hand Im doing a lot less with p2p too, so.....*shrugs*
- LifesSweetDrug, on 07/03/2008, -15/+3I never used any anti-virus or spyware when I was running Xp, I just trusted windows defender to look after that. So long as you don't surf for porno your ok. I haven't noticed any difference with Vista yet, all though it is supposedly more safe.
- LifesSweetDrug, on 07/03/2008, -1/+16Revo Uninstaller works a treat :P
- notdatagain, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I second that.
Been using Revo for a while and it's a solid program.
- notdatagain, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I second that.
- sishgupta, on 07/03/2008, -3/+10ccleaner and jkdefrag + jkdefragGUI ftw
- ElBeh, on 07/03/2008, -1/+26WinDirStat is amazing at finding he things that are eating up your harddrive space.
- MScrip, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Thanks!
One question... the first time I ran WinDirStat it took 2 minutes to scan my drive. Then I closed the program and ran it again and it only took a few seconds. Will it be quicker later the next time I run it?
I've used programs like this before... and when I need some quick info about my disk space I need it quick!- wattersm, on 07/04/2008, -0/+6It was faster the 2nd time since the system already had the data in cache.
- hoowahman, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I use something similar that you can run from a java webstart quickly called JDiskReport found here: http://www.jgoodies.com/downloads/
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I've got a portable version I carry around with me on pen drive. Very helpful for finding data clients might want transferred to a new computer and haven't placed in a typical location. Also good for finding bloat to help free up hard drive space.
- MScrip, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Thanks!
- binorgog, on 08/07/2008, -4/+21chkdsk c: /f
- GliTCH82, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1y
shutdown /r /t 0
- GliTCH82, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1y
- zarcu, on 07/04/2008, -6/+5Tuneup Utilities ftw.
- GliTCH82, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Careful, I've seen Tuneup registry cleaner clean out registry keys that were actually important. For some interesting fun, try installing tuneup registry cleaner on a brand new install of Windows XP and see how many keys it marks as safe to delete. You'll be surprised.
- TBBucs, on 07/04/2008, -10/+3Life Hackery started things off with How NOT to Draw Like a 3 Year Old, and now Life Hacker hits back with this beauty. I'm feeling an epic battle in the midst.
What's next, Life Hackery?- clearcasting, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5It's Life Hacker.
- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4He appears to be having some sort of episode, just ignore him for now and check back on him in the morning.
- TBBucs, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1I was referring to the LifeHacker.com rip-off called LifeHackery.com.
- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4He appears to be having some sort of episode, just ignore him for now and check back on him in the morning.
- clearcasting, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5It's Life Hacker.
- alpha88, on 07/04/2008, -14/+5I love Unix / Mac OS X for not needing to defrag.
- voodoozombie, on 07/04/2008, -5/+6You mean like Windows NTFS? You should try doing a little research before you conclude that Unix / Mac needs less fragmenting than NTFS. They fragment the same amount. It's called the Internet. USE IT! DO SOME RESEARCH. Stop believing everything on Digg.
- tama00, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3No way we once had a windows server that swapped massive amounts of data in and out of it all day. It was fragmented to the ages!
I swapped it to debian for a test on ext3. Never looked back!
and its not just a small unnoticeable amount either. Its a HUGE difference! - specialK16, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Don't know about Mac, but at least I am sure that ext2 and ext3 is virtually free of fragmentation....
NTFS on the other hand......... - alpha88, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1No, you fail. Mac doesn't need "less defragmenting" it needs none. If you try to defrag a mac, it could make it slower.
YOU do some research next time, kay?
- tama00, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3No way we once had a windows server that swapped massive amounts of data in and out of it all day. It was fragmented to the ages!
- voodoozombie, on 07/04/2008, -5/+6You mean like Windows NTFS? You should try doing a little research before you conclude that Unix / Mac needs less fragmenting than NTFS. They fragment the same amount. It's called the Internet. USE IT! DO SOME RESEARCH. Stop believing everything on Digg.
- zarcu, on 07/04/2008, -7/+1No anti-virus? AVG?
- justastatistic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2That's another article.
http://lifehacker.com/395046/five-best-antivirus-a ... - HigherLogic, on 07/04/2008, -2/+2That's not maintenance, it's idiot-proofing. Honestly, who runs AV software? I can't remember the last time I installed that.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2"Honestly, who runs AV software?"
People who have computers connected to the internet and actually understand the methods used by virus' to infect their computers. Just because you didn't open X file doesn't mean you can't get a virus. Check out a virus called MS Blaster. All you need is a computer connected to the internet and an unknown or unpatched security hole...
Also, you can get a virus just by browsing to a site that tries to install it... and no you can't just avoid such sites because, in case you haven't been paying attention lately, it's possible to type in the web address for a perfectly safe and valid website and end up on a webpage loaded down with exploits designed to install a virus on your computer.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2"Honestly, who runs AV software?"
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5AVG is probably one of the worst Anti-Virus' available right now. I think McAffee and Norton might be the only two contenders with it for worst AV. Oh and recently AVG installed computers have been causing problems for web hosts... some sort of poorly thought out pre-emptive browsing protection. Grisoft should try developing an AV that can scan at a reasonable speed and actually removes virus' before working on something as tricky as what they are trying to pull off.
My personal experience with Avast! AV, on the other hand, has been excellent.- GliTCH82, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1NOD32 FTW
- sadilak, on 07/04/2008, -0/+0Avast is awesome and Kaspersky is better if you have a machine with powerful specs.
- justastatistic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2That's another article.
- bhavinp, on 07/04/2008, -12/+702 Disk-defragmentation appz
2 spyware/virus scanner
1 Uninstaller
1 pissed off digger for reading this useless list.- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -2/+30For everything else there's mastercard.
- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -2/+30For everything else there's mastercard.
- pakman221, on 07/04/2008, -7/+0I have all of these programs and I have to admit they are REALLY good for improving your computers performance!
- Charklii, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Why do you need two defragers? But since you have both, which one would you reccomend? (I think one is enough for me).
- pakman221, on 07/04/2008, -0/+0Auslogics: Disk Defrag is the better one.
- GliTCH82, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Diskeeper is by far the best. In the most recent versions, the Diskeeper service defragments your hard drive continuously using what they call "Invisi-tasking", which is basically running the defragmentation process on the idle process priority in Windows with the addition of an intelligent disk I/O throttle mechanism so your computer is continuously defragmented with absolutely zero performance penalties. You will never have to run a manual defragmentation again.
- Charklii, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Why do you need two defragers? But since you have both, which one would you reccomend? (I think one is enough for me).
- Barackalypse, on 07/04/2008, -2/+9The real best tools: virtual machines and disk images. Why bother defragging and running all these other utilities when I can just restore a clean image in 3 minutes or do all my monkeying around in a virtual machine?
- n3tfury, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4because there are those with a lot less RAM than VM's are comfortable with.
- melonhedd, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1RAM is under $50 for 4 GB
- n3tfury, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1*golf clap*
this article is for your avg newb joe, not geeks, so it doesn't matter how much RAM is because those folks won't be installing virtual machines and it's more likely that their motherboard doesn't support 4GB anyway. - melonhedd, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1They won't be running defragmenters either.
- n3tfury, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1hey, i didn't submit the article.
- n3tfury, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4because there are those with a lot less RAM than VM's are comfortable with.
- Pinkertinkle, on 07/04/2008, -11/+2Where's the one that keeps the BSOD away?
- Charklii, on 07/04/2008, -1/+7Really? I don't think I've encountered that since Windows 98..
- foxtrot3, on 07/04/2008, -2/+6It's called XP
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4...or vista *ducks*
- shithitinthefan, on 07/04/2008, -6/+4If Bill and company had a clue these kind of simple and effective tools would be built into windows, or better yet get rid of legacy code in their APIs.
- HigherLogic, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6Uh, they are. The only thing that isn't would be CCleaner, but you can defrag your hard drives, do a malware sweep, and uninstall programs with Windows without any extra software.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -6/+1ok yeh, they are there... but they suck.
Add/Remove programs tends to leave a lot of trash behind in your registry, shared program folders, personal folders, windows folders, and some times even their own program folders. That said I've never seen a third party app do any better without a significant risk of removing files you actually need to keep.
Disk Cleanup is barely functional at best and is not really designed with security and privacy in mind... just hard drive space. I normally use Windows Washer because of the added secure erase functionality.
The built in defrag in XP... while as effective as any other utility I've used, is extremely fickle about hard drive activity. Many other apps exists that can deal with occasional hard drive activity without completely starting over... I've not had any reason to even try Vista's defrag yet so I have no idea about it.
Windows Defender thus far has proven more annoying than helpful... similar to other supplemental MS security apps (windows firewall any one?). I would take Spybot S&D over WD any day of the week... though I would prefer to use it along side other malware removal programs as Spybot tends to miss some of it.
- wolferz, on 07/04/2008, -6/+1ok yeh, they are there... but they suck.
- shithitinthefan, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Simple is the key word, most people don't have the time to do forum searches to make their OS run the way it should out of the box.
- ConfusedCartman, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3*facepalm*
- melonhedd, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4If the included utilities were too good, neckbeards would complain about Microsoft abusing their "monopoly"
- HigherLogic, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6Uh, they are. The only thing that isn't would be CCleaner, but you can defrag your hard drives, do a malware sweep, and uninstall programs with Windows without any extra software.
- JNudda, on 07/04/2008, -2/+2Defraggler anyone?
- p3ngwin, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1agreed, that and "IObit smartdefrag" for automatic background idle resource defragging.
- hatgreeting, on 07/04/2008, -0/+11Been using CCleaner for years. I have no idea if it makes any difference at all in my computer's performance, but it makes a big difference in my own neurotic conscience :)
- foxtrot3, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2"Power Defragmenter GUI" - Not mentioned in Lifehacker article, but works great. Google to find it.
- tama00, on 07/04/2008, -6/+2Just do make a disk image of how you want the OS to be and then each fortnight at 12am set it to automatically boot up and load the new image on. Have all you documents linked in from another drive so it all your files are still there after the new image :)
Bam good as new and faster then all this crap too!- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Yeah...except if you install any software.. the registry keys would be gone you tool.
- tama00, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1you back it up you dick
regedit -> export - crossmr, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1and then you also back up anything else you accumulated since the last refresh.
including ***** you might want to get rid of.
Unless you plan to individually search for every registry key associated with any program you've installed and are still using.
At which point it becomes much slower than running crap cleaner. a job that this tool is built to handle.
- tama00, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1you back it up you dick
- crossmr, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Yeah...except if you install any software.. the registry keys would be gone you tool.
- mikephimikephi, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1no nCleaner?
- djclay, on 07/04/2008, -1/+0I love CCleaner - but out of sheer curiosity I looked up nCleaner and I have to say it looks pretty impressive so far.
But it could use a little better name :P - kyxi, on 07/05/2008, -0/+0nCleaner messed up my computer once. I don't trust them anymore.
- djclay, on 07/04/2008, -1/+0I love CCleaner - but out of sheer curiosity I looked up nCleaner and I have to say it looks pretty impressive so far.
- wattersm, on 07/04/2008, -9/+3None of the above, you don't need ANY of this crap.
- DarkShroud, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3Revo Uninstaller was a nice find as I've been using "Your Uninstaller! 2008."
Auslogics Disk Defrag was fast as well but Defraggler can be set to defrag individual folders. However TuneUp Utilities can be set to run weekly and it does a lot more than defrag in it's 1-click maintenance scans. So a lot of choices here.- renegadeafk, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3I don't really see the point in defragging individual folders/files.
- sonicjosh, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2How does it compare to Your Uninstaller, I might replace it; since Revo is free, not like I was paying for Your Uninstaller...
- dmclaughlin, on 07/04/2008, -7/+1I prefer Windex. ;)
- ConfusedCartman, on 07/04/2008, -5/+1I use Ashampoo's WinOptimizer 5(registry cleaner, network optimizer, defragger, windows tweaker, and more) to keep Windows in check, but that isn't a free program(*ahem*) so it probably isn't as attractive. It has a great, easy to understand interface and looks good too. If you are bold enough to acquire it, I recommend it.
By the way, buried as inaccurate. - MCA2142, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1To a non-proficient person, it must be quite amazing to read that you need 5.
- jchrome, on 07/04/2008, -0/+10@KyiL - what's the issue with AVG?
- XxUNDEROATHxX, on 07/04/2008, -7/+2They should have an article like this for macs!
...oh wait - lopla, on 07/04/2008, -8/+2The truly best tool for windows is a cd called "Boot-n-Nuke", you boot to it and it wipes the drive.
- macmangb, on 07/04/2008, -13/+1You only one tool to fix Windows and that's a mac.
- 3leggedHorse, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1ncleaner is quality.
- EEdesigner, on 07/04/2008, -15/+2My best windows maintenance tool is my present computer. Macbook.
My wife's best windows maintenace tool is her present computer. Imac.
My music studio's Mac also requires very little windows maintenance.
Our Linux machine requires very little windows maintenance.
We both were Microsoft types once, but decided that daily rebooting, constant updates of virus checking algorithms, and the constant feeling of "blast from the past" finally pushed us over the edge to a "Microsoft-free" environment. Three years and counting: no reboots, no disc rebuilds, no blue screens, etc. It's like being a Toyota driver watching the Yugos on the side of the road.- Kamael, on 07/04/2008, -1/+8Please, go back to your hole.
- specialK16, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Don't you feel like jumping off a bridge?
- rootforce, on 07/04/2008, -6/+1Windows install disk.
- Alverez, on 07/04/2008, -3/+7I just strait up love Lifehacker.
- sovietninja, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5straight*
- S5S5S5, on 07/04/2008, -2/+0I need 2 more defragmentation apps on top of Windows own defragmentation app why exactly?
- Zounas, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Because the default kinda sucks.
- GruntboyX, on 07/04/2008, -2/+2bury
damn digg bug or firefox. Every time i login to comment on a story with multiple stories open across different tabs it changes the story in the focused tab...
So this pointless rant was used to cover for my ignorant comment not relating to this story - jeffits420, on 07/04/2008, -2/+0Spybot Search and Destroy FTL. Might as well grab AdAware while you are at it.
- holyskeleton, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1There's Glary Utilities, Advanced Windows Care, CCleaner, SmartDefrag, and TuneUp Utilities. I've used all of these and they're all pretty decent. I'm using TuneUp right now because of its 1-click maintenance feature that also does defrag.
- AdmiralAcbar, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Does no one else find it ironic that Ccleaner offers to install a yahoo toolbar?
- steveskg, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1How do the defrag tools compare to PerfectDisk?
- pwr4, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Diskeeper Lite. You can't scheudle defrags without the upgrade version, but it does tell you when it's time for a partition to be defragmented. The pro version that has real-time defrag (IFAAST) is worth it, and does not seem to use much memory or system resources.
- VodkanLemons, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Avira Antivir is the best free anti-virus
it detects more than any other AV program.. even BitDefender !!
http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2 ... - documaker, on 08/27/2008, -0/+0 Jv16 Powertools (macecraft.com) found hundreds of problems that this product missed. The computers start quicker; what could be better?
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