PC and Network Maintenance Guide

[TheTexan]

Here is a little PC maintenance walk through you can use if you are having connection issues with your network provider.

These steps are based on a machine running Microsoft Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7 with a wired DSL internet connection. If you are running any other configuration these steps may, or may not, match your system.

** WARNING **
If you are not comfortable tinkering in your machine you will want to seek the help of a professional computer technician (or perhaps your child since they know way more about this stuff than we seem to).
** END OF WARNING - PROCEED AT OWN RISK **

First identify the critical characteristics of your machine:

Click Start, Settings and go to control panel…click the Start button then drag the mouse over settings and then click where it says control panel. This will open a new window. Click on System and that will open a window that tells you about the version of windows you are running.

Here you should see a lot of info about your computer. Note the operating system and what service pack is installed, if any. Towards the bottom it tells about the machine itself. What is the speed and memory of the machine? Are you are using a wireless connection on this machine? Is it a laptop or desktop unit?

Make a picture of your network. Draw it on a piece of paper so that if someone asks, or you have to take some of it apart and put it back together, you have the map. Something like this…

There is a wire coming out of the wall jack into the back of a model router / modem (note the model and manufacturer). There is a wire coming out of the back of the modem from port 1 to the back of your machine.

Next we go back to the computer system for network drop connection issues:

In the System window that is open there is a tab named Hardware. Click it. In the upper third of the window, an area named Device manager and a button in that area named Device manager. Click it. This will open a new window. Now you should see something that looks like a directory tree with a lot of + marks. Find the section marked Network Adapters and click the + sign to expand it. There are probably a couple of entries under here. Find the one that indicates it is a Connection. Double click the connection and it should open another window. Find the tab that says Power management. Click that tab. There should be a check box that says "allow the computer to turn off....". Uncheck that box if it is checked. What this does is allows the system to take your network connection down if you are reported as idle for too long.

Cleaning your Hard Disk

On your desktop there is an icon called My Computer. Right click and chose Explore. This will open Windows File manager. In explorer you should see a file tree with all your drives under My Computer. You should see a "C" drive and any CD Drive(s) you may have. Right click on the "C" drive and select properties. This will open a window with a pie chart in it. In this window you should see pink and blue. Just above the pie chart is a large number next to the word "capacity" write that number down for reference later. Just above the pie chart is a pink box with a number of free space, write that number down also. If you have less than 10% of your hard disk available you may want to either clear off some unused programs or invest in a larger disk soon. Click on the tools tab, and the second box should be De-fragment now. Click that button. Depending on your version, a window should open and you should see all of the hard drives you have in the upper portion. Next to the one that is "C" it should says file system type...NTFS is the most current. Write this down as well. Now click the button that says Analyze. If the system suggests that you should de-fragment your disk, go back to the desktop and right click. Go to Properties and turn off your screen saver. Then go back to the De-Fragment tool and follow the instructions.

Clearing Temp files

Close out the windows, we are in back to the desktop. Click Start, go to settings, control panel again. Go to Internet Options and click it. The first tab in the new window should say general. There a section called Browsing History. There is a delete button there, click it, this will open another window. There are five sections here; the first button when clicked, will delete your temporary internet files. You should do this about once a week, depending on how much you surf. The second deletes cookies and the third history. The second on is important recently. If the tables start to act....funky... or if you can't get the login screen to load you should delete cookies and try again.

Pop Up Blocker

Depending on the system and browser you are using how you access the pop-up blocker may vary. In dealing with specifically Windows XP and Internet Explorer you can access the pop-up blocker through Tools, Internet Options, Privacy and at the bottom is the section to adjust the pop-up blocker.

Make sure you have, or add the following links:

www.onlinepoker66.com
game.onlinepoker66.com
play.onlinepoker66.com

Also if it is not set so, select "Show Information Bar When Pop-up Blocked". This will display an information bar that will allow you to add a new item to the allowed list if it is blocked.

Now what?

Finally you will need to do a full reboot. Select Start then Shut Down, unplug the computer from the wall, count to 10, and then plug it back in and turn it back on.

All the changes will take effect.

After this post, please DO NOT post issues here, if you have the steps like this for another system, please DO post those here.

[adimantin]

I suggest downloading and installing ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) it does everything at once and its ace


TEXAN: Looks like a solid tool for regular maintenance. And it's free. Thanks for the input - excellent!

[OP66fozzy]

People should be aware that defrag can take some time to run.

[TheTexan]

Originally Posted by bad_loser

People should be aware that defrag can take some time to run.

True, if you have never done this you might want to go learn a new language, or grind your brake rotors. Might even be an overnight thing.

[gerbie]

Tex was kind enough to run me through this and it has worked a treat' but remember as TEX state's take note's of what you are doing then you can refer to them at a later date.
This process dose take time but is worth the effort i was loseing connection several time's a day' but this process seem's to have solved my problem .
good luck

[OP66fozzy]

If you are feeling REALLY brave, you might want to download a registry editor and run that as well. It may or may not help with problems on this site, but it can give your computer a whole new lease of life.

It gets rid of loads of unwanted stuff that slows the whole computer down.

Be aware though, editing the regisrty is not without its risks, if it goes wrong, that could be the end of your operating system!!!

I ran a freebie on my machine though and it was transformed, now runs almost as quick as the day I got it.

[jockney]

Originally Posted by bad_loser

If you are feeling REALLY brave, you might want to download a registry editor and run that as well. It may or may not help with problems on this site, but it can give your computer a whole new lease of life.

It gets rid of loads of unwanted stuff that slows the whole computer down.

Be aware though, editing the regisrty is not without its risks, if it goes wrong, that could be the end of your operating system!!!

I ran a freebie on my machine though and it was transformed, now runs almost as quick as the day I got it.

I would be very hesitant about using any "Free software" that claims to play around with the register. As you say BL it does have risks. Also it would be good advice to backup your registry prior to attempting anything.

NOT FOR INEXPERIENCED PC USERS

[Lex]

Originally Posted by adimantin

I suggest downloading and installing ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) it does everything at once and its ace


TEXAN: Looks like a solid tool for regular maintenance. And it's free. Thanks for the input - excellent!

Originally Posted by bad_loser

If you are feeling REALLY brave, you might want to download a registry editor and run that as well. It may or may not help with problems on this site, but it can give your computer a whole new lease of life.

It gets rid of loads of unwanted stuff that slows the whole computer down.

Be aware though, editing the regisrty is not without its risks, if it goes wrong, that could be the end of your operating system!!!

I ran a freebie on my machine though and it was transformed, now runs almost as quick as the day I got it.

Originally Posted by jockney

I would be very hesitant about using any "Free software" that claims to play around with the register. As you say BL it does have risks. Also it would be good advice to backup your registry prior to attempting anything.

NOT FOR INEXPERIENCED PC USERS

i agree with adminantin, cclean is very gd and i was about to suggest it myself just after reading the first post of the thread. you can download cclean for free and it works very well, it will also take care of some of the registry issues that users can experiance too, download it from here:

 http://www.filehippo.com/download/8df12f83ade22f96ae7abc5a72af046d/download/

copy that into the address bar then once the page has loaded wait a few seconds for the download to start, if it does not start click the link to force the download