Insightful opinions on maintaining my laptop

Beauski · 29 Sep 2011

Hello there I just got a laptop that will hopefully survive me through college, as I'll be on a limited budget I don't really want it to break down or anything.
Just a few opinions would be very helpful.

As far as free anti-virus programs go is Microsoft Security Essentials the way to go?
I have bit-defender at the moment and still am on the free trial period as a friend said it was the best but don't really want to have to buy subscriptions for it unless there is a notable difference.

I have cleared the registry after I installed all the needed programs and have run CCleaner, I plan to run the defrager about once a week or so. Anything else I should be doing to maintain my computer?

I also heard alot of programs that start up on boot can really slow down a computer, what program (or steps if there are any) do you guys recommend to find a list of these and what should I be looking for to stop running on start up.

Thanks in advance guys !

Maguscreed · 29 Sep 2011

MSE is generally low resource and has the least number of known problems with windows 7.

I do not suggest using the registry cleaner in ccleaner. Though it's normal cleaning function is quite useful.
The computer will run with everything removed from startup, as will most of the applications that put items into startup (though they may need to be manually started instead of just popping up when needed)

As far as longevity a laptop cooling pad is a definite need.
The quickest killer of most laptops is heat, since there is so little room in them to dissipate and move heat, they suffer from heat problems far more commonly than desktops do.
The pads may seem like a pain in the backside to keep around, but they really are a good idea if longevity is a concern of yours.

Britton30 · 29 Sep 2011

Welcome to 7 Forums Beauski. MSE is a good choice for an full featured security suite. I personally don't think Bit Defender has the brass. A paid version of an AV is $30-$70 per year and you may have student pricing available to you.

Let the built-in windows defrag do that task. CCleaner is a good program, I use it daily, it will zap your temp files and clean the registry with no problems.

You should create a set of recovery disks in case of a major crash.
Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Backup and Restore, in the left pane select Create system repair disk and follow the prompts.

Create a system image while the PC is running well, got to the same location as above instead select Create a system image. You can also use Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download for making an image.

For startup programs, post a snip Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums of msconfig with the Startup tab open. Type msconfig into Start search, hit enter.