General PC maintenance advice

[Jesseislil]

Hello all,

I recently uninstalled an Adobe program that completely messed up my computer (was no longer able to un/install programs, lost control of volume, services, ability to detect wireless networks, etc). Long story short, I had to restore PC to factory settings which wasn't easy (install kept failing)!

Now that I'm finally up and running with fresh install of Windows 7 again, can anyone please share any important information I should know about regarding general PC maintenance in the following areas (this is all new to me):

- registry management
- restore points
- boot / clean install windows
- clean program in/uninstall (what system files are affected)
- partition hard drive

My main concern is preventing new applications from messing up my computer and being able to restore Windows 7 easily. This is all new to and I would appreciate at least being pointed in the right direction! Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[richc46]

There would be no special maintenance in your situation. Follow the instructions given by one of our most respected members and you will have a computer that is running well for years to come. Any specific questions please ask.
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...uggestions-proper-maintenance.html#post764471

 

[ignatzatsonic]

- registry management
- restore points
- boot / clean install windows
- clean program in/uninstall (what system files are affected)
- partition hard drive

My main concern is preventing new applications from messing up my computer and being able to restore Windows 7 easily. This is all new to and I would appreciate at least being pointed in the right direction! Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Registry Management: generally don't bother. If you are compulsive and can't stand to leave well enough alone, CCleaner is the most commonly recommended maintenance and registry cleaning program. Most would tell you to NOT use its registry cleaning component barring a MAJOR issue unrelated to "maintenance". If you insist, be sure to back up the registry when CCleaner asks you if you want to back up. The non-registry portion of CCleaner is highly regarded.

Restore points: System Restore works pretty well, not perfect, but highly useful. Keep 5 or 10 restore points. Should occupy no more than 10 GB of space on your hard drive. You can adjust that amount.

Not sure what you mean by your next two items.

Partition hard drive: An ordinary install will make a very small "System Reserved" partition and a much larger C partition. That's all you need. Segregate your personal files by a series of folders within C. You could segregate by making more partitions, but that can eventually lead to "not enough space" issues. You may have some over-riding reason to use several partitions on a drive, but that would not be typical.

Make an ordinary backup of your personal data files, either through drag and drop or by using a program made for that purpose.

Use a program like Macrium Reflect Free Edition to make an image of C and System Reserved. This would be your "system backup" irrespective of any backup you might have of data files. Make a new image file periodically--once a month or so. Make a recovery disk with Macrium using "Win PE" method and make sure that disk will boot your PC.

Try to resist utility "fix it" suites that you might see for sale at Best Buy.