Many people look back with nostalgia at the first day they used their brand-new computer. It worked like a charm. The boot process only took about ten seconds. The Start menu and Windows dialogs appeared instantly.

However, after about a year of heavy use, people often discover that their computer shows serious performance degradation. The boot process takes longer and longer. All the Windows dialogs also take longer to appear. The computer emits prolonged grinding noises as if it were contemplating if it's worth its while to carry out the task you requested.

The modern computer is an intricately-constructed system, much like the human organism. If you consume large amounts of products from questionable sources, you increase your fat intake, and quickly become overweight. You can't run as fast as you used to. The computer likewise slows down with time.

Actually, there is no such thing as a certified software product for computers. The software "certificates" really only guarantee that the software product is authentic and not that it is of high quality.

There are no medical organizations for computers which can certify that programs are harmless. Even the large and reputable software companies can produce software that is harmful to your system and that place "fat" on your computer. So if even the large companies are guilty of making your computer "fat", there's no telling the harm that could be caused by software downloaded from the Internet from dubious sources!

Computers, unlike humans, can be saved from their grim fate simply by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. Though this is an option, it is far from ideal. Formatting the disks will cause you to lose all the programs installed on the computer, as well as preference settings and system integrity.

But what are the alternatives? Something analogous to a private doctor for your computer, which can administer help without killing the computer can be found in programs such as PC Doc Pro. This is a complete remedy for your computer, and can be found at the following link:

Scan your computer with PC Doc Pro

If we return to the body fat analogy, what should be considered as excess fat for the computer system and how does it enter the system? The computer's Registry is analogous to our blood system, upon which all the other system parts (or organs) are dependant. This unified database stores crucial system information, which all the Windows applications poll from.

There is, however, a disadvantage in this system. Usually, users log into their systems with full administrator privileges. These administrator privileges are imperative in order to configure system and network settings, as well as installing new software programs. This means that the applications that are run on the computer also receive full administrator privileges.

So each program you run can actually change virtually any section of the Windows Registry, such as the settings of other applications.These privileges are abused by certain malicious scripts from the Web in order to change the Homepage or Search page of your Internet browser.

As time goes by, the computer Registry can even be affected by normal applications from well-known vendors, which leave traces in the Registry that can make your computer "overweight". This is also true when it come to uninstalling programs, as most software never uninstalls completely and removes all its components. Since most users are unaware of this issue, they rarely complain about it, so program developers don't have to worry about doing a tidy job with the un-installation process. They are just oblivious to the issue.

If there are no complaints, then everything must be ok. However, things are not quite ok. A year of heavy use will make your Registry considerably overweight. The Registry takes up more space and the access of the programs to the Registry becomes lengthy and cumbersome. This is what slows down the performance of the applications and increases the time it takes for them to start up. Even more adverse to your system is the fact that some of the bits and pieces left in the Registry refer to damaged or nonexistent objects. For example, right-clicking a file in Windows Explorer will cause a contextual menu to appear. Contextual means that the menu displays actions which are specific to the type of file you selected.

When a program is installed, sometimes its handlers are added to the systems menus of Windows. For example, image viewer programs will add handlers enabling you to open a file with that program("Open with..."), archive programs will enable you to manipulate files ("Send to..", "Compress with..."), printer drivers have their own handlers, etc. If, in the process, Registry entries will point to non-existing objects, Windows will search for these entries all the time. Some sections of the Registry indicate to Windows which programs to run during startup. You may not see them and so not be able to remove them manually, but Windows will try to load them every time it starts up.

What is the remedy? Start using PC Doc Pro. The program is easy to understand and to use. Click the "fix" button and two options will appear. Begin with cleaning the Registry. The tool will fix the problems mentioned earlier and more. It will check broken links, device drivers, fonts, ActiveX components, analyze them and fix or delete them if necessary. This will ensure your database is unfragmented, compact, and that all links are correct, which will improve your system performance.

However; the Registry is not the cause of all evils. A shortcut is a special file type in Windows. The Desktop and Start menu are mostly composed of shortcuts. When the Desktop is loading, or when the Start menu is accessed, Windows will check the shortcuts and look for the target they are referencing. If a shortcut has a broken link, or if it's referencing an object which is no longer on your system, then Windows will spend time looking for the object, finding its icon, etc. PC Doc Pro's second option is to enable you to scan and fix broken shortcuts on your system.

The "Clean" section of PC Doc Pro helps you clean all the junk files which are left on your disks. Some applications leave temporary files on the system instead of deleting them. PC Doc Pro goes over the directories of temporary files and deletes the files they contain, or it can search for temporary files on the computer by scanning the files for certain extensions. Cleaning temporary Internet files is recommended if you are worried about security, because it deletes cookies such as autofill data, etc.

The "Optimize" section has some tools which are useful to improve system performance and enable you to fine-tune hidden settings. These settings are actually not available through standard Windows dialog or from the Control Panel.

For example, it's possible to select if you want the Windows account to boot without your having to input your password, or if you want Windows to display the login screen with or without a password prompt. Some more advanced features are available in the Uninstall and Startup Entries Editors, which are otherwise not accessible using the standard Windows configuration applets.

Another tool "Boost Windows" provides continuous monitoring of the computer memory, eliminates unusable blocks and de-fragments blocks, in order to enable quicker access. If you enable this tool, it runs in the background and performs system memory optimization.

This tool also prioritizes the processor to give maximum priority to the active window. This means that your computer won't pause a movie you're watching in order to perform all kinds of background tasks. As a rule, processor time is distributed equally between all the active applications, but in order to enjoy multimedia applications you will want to give these applications prioritized access to the processor.

So is your computer too "fat"? Has it had it's fill of junk files, irrelevant Registry values or broken shortcuts? If so, you can provide the treatment!

Other programs and utilities that I recommend using are also available for free download and some trial versions.

Download and install the highlighted software:

Belarc is a report generator and I highly recommend you running this utility to collect the serial numbers and versions of software and Hardware that you have installed on your PC.  Print this report and keep it in a safe place. 

If you ever need to reinstall your software or replace your hard drive then you will have all of the serial numbers and key codes that you will need plus a list of all the hardware that you have installed.

Adaware SE which cleans the cookies and temp files that are dropped on your computer these can be removed quite easily. I recommend running this utility at least once every day to keep your PC running in optimum performance.

TrendMicro offers a housecall that you can run without installing any software; it will however install cookies when you use it. Anything virus, malware, or spam that it finds you will have the option to remove it automatically or a step by step process to remove it.

Major Jane Raymond USAFA

MER/IT

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