system maintainance tool

[Snegithan]

Hi Everyone!

I using system machanic 5 for system maintainance (registery, defrag, junk files, +etch) recently i tested their lastet version 6 and its not realy comfortible. well u guys prefer any better tools with all in one system maintainance tool?

[CptMurphy]

Meh, I use the tools that come with XP. They're good enough for me.

[Siginet]

I actually made my own maint program that I use on many of the company systems I maintain. It scans for viruses/spyware, performs updates, defragments the computers. It's not completley finished yet but it does the job. I want to make it email me when a computer is infected as well. Also as of now it only supports Adaware and Symantec Antivirus.

[CoffeeFiend]

Meh, I use the tools that come with XP. They're good enough for me.

That's pretty much my opinion on that too: none of those "maintenance" apps. Getting rid of temp files by hand every now and then is quite simple and fast. Defrag every once in a while (I hardly ever bother). Virus/spyware scanning whenever you like (I've got nod32 resident, and I never bother doing scans for viruses or spyware as I haven't caught any in a VERY, VERY long time - no spyware since I ditched IE, and no viruses in years). As for the other apps, I wouldn't want those on my system. Most registry "fixers" often do more harm than good and such, and with no real/noticeable improvement (unless your system's an absolute mess, in which case you might as well reinstall anyway). I see no need for apps like this...

[ripken204]

Meh, I use the tools that come with XP. They're good enough for me.

That's pretty much my opinion on that too: none of those "maintenance" apps. Getting rid of temp files by hand every now and then is quite simple and fast. Defrag every once in a while (I hardly ever bother). Virus/spyware scanning whenever you like (I've got nod32 resident, and I never bother doing scans for viruses or spyware as I haven't caught any in a VERY, VERY long time - no spyware since I ditched IE, and no viruses in years). As for the other apps, I wouldn't want those on my system. Most registry "fixers" often do more harm than good and such, and with no real/noticeable improvement (unless your system's an absolute mess, in which case you might as well reinstall anyway). I see no need for apps like this...

finally someone who think like me! but my experiment was to not install any type of protection out of my router's firewall. and i mean nothing at all, i ran no test at all. 6 months later i ran all of the normal test, nod32, adaware,spybot,defender. all that came up was 4 errors for something firefox related which i only use for testing websites i make so i know they work on all browsers, and just 1 spyware. so thats 1 spyware over 6 months with no protection, now i think thats pretty darn good!

[uid0]

One infection is good?

Presumably they didn't spy your bank details and empty your account then...

[CoffeeFiend]

finally someone who think like me! but my experiment was to not install any type of protection out of my router's firewall. and i mean nothing at all, i ran no test at all. 6 months later i ran all of the normal test, nod32, adaware,spybot,defender. all that came up was 4 errors for something firefox related which i only use for testing websites i make so i know they work on all browsers, and just 1 spyware. so thats 1 spyware over 6 months with no protection, now i think thats pretty darn good!

That's pretty close to my setup. The main difference is I use no router as they all suck IMHO. I've pretty much tried 'em all (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, etc), and they've all overheated and died on me in no time flat (2 weeks average before they start having major problems). So I'm using a firewall on a PC instead (along with a nice Linksys SRW2016 switch). Currently it's RRAS, but I'll likely move to smoothwall (or maybe sieve) soon. I also run nod32 just in case as it doesn't really slow the PC down much, but it's never found anything... As for spyware scanners, I now call 'em "cookie finders", because it's all they've ever found every time I've bothered to waste time with 'em. Trying to fix your PC (like remove spyware) is nowhere as good as not getting it messed up in the first place (i.e. don't use IE and you'll quickly forget what spyware even is)

[Jeremy]

CCleaner (Junk)

jv16 PowerTools (Best Registry Cleaner) The reason why I feel this is the best registry cleaner is because it is constantly improving throughout development. The program receives cache updates that make the registry cleaner safer and more effective. Some of you may remember long ago when I did the Registry Comparison topic. I might update that and sum it up with the best ones from that list. I've very interested in Registry Cleaners in general.

Diskeeper (Defragmenter)

O&ODefrag, PerfectDisk, and Diskeeper are all good in their own ways. However, since I can't be bothered to manually defrag anymore, I use Diskeeper, despite feeling that PerfectDisk does a better job at defragmenting.

I don't trust "All-in-One" software, personally.

[ripken204]

One infection is good?

Presumably they didn't spy your bank details and empty your account then...

um? why isnt it? so your telling me you would rather have 1000 infections than 1 infection?

[Jeremy]

I like having 0 infections.

[Takeshi]

All-in-one system maintenance apps are for newbies. As your level of expertise increases you'd want to DIY.

These apps in general do not cater for malware prevention, so any discussion on malware is a bit off-topic really.

I agree with the comments on registry tools.

[Andromeda43]

Computer Security/Efficiency is my specialty.

There is NO one program that will properly clean and maintain any PC.

Just as no one doctor can take care of your entire body, no one program can take care of your entire PC.

The best programs will specialize in one certain area. The best AV program won't edit your registry and the best Registry Cleaner won't find and remove spyware.

I've spend years, scouring the WWW for the best programs for each job.

To find a complete junk file remover, I had to write my own. I still use some packaged programs to back up and verify that what I do, is what needs doing.

As a professional, what I use I share with my hundreds of customers.

We all stay virus clean and spyware free.

And, with the Weekly maintenance routine I give them, they can keep their compuiters clean of junk and running at peak performance.

Most of what I've mentioned here is well covered in other threads.

Good Luck,

Andromeda43 B)

[Jeremy]

Computer Security/Efficiency is my specialty.

There is NO one program that will properly clean and maintain any PC.

Just as no one doctor can take care of your entire body, no one program can take care of your entire PC.

The best programs will specialize in one certain area. The best AV program won't edit your registry and the best Registry Cleaner won't find and remove spyware.

I've spend years, scouring the WWW for the best programs for each job.

To find a complete junk file remover, I had to write my own. I still use some packaged programs to back up and verify that what I do, is what needs doing.

As a professional, what I use I share with my hundreds of customers.

We all stay virus clean and spyware free.

And, with the Weekly maintenance routine I give them, they can keep their compuiters clean of junk and running at peak performance.

Most of what I've mentioned here is well covered in other threads.

Good Luck,

Andromeda43 B)

Well, you've focused so much on bragging yourself up that you forgot to mention the tools you use. I'm sure we use most of the same software anyway, as my main knowledge in PCs goes to security and performance.

[Andromeda43]

Bragging, or informing?

What I use is well documented on thread after thread in this and other forums.

It actually gets tiresome, retyping it over and over again, day after day.

But since you're an Expert, I'm sure you really don't care, other than to flame me,

which seems to be the only reason for your post.

So since you obviously want everyone to know what an expert you are, Inform us.

Go ahead.

Your world awaits!

[Jeremy]

Bragging, or informing?

What I use is well documented on thread after thread in this and other forums.

It actually gets tiresome, retyping it over and over again, day after day.

But since you're an Expert, I'm sure you really don't care, other than to flame me,

which seems to be the only reason for your post.

So since you obviously want everyone to know what an expert you are, Inform us.

Go ahead.

Your world awaits!

You repeat yourself by your own will, so to complain how it gets tiresome is pointless.

You said "I am a pro and I use the best software", but you don't specify the names of those programs.

I'm not an expert in the sense that I have my own company and advise people what to use, but I do have a good knowledge of great 3rd party software to use and I am very proud of the collection of software that I have. And I'm not flaming you, but your frequent posts about how great you are and such only goes to satisfy your own ego, and not the knowledge of the user you're directing your posts towards, otherwise you would indeed have mentioned some software. And besides, I believe flaming usually comes in the form of swearing and insulting the other person, which is not my intention. However you interpret it is up to you.

And as per request, even though I have listed great programs in the past, I'll do so again. If you wish to comment or debate my choices, go ahead and I'll gladly go about it in a civil manner as to keep the thread chilled.

Let me see... computer performance and security...

Acronis True Image, Acronis Disk Director, Driver Genius Pro 2005, Everest, jv16 PowerTools, R-Studio Corporate, VMware Workstation, XPLite, CCleaner, DeepFreeze, Dial-A-Fix, Diskeeper, nLite, Norton Removal Tool (SymNRT), NT Registry Optimizer, PerfectDisk, RyanVM Update Pack, Sandboxie, Serviwin.exe (services.msc replacement), strun.exe (msconfig.exe replacement), Ultimate BootCD 3.4 Basic, UltraVNC, UniExtract, Unlocker, User Profile Hive Cleanup Utility, Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, Windows XP Services Tool and Xpy.

Ewido AntiSpyware, Portable Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D, Windows Defender, Kaspersky, NOD32, Outpost Firewall, Ad Muncher, Hamachi and Opera.