Presently I'm running an HP Win 7 64 bit. On the first of each month I run my virus scanner, disc cleanup, disk check, registry cleaner, and defrag. Each night I automatically backup my files and also do a backup of my C drive OS. These backups are written to two external HDD. I use Win Live Mail, I delete most mail after reading and replying to a few. Each night I delete my sent mail and then empty the deleted items folder. I never power off my computer. I reboot when updating or running maintenance. Only problem I have ever had was about 8 years back on a Win XP the HDD failed. I put in a new HDD, restored my OS from my external HDD and was back in business within the hour. I use Acronis as my backup software. I'm mentioning this as a tip for others and would also like to hear about other's maintenance routine. I also have a Win 98 that has been running for 15 years that I keep handy just to play one game. Only repair to it was a modem and I added RAM.
I have Advanced System Care Pro, Malwarebytes Anti malware, Commodo firewall, Avast virus protection, and Ccleaner. I ran the Advance System Care whenever the happy face turns into a sad face and run Ccleaner every few days. I run Malwarebytes every week or so just do double check that I dont have any malware hiding anything. Thats about it, my maintenance is pretty easy.
Seeing as nearly all viruses and malware come thru casual web browsing, you can save yourself a lot of head aches my always running your browser and email programs in a sandbox such as SandBoxie. On top of keeps malware and Viruses contained, it's a one click to remove everything and anything created from browsing. I live by it, and since I started using it I've had 0 Malware/Virus issues (anything gets in you just clear the sandbox). Previously even which AVG and a host of others I would end up having to clean up something every few months that gets thru.
Avast buys out AVG... Avast not done with deal-making after AVG buy, but no rush September 30, 2016 - Avast Software, maker of the world's most popular computer antivirus program, will need a year to absorb its $1.3 billion buy of rival AVG but may seek further acquisitions before an expected flotation, its chief executive said in an interview.
I find virus checkers to be more annoying than a virus. I know a computer guy and I just take my computer to him to fix when it doesnt work.
If you tell the world what security measures you have, it makes it easier for the world to bypass those.
I do two things every week or two: 1) I run Onyx. It clears caches, repairs permissions, runs basic maintenance routines, etc. Takes about five minutes. 2) I run a cloning app to back up my entire hard drive. Takes another five minutes, or so. 3) I keep a copy of Malwarebytes, in case I pick up some malware in the future. Ive used a Mac since 1990, and in that time Ive had 2 viruses. I was able to clean up each affected machine by myself. One was a recent, nasty malware which redirected my browser and brought up popup ads, etc. Took two or three days to get everything cleaned out and fixed. I once had problem with a faulty hard drive on a brand new Mac. Apple sent a padded box by UPS, I sent the computer to Apple and, got it back in about three days. Never had another problem with any machine. Otherwise Ive had no problems, no slow-downs, no breakdowns, service was never needed. I run no anti-virus software, never have. My maintenance routine is amazingly simple, but its worked well for the last 25 years (knock on wood).
I run AVG AntiVirus Free Edition every morning and it's very reliable. AVG AntiVirus removed a YouTube video downloader that was intentionally infecting my system with viruses. We need to be careful with free programs such as PC cleaning apps and file converters, which could actually be malware.
I purchase mid range parts that are a few months behind the current tech. I then install them myself. I have no virus scanner, even though the uTorrent days I rarely had any issues with viruses. I reformat once every few months. I have a harddrive setup using RAID 1+0. No need for backups.
` ` I use a relatively archaic program to make modifications on my win 7, 64 bit, computer. It's called Norton Commander. If you know what you are doing, it's an extremely handy tool.
Glary Utilities has a nifty 1-click maintenance program... ... and it's free... ... I run it once a week... ... then a disk cleanup & defrag.
Wow! That sounds like a lot of work. My wife and I have been heavily into computers since the Commodore 64. We have repaired and built many computers. We always tell anyone that asks for our input that if they want a low cost computer to get one at the store. If we build one, it has selected, brand name parts. We have found that cheap parts usually mean that it comes back to us for repairs. Also, we ALWAYS require a full battery box - that solves a lot of problems. I have an old box running XP-PRO and a good anti-virus that I let do a full scan once a month or so. I do fairly limited things online and I don't seem to be having any problems there. However, I have been writing science fiction novels that I have self published through Amazon and Create Space that I am very careful to keep on multiple backups. I back up daily work to a thumb drive and every so often to another thumb drive that goes in a file with the occasional hard copy. Once finished, my wife handles the publishing and she has copies on her computer. Other than these things, I don't worry about things. I would say that the critical points are: Good equipment, good anti-virus, battery box, and back up critical files. Oh, we always advise shutting down the computer for long periods of inactivity. A standard hard drive is a mechanical device and running does put wear on it.
I'm doing pretty much the same thing you are; HP Win 7 64bit (hope to change that soon) I have 2 external hard drives that auto back up every night, never/rarely power down the computer. I don't have a virus program even though my internet provider gives me Norton for free - too much of a hassle dealing with it. I used to have to format and do a clean Windows install and that became a pain in the butt. So what I did a few years ago after a clean install was after I installed all the programs I use the most, I created an image of it. These days, if my computer catches a bug, I simply revert back to that image and the only thing I need to move from my back ups are the items in My Documents and my Outlook pst email back up.
If anybody wants to know how to keep their system 100% clean, there is a way to do it. Get a copy of VMWare, and make a virtual computer. Make a copy of that VM image and use it. Then do everything in that virtual computer copy. Install programs, visit web sites, whatever you want. Visit 10,000 porn and gambling sites, does not matter. When you are done delete the copy and work off of a clean copy. Because unless you are willing to do something like that, you are always vulnerable. And most "maintenance programs" are generally a waste of time. Run good AV software constantly, and good Spyware software as well. But expect that you are going to have to have your computer cleaned and reloaded at least once a year unless you are using virtual machines. It is just how things are nowadays. And most people love to go to places in the Internet they should not be in.
