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Useful tips for keeping your PC clean

by Sparkster

Created on: February 15, 2008

Get Your PC Running Like New Again!

Booting Problems

If your pc simply won't boot up or even power on then you need to start by ruling out the possibilities of what's going wrong until you have your final answer. If your pc simply won't power up then it is most likely that there is a problem with the psu (power supply unit). This is where the mains supply plugs into your pc and it can be bought fairly cheap and easily replaced. If your pc powers up but finds no operating system then there is either a problem with your hard drive. First, check to make sure all the leads are connected. Next, go into your bios menu by repeatedly tapping the 'del' button at startup (this may be different for some pc's). In the bios menu locate and check that the boot sequence is set to boot up from the correct drive. If not, put it right and save the settings. If you are still having problems there is one trade secret that you can try. Inside your pc is a small battery, a bit bigger than a watch battery. Try taking this out for a few minutes then replacing it. This should reset everything to the default settings and usually works. It also works for removing administrator boot passwords. If your pc still won't load then take the hard drive out and have it checked for errors by plugging it into a different pc that already has an operate system installed on its own drive. You can the attempt to repair and recover any errors or bad sectors on the disk.

Viruses / Spyware / Adware

Though spyware is generally used for targeted advertising purposes, more and more of it is becoming increasingly malicious. There are plenty of rogue spyware removal programs out there that claim to fix your pc then just fill it up with more malicious software. Some viruses out there are extremely dangerous, usually e-mail viruses which can cause such damage as destroy an entire hard drive in one go. You should use a top brand name antivirus and firewall to protect your pc and keep them updated. You should probably scan once a week but I would say at least twice a month. As free tools I would recommend both ad-aware 2007 and Spyware Doctor, which is available for free as part of the google pack.

Folders Popping Up, Programs Not Working

This is most likely due to registry errors where files have become cross-linked, placed in the wrong place on the drive, etc. One of the best free registry cleaner programs I have come across is ccleaner which is available from filehippo.com. Running this program continuously until

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