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lucas

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Since we use a computer to make money (and post), what tips do you have to keep the thing running smoothly?

Guy I know loses money sometimes all too often 'cos the computer crashes, freezes, sticks, slows to a crawl etc.

I don't have a mac, so I'll offer 10 PC tips:

1. No startup programs, no browser toolbars, as little as possible in the system tray, nothing permanently on the desktop
2. Threatfire and Malwarebytes - trash all the other security/antivirus apps
3. If you use a machine to make money, use another to play with
4. Don't run Registry Cleaners except, if you must, Glary Utilities and ccleaner (definitely don't ever use or run RegCure)
5. No Norton anything anywhere
6. No Vista (it's a money making machine, right?)
7. Some will disagree, but I believe in Windows Update - except for non MS apps
8. You always need at least 15% of the hard drive empty for good performance
9. If you have a friend who can fix your problems but s/he is interstate, use Teamviewer to have him/her remotely get you out of trouble
10. Remember that data is almost always retrievable if you STOP and take it to a guy/gal who knows what he is doing.

That'll do - over to you...
 
In relation to trading on a computer I

-- switch Spyware Doctor off (adware blocker , malware detector, browser guard, keylogger guard, site guard etc.)
-- delete temporary internet files and cookies
-- put a set of recharged batteries in the mouse
-- ensure trading platform functioning correctly (charts and order tickets load and handle minimising/maximising) still get the occasional double or triple bounce out of the task bar.:confused:
 
For the serious...

Invest in a modem with multiple Internet connections. I just bought a modem router that supports a USB 3G modem as back-up/fail-safe if your ADSL fails. Its a "Billion 7402GXL" I got off Ebay for $219. Plus $29 a month (approx $1 per day) for the 3G dongle is cheap insurance if I lose my connection at a critical moment.
 
Birdster said:
For the serious...

Invest in a modem with multiple Internet connections. I just bought a modem router that supports a USB 3G modem as back-up/fail-safe if your ADSL fails. Its a "Billion 7402GXL" I got off Ebay for $219. Plus $29 a month (approx $1 per day) for the 3G dongle is cheap insurance if I lose my connection at a critical moment.
Click to expand...


Goes 3G pre-paid internet...pay $129 bucks for 12G and you got a whole year to use it .... that's 35 cents a day .. I just half your insurance premium :)
 
Some points to add in:
1. Keep the OS install "clean", uninstall anything you no longer use
2. Don't use Internet Explorer 6 (the jury is still out on IE7), Firefox + NoScript (and a little patience when using it) will stop most of the junk getting on your machine
3. Don't use Outlook (or Outlook Express), find another mail client (I'm told Thunderbird is pretty good)
4. Set your swap file size values to all be the same (ie. 500mb & 500mb maximum) this stops Windows resizing it on the fly which will slow things down.
5. If you've had your computer for more than 6 months, defragment at least the C: drive.

m.
 
lucas said:
3. If you use a machine to make money, use another to play with
Click to expand...

Best advice so far.

Here's mine.
don't forget to backup regularly all your spreadsheets and trading files and i mean religiously, usb sticks are a cheap as chips now.
 
I don't agree with all of these tips.

1. there are a number of good Windows Registry cleaners out there, and they do become important. Most applications do not uninstall cleanly and leave either files and folders on your drive, or a number of registry keys that will neve be used again. All this useless stuffs fills up the registry, making it slower to find stuff when it does need it. You can even Defragment your registry like you can with the Disk.

2. With broadband speeds and high quotas, caching losses one of it's advantages, it is still quicker than getting it from the site, but not as useful as it used to be, so you could just be filling up your drive with Internet cahce objects which are effectively worthless. Reduce it available size.

3. There are some windows files that are hidden for a reason, and they can make like very difficult if you remove them. SO DONT

4. The best speed improvement is to minimize what gets automatically started when you boot up, and what services automatically run, taking up CPU and memory. For those with a little more daring, from Start -> Run enter 'msconfig' and just look at the 'Services' and 'Startup' tabs. This will show what you open when your boot your machine. If you have the knowledge, speed improvements at boot up and more generally can be made by keeping these to only what is required.

5. Virus Protection is a must. Even on a MAC this is now recommended. I personally use AVG 8. Can't beat the price. I Wouldn't touch the norton stuff, too many problems.

6. Spyware it real, try ot get rid of it. This can happen a couple of ways, programs like Ad-Aware do a reasonable cleaup job, and microsoft even release some malicuous software tools via Windows Update.

7. Speaking of Windows Update, do it. But it you are naughty and don't have a licensed copy, don't do the Windows Genuine Advantage updates.

8. Firmware is important. Over the years, there will be firmware releases mainly for your motherboard and graphics card. If you have the skill ensure you have the latest for your machine. Take a backup first.

9. Backups. Always a fun topic. It is amazing how much data has been backed up that people cannot access anymore. With the cheap cost of disk, it is kind of useless backing up to tape, cd or dvd. I would suggest you buy and external harddrive, it will likely be bigger then the one in your computer. Set some space aside and backup what you need.

And we may as well do a tenth.

10. Whatever email client you use, and Microsoft Outlook is fine, especially 2007 if you keep updating the spam filter (Windows update does this), don't open stuff if you don't know who it has come from. Most viruses travel via email, although more are being delivered via web pages.

10 B. Some websites are very nasty, you know the ones. The ones you visit late a night when everyone else is asleep. If you are going to visit them, I recommend you use Firefox with AddBlock plus installed so you can stop pop-ups, adverts and javascript that could do you harm. And never put your credit card details in one.

In fact only enter your Credit card details if the site has ssl protection and a valid certificate. Even then if your computer is infected with a keylogger, someone still might be able to get your details.

Brett
 
brettc4: Sound advice.

One last point for Firefox users. If you use auto-complete options, such as username/password completion on ASF website, try putting a master password. Otherwise any person (logged on to your computer) can see your username/passwords.

Best safety is to NOT use the auto-complete, but it is handy at times.
 
lucas said:
4. Don't run Registry Cleaners except, if you must, Glary Utilities and ccleaner (definitely don't ever use or run RegCure)
Click to expand...

Tend to agree here...

brettc4 said:
I don't agree with all of these tips.

1. there are a number of good Windows Registry cleaners out there, and they do become important. Most applications do not uninstall cleanly and leave either files and folders on your drive, or a number of registry keys that will neve be used again. All this useless stuffs fills up the registry, making it slower to find stuff when it does need it. You can even Defragment your registry like you can with the Disk.

Brett
Click to expand...

...and also here. I tried a few that were problematic... until I bought Registry Mechanic, which I have had no trouble with (at least so far that I'm aware of).

I find it cleans a lot of those left over bits, it compacts the registry and interfaces well with the full version of Diskkeeper from the third button, 'Optomise your System', to start defrag.

But being no techie, I'm curious what people think are the better Reg cleaners and what damage can be done.

mayk said:
brettc4: Sound advice.

One last point for Firefox users. If you use auto-complete options, such as username/password completion on ASF website, try putting a master password. Otherwise any person (logged on to your computer) can see your username/passwords.

Best safety is to NOT use the auto-complete, but it is handy at times.
Click to expand...

Agree here... a bit of a pain at times, but feel it's a small price to make life a bit more difficult for any unauthorised use of the PC.
 
Whiskers, I have Registry Mechanic and Spyware Doctor with Anti-virus both from PC Tools and they do the job very well.One gripe with the full scan on Spy Doc. is it has taken hours to complete and slows computer down.
 
Whiskers said:
I'm curious what people think are the better Reg cleaners and what damage can be done.
Click to expand...

Well, there are are schools of thought - just type: "don't use registry cleaners" into Google; read a few and you'll get the idea.

In my view, there are too many cleaners offering to run their comb through your computer's frontal lobe - and half of them can't even spell! It's a great way to have spyware ADDED to your registry! And all this for a split second of convenience. I have seen too many Windows installations fried because of of Reg Cleaners. But if you know what's what (I have given my take on companies I would let rearrange the Registry), you can run your risk.

Certainly though, do a registry backup. To a floppy even.
 
lucas said:
Well, there are are schools of thought - just type: "don't use registry cleaners" into Google; read a few and you'll get the idea.

In my view, there are too many cleaners offering to run their comb through your computer's frontal lobe - and half of them can't even spell! It's a great way to have spyware ADDED to your registry! And all this for a split second of convenience. I have seen too many Windows installations fried because of of Reg Cleaners. But if you know what's what (I have given my take on companies I would let rearrange the Registry), you can run your risk.

Certainly though, do a registry backup. To a floppy even.
Click to expand...

Agree. It is mostly BS. Don't install software from a company you don't know.
 
If you really want to keep your machine clean only install absolute necessary apps like antivirus and anything else used for work.

Also please make sure you update Windows Updates as soon as they are released as there is a lot of nasty security releases been out recently where visiting an effected site will infect your PC.

Use a Virtual PC and have a Virtual Machine running the guest os with an os like Windows XP. THat way you can browse to sites you aren't sure of and install other crap that your not sure of as well. If it gets a virus in the VM Image then you can just delete it or revert the changes that lead to it and it won't affect your main machine.

Thats the cleanest way to run everything especially if you use your work PC for trading, Interent Banking where a trojan or keyboard logger could capture your passwords.

Hope this info helps.
 
I have a different train of thought to most in this department.

It starts when I first get a new machine. I still only run xp SP2.
1. Do a clean install with the OS on a 20gb partition with a non standard letter assignment (j: drive or similar). When the root directory is not the default C: it can stop some issues straight away as some programmers are very lazy and assume the root partition is always c:\.

2. Load whatever service packs, updates, drivers and the like. Then update your core software. If you don't use it the software often, don't install it at this stage. Change the swap file to a partition other than the root partition.

3. Go into Computer Management > Services and turn off any unneeded services etc. Also make sure no software like Adobe of MS Office is in your startup folder.

4. Check all hardware is running correctly with data paths set to a newly formed data partition then take a disk image and save it somewhere safe.

5. Load any secondary software onto your machine on a partition other than the OS partition. Save all data to a partition other than the one with the OS on it.

This method allows you to have a clean install and be up and running in minutes if your machine is going slow. I can count on one hand the loaded software on my machine that is not used daily.

Probably the best add on for me is No Script addon for Firefox. That in itself saves me from issues. I do have a free version of AVG antivirus but to be frank never need it. My internet connection is spoofed twice through 2 hardware firewalls. This won't stop a deliberate attack, but it will stop all but the most persistent attackers.

As for registry cleaners. I fel they are all bloatware. If you control what you load on your comuter, you should never need that rubbish, same for software like adaware and the like. If you are needing software like this to clean machines, you need to start looking at how you are picking up all the malace script.

with the above outlined method, if you do have an issue, simply run the mirror and Robert's your Mother's Brother. All your data will still be fine.


cheers,
 
I have had an attack on one of my PCs that is proving very difficult to overcome.

It appears to be a Trojan... Win32.Zafi.B

This appears to be a new and virulent version of an older virus. ( as per tech sites, a few postings over the last few days)

I cannot detect or delete it with AVG8 or Malawarebytes.

After much Google research, I still cannot detect or delete it manually from my registry.

It makes Firefox almost impossible to use.

PC is used by my kids, but also has much data on that is difficult to backup.

Any hints?

Also a bit of a warning, as it appears the threat level of this Trojan can vary from minor to critical
 
Yes AWG on the anti-virus thread.

Zafi is one the tool scans for too.

Wysiwyg said:
If there are some heavy trojans on your `puter then these 2 free scan removalists from Windows are a great addition if the freeby anti-virus aren`t detecting the implants.

Malicious Software Removal Tool

Brief Description

This tool checks your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove the infection if it is found. Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month.
Click to expand...
 
System restore may not help if that has been infected. MS often takes regular backups and if the last one was made after infection, there will be no help there.

When removing a virus it is often good to turn off the system restore function and then do a clean. If you leave the system restore on, you basically keep a back up of the viral infection..


cheers,
 

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