I have an older laptop (about 3 yrs old) running XP Pro w/SP3 and
IE7. I was a complete newbie when I first started receiving your
newsletter and my learning process has had me installing / uninstalling
many programs, applications, etc. Rather than clutter up my hard drive
with something I might use only once as a learning tool, or just once
in a while, I’ll uninstall the program. Then I’ll use disk cleanup;
search the hard drive for any remaining files or folders; use regedit
to delete any registry entries; maybe run CCleaner; defrag; and once
every couple of months run a check disk. Knock on wood and lighting a
candle to my little shrine of Redmond, my computer is humming right
along.
So my question is this: Is my preventive maintenance routine enough,
too much, or would you recommend something entirely different? I still
enjoy playing with different software but I’m also trying to forestall
my laptop’s demise.
“Software rot” is what happens to your machine slowly over time as
you install and uninstall, and in some cases simply use, software.
Settings get left behind, files don’t get properly uninstalled, and
things just get slightly messy. Eventually it can lead to some amount
of instability.
The question is, can it be avoided or delayed, and if so, how?
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I use Revo Uninstaller to do my uninstalling now days so far it seems to do what is asked, must be very careful not to uninstall other listing that belong to other programs when doing the maximum, make sure that you only delete the type that is in Bold.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/uninstaller_help_page.html
I downloaded free windows registery cleaner and it got rid of some of the rot. I also defrag once a month and do disk cleanup. But when downloading software one gets alot of *&^ with it so it gets confusing to know what you can and cant delete. I wish someone would develop a programme that will remove anything automatically that is not been used. Windows updates take up a lot of space and i am not sure whether one can delete the old ones or not.
Usually with new software, I create an appropriately named Restore point (Before installing Program XYZ). Then if I decide fairly quickly to uninstall the new software, I can restore the system without any hassle, cleaning up the “rot” at the same time.
System restore does not restore everything you think it does. Yes, it does backup and restore the registry, but assorted other files that may have been left behind by an improper uninstall (a common contributor to software rot) will not get cleaned up.
More on that here: Why can’t I rely on System Restore for backups?
03-Dec-2008
I think it’s a good idea to run a computer in “sandbox mode” when downloading and installing anything. If something goes wrong none of the changes are applied. If everything seems to be OK then you can apply the changes. Acronis True Image has this capability.
Leo, perfect explanation!!I think my windows is at the point I ll have to reinstall it from scratch. Just wondering here if anyone can give me a clue on how to save all the driver updates I ve done – and dont even remeber where they are – so I won t have to go through all the pain of updating all of them again??
03-Dec-2008
Solution to software rot and fragmented hard drives?
Linux. 🙂
yes, “software rot” is not something you should be overly concerned about. There is very little you can do about it other than just running your scheduled preventative maintenance.
I use also use revo to uninstall all my software and CCleaner about once a month as well as their defragger. I’ll run their registry cleaner maybe once every 6 mths or so but I make sure to analyze first and uncheck anything I’m not sure about.
As for doing a complete system “re-install” I use Acronis True Image Home. I’ll install the O/s, update the drivers, install any core programs I use all the time and then I’ll make a complete system backup using their secure zone. That way all I have to do is boot from a floppy/cd/dvd, format the drive and on the reboot, press the F11 key and restore the system. It cuts down on all the re-installs, not to mention having to re-activate/register software.
I’ve been pretty lucky following these steps. I’ve only had to do one complete system “re-install” and then I upgraded to Vista x64 Business.
So, I recommend the following programs, Acronis True Image Home, Ccleaner, Defraggler, Revo Uninstaller. Run these tools on a monthly – semi-annually schedule and you should be ok. If a specific issue comes up, run them at that time.
Historically I’ve found that Windows does not do a very good job of cleaning out its temp directories. I believe this is one of the areas MS’s DiskCleanup touches, but I’ve never really trusted it enough to use it… so I just periodically clean out the temp directories myself (by hand).
You can see the real benefit of Ccleaner when someone brings you a machine that has never been cleaned. I have seen it remove almost 2GB of junk in one pass, reviving PCs that were unusable. in those cases i would also use the reg-clean function, but i agree with Leo, that should be saved for special occassions.
For persons who, like me, install and uninstall a lot of programs, it would be preferable to use either Sandboxie (www.sandboxie.com) or Returnil Virtual System (www.returnilvirtualsystem.com) both having freeware versions. Returnil in effect “clones” your C: drive. Any changes made to the OS get removed after a clean reboot. If you want to preserve the changes for some time, it is better to go into “hibernation” mode, but as soon as you perform a clean reboot, the system returns to the state before installing the program. If you decide that you want to keep it permanently, or if you have to install updates, you can do it in the allowed mode and then set up the protected mode for testing other programs. The protected mode also saves you from nasties such as viruses, worms etc.
I use Acronis for B/U’s. I use CCleaner and Diskeeper for defragging everytime I shut down…takes about a minute and keeps the PC perky all the time.
I’ve read the article and thou I have used a computer for too many years and I have often thought about cleaning it I never have but I had a guru who occassionally cleaned it up for me but now he is gone.. so I live in fear for THAT day???
okdok, txs! however how can I know where they re, so I can
“
take a backup image of your system after taking all the updates (and ONLY taking updates, no other installations), and use that as a snapshot to start over with next time.
– Leo
03-Dec-2008″
05-Dec-2008
You mentioned that there was no easy way to back-up drivers in your article on software rot. I have used a couple of freeware driver backup packages when re-installing windows on a machine that has become slow/clogged/impossible to continue with and have had no problems. I forget exactly which programs I used but a search for “driver backups for windows xp” will find you plenty to try and choose from. Basically one backs up to an external disk and then after re-installing windows one just restores them or points your browser to the backup as and when required. When looking through my list of downloaded software the installation files I have under driver backup software are DML.exe, DriverMagician.exe and drivermax.exe to give you a clue of the ones I have used. An important thing to remember when doing a re-installation of windows is to get the product key numbers of your software such as Windows operating system, microsoft office etc. I use an old freeware program called Aida but this is now no longer available so one will have to find some other programs that can give you this info. Also don’t forget to backup things like your address book, favorites etc etc.
cheers
Pete
10-Dec-2008
Try “drivermax” to look after your drivers.
I somewhat disagree with the statement that “I’d also stay away from the registry cleaning that it offers,” On several occasions my wife and our friends have come to me with computers which have slowed down to a craw. I ran CCleaner on them (both the free disk space option, and the registry clean-up option) and the computers got started working much faster. I always say yes to the backup option. I would warn that if you are not a reasonably experienced trouble shooter there may be a danger in running any registry cleaner.
I don’t even worry about it. I use CCleaner to clean temp internet files, uninstall unused programs and disable unwanted startup entries. And I use Defraggler to keep my files in order. What else can you do? Leo’s right, it’s not a question of if, but when, our OS has to be reinstalled.
If you’re installing a program that you plan to un-install in the near future, there’s a better way.
I recommend creating a Virtual Computer. Some people like Microsoft’s version, others prefer the one from Novell, and I’m sure there are others. AFAIK they’re all free.
Once you’ve done that, you have at least two options:
– Install the program in the virtual computer, then use it. Don’t allow the virtual computer to save it’s changes to disk. The next time you boot the virtual computer, this program never was installed!
– Make a backup of the volume used by the virtual computer. Then go ahead and install. If you ever want to un-install, just restore the backup!
Recently I experiences hard disk failure. After I replaced it with a new one and re-installed OS, I was amazed how much faster it was to boot up. Used to be 2 minutes, now it is 30 seconds. Not just booting up, but the speed of opening demanding programs, such as Photoshop.
Conclusion, the best remedy to software rot is to re-install operating system and other software.
Buddy u are doing enough for maintaining your system’s performance. There is this one application named “Advanced System Optimizer” that has all the utilities you want right from system optimizers to uninstaller. You can use “System Cleaner” to clean off the garbage from ur system disk…Registry cleaner and Registry Optimizer is there to clean and optimize registries.You can also use Disk Optimizer for the disk optimization and there is also an “Uninstall Manager”. You can try this as this may be useful to you for all your requirements and it is available at cnet. Please be sure to rply if u are benifitted 🙂
http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-System-Optimizer/3000-2094_4-10147659.html?tag=mncol
But Leo (insert whining voice here.),
When I reinstall Windows or upgrade to W7, do I have to go back to a bare disk and install drivers and utilities? My old Dell seems to have had so many driver changes that I went to the Dell site to download them – no back up disk. Is there a best way to now load those drivers?
Thanks,
Adam
Leo,
I read somewhere, maybe on your newsletter, that you can do an upgrade install of your current Windows operating system and it will install the operating system and keep all the current system settings and drivers and data. Then all you have to do is install the Windows updates and you have a clean system? Is this correct and if so can you go over the procedure?
@Ken
I believe this is the article you are looking for.
How should I reinstall Windows?