SOLVED Help to improve speed of my PC

[Aminifu]

I cant uninstall IE8 via the Control Panel Program and Features vehicle because IE isnt listed there for some reason.That is why i was trying to delete it va Win Ex and ran into the permission problem.

IE8 is not listed with the regular apps because it is considered a Windows feature. Look in the panel on the left of the "Uninstall of change a program" control panel tool and select "Turn Windows features on or off", it should be listed among the features listed.

If you still can not delete it, you probably have permission restrictions from the way you installed Windows or transfered files. Look up on Google how to turn on the true Administrator account. Using that account/profile should let you work around permission problems.

 

[Aminifu]

I was thinking that too and MS has stopped supporting gadgets with Windows 8, but not because of security. It is because of the new UI in Windows 8, as Microsoft notes here.

Mircosoft did advise to stop using desktop gadgets in Windows 7 last summer because of security issues. A fix it tool was even provided to help people do this.


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2719662

 

[clifford_cooley]

Mircosoft did advise to stop using desktop gadgets in Windows 7 last summer because of security issues. A fix it tool was even provided to help people do this.


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2719662

I agree with you but I'm not gonna argue with Digerati. It is also mentioned in the link that Digerati presented himself.

 

[BEARCATJER]

I have deleted Desktop Gadgets permanently.

 

[Digerati]

It is also mentioned in the link that Digerati presented himself.

Now wait! I think there is a little misunderstanding here. Thanks for the link about gadgets but understand what it is saying. Your link and my link (Microsoft) do NOT suggest every one disable gadgets as you are suggesting. Note the following from the applicable MS KB articles. My bold underline added.

Disabling the Windows Sidebar and Gadgets can help protect customers from vulnerabilities that involve the execution of arbitrary code by the Windows Sidebar when running insecure Gadgets.

Gadgets installed from untrusted sources

Recommendation. Customers who are concerned about vulnerable or malicious Gadgets

Microsoft did NOT say, or recommend every one disable gadgets, nor did they say or imply ALL gadgets are malicious.

IF all gadgets were malicious or IF they exposed all users to exploitable vulnerabilities, Microsoft would have released a critical update that would have automatically disabled gadgets. They didn't.

As Microsoft correctly noted here, the problem was gadgets from untrusted sources - sources Microsoft has no control over.

 

[Aminifu]

Microsoft did NOT say, or recommend every one disable gadgets, nor did they say or imply ALL gadgets are malicious.

IF all gadgets were malicious or IF they exposed all users to exploitable vulnerabilities, Microsoft would have released a critical update that would have automatically disabled gadgets. They didn't.

As Microsoft correctly noted here, the problem was gadgets from untrusted sources - sources Microsoft has no control over.

Yes, Microsoft did not say all gadgets are bad and of course they would not automatically disable a feature that they got millions used to using and then have to face the backlash. Instead they punted, took down their gadget website and put the problem in the hands of the users.

It is similar to the Java problem.

The average user doesn't know trusted from untrusted. They simply see a gadget they like and start using it. Furthermore, what's good today could be hacked and exploited tomorrow. The 'bad guys' (criminals and foreign governments) are working overtime to infiltrate systems.

I still use a few gadgets, but now they are just another thing that I have to spent time checking on. Monitoring who they are 'calling home to', keeping them updated, and reviewing the tech media for news of exploits.

I'm not suggesting everyone stop using gadgets, but those who just want to use their computers and don't know how to protect themselves, don't have the time or tools to monitor internet traffic and/or run malware scans (which can't stop 0-day attacks), or can't be bothered with the whole security mess are better off without the gadgets, imo.

 

[Digerati]

or can't be bothered with the whole security mess

Well, those people don't deserve being anywhere near computers then. That's not meant to be crass - just honest and realistic.

A user who can't be bothered with security is like an unlicensed, uninsured reckless driver driving an unsafe car. They are a danger to everyone else!

Compromised computers are frequently used to attack (or spam) the rest of us. So computer owners have a responsibility to the rest of us, just as car owners/drivers have a responsibility for the safety of others.

and put the problem in the hands of the users.

That's not a fair statement.

 

[Digerati]

Speaking of Java - Department of Homeland Security CERT Recommends Disabling Java

 

[louisgarcia1]

Reboot and wait for the Action Center flag to be displayed on the right side of the taskbar, then right click on the taskbar and start the Task Manager. How many processes are running? What are the percentages of CPU and physical memory usage?

How many icons are displayed in the notification area on the right side of the taskbar? Also click the little triangle and count the number of hidden icons.

Your dual core CPU is not very fast and you could have background processes running (from apps you have installed over time) that you don't need to have running all the time. You could also have some Windows services and tasks running that you don't really need.

What is the percentage of free space on your hard drive?

If your hard drive is over half full, you are moving into the slower part of it. The published transfer speed of a hard drive is the average over the whole platter. The actual transfer speed on the outer part of the platter is much faster and gets slower as you move toward the inner part of the platter.

UltimateDefrag is a hard drive file placement optimizer that enables you to defrag and place your files in the areas on your hard drive where you achieve maximum performance. 80% of the time you only use 20% of the files on your hard drive. UltimateDefrag places your rarely used files out of the way and onto the slower performing areas of your hard drive making your drive perform like a new, almost-empty drive.

http://www.disktrix.com/

Stopping processes that you don't need to be running and optimizing the location of apps and data on your hard drive will probably improve your performance more than adding more memory to your system. As stated above, DDR2 is older technology and more expensive than DDR3.

Your way of describing compelled me to consider you as a expert. Will you please tell me the ways by which we can make our computer virus free & perform faster.

 

[Aminifu]

Your way of describing compelled me to consider you as a expert. Will you please tell me the ways by which we can make our computer virus free & perform faster.

Hi louisgarcia1,

I don't consider myself an expert, but I have been using PCs for a very long time. Your question does not have an easy answer. It requires you to educate yourself about your current system and the threats you want to guard against and what is the optimum performance your system is capable of (with and without possible hardware upgrades).

As to protection from virus and other 'bad' things, you need to use a targeted layered approach based on how you use your computer. 1 active anti-virus app (supported by an online site that uses multiple antivirus engines to check for false positives detected by your main app), multiple anti-malware apps that should be ran on a regular schedule, and firewall support (rules or an additional app) that controls input and output access to the internet. It is important to keep the OS and all your apps up to date (there are various tools to help with this). It will take a little time to design what you want to do and select the apps to do it (fortunately very good free apps are available). There are tools and sites you can use to test how good your defenses are (both before and after any changes you make). This is a constantly moving target and requires regular review and appropriate adjustments.

No app can provide perfect protection, your best protection is to stay away from questionable apps and WEB sites. With all the social sites and free apps available, this is becoming harder to do, but what sounds too good to be true usually is. As much as possible, use the internet search engines to find the opinions from others about apps and sites before you use them yourself.

As to performance, you need to select a few free benchmark apps to determine the level of your current system in all the areas you are concerned about. Unfortunately the best benchmark apps are not free, but you don't need them unless you are trying to squeeze out every drop of performance. Once you have this baseline, you can determine if any changes you make will add or subtract from the performance level and if any additional performance gain is great enough to be worth the effort needed to attain it.

Some gain may be made from how your system is setup, like giving priority to background tasks instead of foreground tasks, making sure RAM is set to dual channel mode, and adjusting the visual effects, indexing options, and power settings. Greatest performance gain usually requires hardware changes, but gains can also be made by limiting what software is running simultaneously. Depending on your needs, some OS services and tasks can be disabled or set to only run on demand. Many apps include default support tools that also can to set to only run on demand.

As a general rule, DO NOT TRUST the apps that claim to optimize things for you. Always determine exactly what these apps will do and if it can be undone, BEFORE you try them. Like any other machine, PCs can benefit from preventive maintenance. Regularly clean out temp files and other useless files that can buildup over time. Be careful with BIOS and driver updates. It is usually best to only apply them when needed to fix issues you are having. In this case, if it is not broke don't try to fix it.

 

[Digerati]

As a general rule, DO NOT TRUST the apps that claim to optimize things for you

That is good advice. Microsoft has a keen interest in making sure your Windows is running optimally for you. They have huge teams of super smart, highly educated software engineers and developers, with super computers at their fingertips ensuring that is so. Windows 7 does an excellent job at staying at peak performance.

Windows Firewall is built into Window 7 and is enabled by default. Like most of the tools built in to Windows, it is a "basic" firewall. But it works great and a basic firewall is all you need. No need to take up disk space for something you don't need. You can always install another down the road, but for right now, you need a firewall, use the one you got.

There are many good anti-malware programs to choose from, some free, and some that cost money, then typically require you to periodically renew your subscription.

I see no reason to pay for something when there are several excellent alternatives that are free to start, and have no subscription renewal fees. I use and recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). It works, and it uses Windows Update to stay current. That's good because Windows Update works in Windows 7 so keeping your security updated is less of hassle or worry. You can swap that out later, if you don't like it.

I still recommend keeping a second scanner handy for manual, on-demand scanning. Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM) and/or SUPERAntiSpyware Free are popular and good - though in 3 years, nothing has gotten by MSE on my systems.

Of course, the user is always the weakest link. The user muse "practice safe computing" by avoiding risky behavior like illegal filesharing via torrents or P2P sites, or being "click happy" on unsolicited links, downloads, popups, or attachments.

Having lots of free disk space is critical. With lots of free disk space, you almost never need to worry about fragmentation problems, disk clutter, or other disk access related performance issues which, if serious, can bring even the fastest systems down to a crawl, or worse.

 

[Aminifu]

The Windows Firewall only blocks input by default. Anything already on the system is allowed to output. Rules can be added to block certain apps and/or processes from output (or input). This is not particularly hard to do, but the user would have to monitor their internet traffic and decide what to block and what to allow in either or both directions.

There are free apps that can make the rule making process easier to accomplish. Some will issue a notice when anything that does not already have a rule attempts input or output and allow you to have it create the rule for how you want things to proceed. Over time the number of notices will lessen as rules are created.

Others do not issue notices, but keep a log of what was allowed or blocked. Appropriate rules can then be added based on the log information.

 

[Digerati]

The Windows Firewall only blocks input by default. Anything already on the system is allowed to output.

Come on! Let's get with the times, okay? That totally incorrect statement is fear mongering and false rumoring, taken directly from the propaganda pages written by ZoneAlarm and the Microsoft bashing, irresponsible IT media of the XP era.

For 8 years!!!, since the release of Windows Vista in 2005, Windows Firewall has been two-way!

On top of that, the notion a one-way firewall left you vulnerable was more hogwash as it assumed all the badguy had to do was slip by the user, the anti-malware solution, and the firewall on the way in - as if that was a piece of cake. Then slip by the user and the anti-malware solution on the way out - another piece of cake, apparently.

Yet, while the severity of malware infestation can not be marginalized, the facts remain the vast majority of Windows XP machines did NOT get infected! Even when using Windows Firewall. And note Windows Firewall in Windows 7 is vastly improved since XP days.

I say again, the user is always the weakest link. And no Firewall - basic, advanced, one-way, or two-way - is going to stop a badguy if the user lets him in the front door.

And contrary to what is implied in the previous post, it is easy to manually create rules in Windows Firewall. However, the vast majority of users will never need to create any. So once again, a basic firewall, Windows Firewall, is more than adequate for the vast majority of users.

Only users who purposefully participate in risky behavior, fail to use an adequate anti-malware solution, or fail to keep their systems updated, need anything more - and then, luck will be the deciding factor.

Do not assume what you used to think was true, was true, or is still true. Use Google.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-using.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_firewalls

 

[Aminifu]

I stand by my comments about the Windows firewall. It is a very capable firewall and even the updated version in XP is able to control communication in both directions. But the default configurations will block some or all input communication and assumes what is installed by the OS, or the user, is legitimate and therefore is allowed to output.

This is a reasonable assumption and the default configurations may be adequate for many users. But malware is not the only concern. Some users are also concerned with privacy issues.

Recent versions of Windows collect information on the apps being used on a computer and how they are being used and reports this info to Microsoft unless the user chooses to stop it. Much of this collection and reporting is opt-out, instead of opt-in, so the average user is not aware it is happening.

There are good reasons for collecting and reporting this info, which I will not go into here. But I personally choose not to have the apps I use and my computing habits reported to Microsoft or anyone else. Even when a user selects to opt-out of the Customer Experience Improvement Program, data is still collected and some of it is reported for other reasons. The background tasks used to collect this data may be disabled, but some of these tasks are needed for local uses, like deciding which apps to pre-load and when to load them based on computing habits.

Bottom line, any user who is concerned about the traffic (malware and otherwise) in and out of their computer can not depend on default firewall configurations. The traffic must be monitored over time and appropriate rules applied to allow and block what is desired. This can be done on the on 1 or more levels (app, process, port, protocol, and/or site address). This can get complicated, but there are plenty of free tools to help make the rule making process easier.

Every user should educate themselves and decide what is appropriate for them.

 

[Digerati]

I stand by my comments about the Windows firewall.

What? That's silly. You were wrong and I provided links to sources showing how you were wrong. You were wrong about 2-way firewalls and you are still wrong about 2-way firewalls. XP never had a 2-way FW, even with SP3. The change with SP2 and SP3 was that the FW was enabled by default. Later versions of Windows have a 2-way. And I provided proof of that.

It makes no sense to state you stand by your comments, then contradict them in the very next sentence. (Contradicting them with incorrect information, no less)

the default configurations will block some or all input communication and assumes what is installed by the OS, or the user, is legitimate and therefore is allowed to output.

Totally wrong! Why are you making things up? The default configuration blocks all input???? Pretty hard to use the Internet then, don't you think??? And it does not assume anything. And like other firewalls, you can choose the level of intervention required.

Recent versions of Windows collect information on the apps being used on a computer and how they are being used and reports this info to Microsoft unless the user chooses to stop it. Much of this collection and reporting is opt-out, instead of opt-in, so the average user is not aware it is happening.

This is nothing but Microsoft bashing! This comment has nothing to do with Windows Firewall and is a poor attempt to confuse the issue. How sad.

FTR, users are prompted from the start if they want to participate in any anonymous reporting - of some (non-personal only) statistics. And you can opt-in or out later on, if you wish.

Even when a user selects to opt-out of the Customer Experience Improvement Program, data is still collected and some of it is reported for other reasons.

Oh? Got a link to support that claim. Show us what information is being collected and sent to MS without our permission. But beyond that, this again is just more Microsoft bashing as it clearly it has nothing to do with Windows Firewall.

So I don't know what you game is here, Aminifu but it clearly is not to present truthful facts.

Just about any 3rd party firewall will attempt to foist unwanted toolbars and other unwanted add-ons to your system that consume unnecessary disk space, RAM and CPU resources. Windows Firewall does not. And note those toolbars are notorious for reporting your computing history "home".

Every user should educate themselves and decide what is appropriate for them.

Absolutely because clearly there are people who post things that are just not true, with no supporting evidence, and expect readers automatically accept that as the Gospel.

Bottom line, any user who is concerned about the traffic (malware and otherwise) in and out of their computer can not depend on default firewall configurations.

Total hogwash! Come on Aminifu! This is just total fabrication. If there were any truth to the above, there would be 100s of millions of infected users out there. And there aren't!

It is simply ludicrous to suggest (or believe) that Microsoft (or any software maker) would use a Firewall that, by default, leaves you unprotected. Especially Microsoft who gets bashed by biased MS bashers at the drop of hat - even with unrelated facts.

The traffic must be monitored over time and appropriate rules applied to allow and block what is desired. This can be done on the on 1 or more levels (app, process, port, protocol, and/or site address). This can get complicated, but there are plenty of free tools to help make the rule making process easier.

More hogwash! Clearly Aminifu is not familiar with Windows Firewall for setting up rules is not hard. But clearly Aminifu is assuming everyone needs to setup rules. That again, is not true. The vast majority of users will NEVER need to manually set up any rules.

Every user should educate themselves

I really wish you would heed your own advice. For (1), that would stop you from posting false information and (2) you would not have to take such efforts to obfuscate your false information with more hogwash!

I showed, with links, supporting evidence to backup my claims. Now backup your claims. Or at least man-up and admit your information was not accurate.

*********

The facts are, Windows Firewall is more than adequate for the vast majority of users. Windows Firewall is a two-way firewall. Windows Firewall is NOT spyware, it does not send information to Microsoft.

Are there more advanced, 3rd party firewalls? Sure. But the vast majority of users don't need them, or the additional responsibility required to learn, configure, or maintain them.

*********

Now if you are going to present some facts with supporting evidence, I will listen. If more biased MS bashing that has nothing to do with the Windows Firewall, I will give it all the attention it deserves. Otherwise, this thread needs to be returned to BEARCATJER.

 

[Aminifu]

Hi Digerati,

As I stated, "Every user should educate themselves and decide what is appropriate for them." I also stated, "... the default configurations may be adequate for many users."

Read your own links. A couple extracts:

Understanding Windows Firewall settings

Turn on Windows Firewall

This setting is selected by default. When Windows Firewall is on, most programs are blocked from communicating through the firewall.

Block all incoming connections, including those in the list of allowed programs

This setting blocks all unsolicited attempts to connect to your computer.

When you block all incoming connections, you can still view most webpages, send and receive e‑mail, and send and receive instant messages.

 

[TrainableMan]

The Original Poster has marked this SOLVED and has not responded in two weeks.

As this thread has turned "less than positive" I will close it now.