It's a fact of life that programs crash, hard-drives die and websites close. That's why it's essential to have back-ups of all your essential programs and information.

Here are some programs / websites that allow you to do backups. You can either keep the back-ups on your hard-drive or even better, buy a USB flash drive or a re-writable CD disk to keep all backups off-site. You can also buy a back-up hard-drive that is permanently attached to your regular PC hard-drive which is constantly backed up by a synchronisation tool such as SyncBack. But if you decide to keep your back-ups on your main hard-drive, make sure you have a way of getting to them if your hard-drive dies. Make a separate "backup" folder and update it regularly.

1. Back-up Mozilla Firefox - after being let down by the FEBE Firefox back-up tool, I started hunting around for another Firefox profile back-up program. I finally found MozBackup and it seems to be much better than FEBE. Backing up your profile seems to be easy but the program author warns that some Firefox extensions are not supported in the back-up. So I keep a "txt" file with a list of all my extensions. If one fails to be restored, I can then Google it and re-install it myself.

2. Back-up Outlook Express - I don't use OE but my girlfriend does. We keep a backup of her emails and address book using ABF Outlook Express Backup. It encloses everything in a password-protected "exe" file which can then be double-clicked on and restored to OE if disaster strikes.

3. Back up your Skype contacts - Go to Tools then Advanced then "Back up contacts to file". This creates a "vcf" file of all your contacts.

4. Back up your del.icio.us weblinks - go to Settings then "Export / Backup". Decide if you want your tags and notes saved too. Then generate the backup. This is saved as a HTML webpage.

5. Backup your photographs - export them all to a free Flickr account using the Flickr Uploadr.

When I bought my current PC back in 2004, I was proud that I had a computer with 80GB of space. I thought to myself, "no-one can use 80GB! I'll never have a space problem again!". Fine words indeed because these days I am struggling to make space on the "C" drive.

Keeping space is very important because some programs don't work if you drop below a certain level of free space. For example, a defrag tool that I use won't start unless I have at least 15GB of space free.

But with a bit of effort, you can keep making free space on your computer by doing some regular tidying up. Some of the following suggestions are extremely obvious and simple while some others are tips I have picked up along the way. So for the sake of thoroughness, I have included them all. You can start by downloading WinAudit which gives you a complete breakdown of how your hard-drive space is being taken up.


Delete temporary internet files and cookies -
This one is the first obvious port of call. You can delete temporary files and cookies in the following way :

Internet Explorer : Extras - Internet Options. When the box comes up, there's a button in the "General" tab for deleting cookies, temp files and browser history. Click that.
Mozilla Firefox : Options - Data Security tab - there's buttons there to delete everything.

It might also be worth manually checking the folders where these things hang out. Just go to "Documents and Settings" - your Windows username - local settings. The temp folder is in there.

You can also delete temp files and cookies by using the excellent EasyCleaner, mentioned in Part One of this series.


Delete unused software
The rule of thumb to use for this one is to uninstall any piece of software you haven't used for at least 4 weeks. A lot of software has only initial novelty value and then after a week or two, interest starts to die down and it sits on your computer unused and hogging up space. Get rid of it! Go to the software option in your control panel and take a long hard look at what you've got installed. You can always re-install it again later if you decide you really want to keep it. Remember to check afterwards to see if all traces of the program have been deleted. Quite often, the program gets deleted but the program folder remains.


Clean the Start Menu
In the "Programme" tab of the start menu are the shortcuts to all your software programs. When you uninstall a program, sometimes the shortcut icon remains in the start menu. Clear them out! Each shortcut is only 1KB in size so cleaning out the old ones will do nothing to your hard-drive space but hey, it makes things look tidy!


Use EasyCleaner to delete other files
The Windows XP search tool with that annoying dog is totally useless. So this is where EasyCleaner really comes into play because it can effectively find and delete un-needed files by entering the following :

*.log - this finds log files which are often not needed and can be deleted. This can include chat logs for IM programs for example.
*.txt - this finds regular text files, but be careful with this one what you end up deleting. For example, you can probably delete something like "README.txt" but I wouldn't advise deleting "licensekey.txt"
*.tmp - finds temp files that may no longer be necessary. Delete with caution.
*.html - this finds weblinks in your hard-drive, most of which may be special offers by software companies or links to help pages. But again, be VERY careful. If you have a website and you use your computer to store copies of your webpages, you could end up wiping out your website! Luckily Easycleaner allows you to specify hard-drive folders that are off-limits.
*.scr - this is the file format for screensavers. Delete the ones you don't use anymore.

Delete unnecessary folders -
Many programs (such as Skype) install mandatory folders in the "My Documents" area of your computer. When you uninstall one of these programs, the folder remains in the "My Documents" area. So go to the "My Documents" set of folders and if there is a folder there for a long uninstalled program, delete it.

Delete files
This can cover a wide multitude of areas :

1. When you install a new software program, check the folder for needless files. This can include log files, README.txt files (obviously read them first to make sure they're nothing important), PDF user manuals, HTML weblinks to special promotions and much more. Delete what you don't need and move the manuals to a CD (I have a CD devoted solely to software user manuals). To use another example, Skype gives you a multitude of wallpapers and avatars (some of them downright ugly). Choose your best five and delete the rest.
2. If you have e-books and magazines in PDF format or Word, remove the pages you want to keep and delete the rest.
3. Try moving some of your documents online to Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Or if you have a website, move files to your domain directory.
4. Burn files onto CD disks.
5. Move your MP3's to an MP3 player or an iPod.
6. Burn media files to a DVD disk.


Turn off the archiving / history feature on Instant Messaging programs
If you use Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger or AOL Messenger, you can enable all your chats to be logged as "txt" files in your computer. If this is unnecessary, switch it off.

Backup and delete Outlook emails
You can save Outlook emails individually to a CD disk and then delete them from your hard-drive. Consider switching to web-based email.

Compress essential files
If you MUST keep files on your computer, compress them into "zip" or "rar" format.


In part 3, we will be looking at backing up your essential programs and information. Stay tuned.

A good friend of mine recently commented to me that her laptop was starting to slow down so I offered her a checklist of things she should do to try to make things better. After emailing her the list, I decided to post an expanded version here on the blog for everyone else.

Over time your computer will start to slow down. It's inevitable as you surf the internet, download files / programs and run software. Over time, your hard-drive will become full of temporary internet files, cookies, installation files, viruses, spyware, user manuals, text files, logs....then when you uninstall software, you'll still have traces of the software in your "programmes" folder as well as needless Windows Registry entries. Booting up the computer will take longer as more and more programs start to wheedle their way into your start-up processes. Then over time, as you delete files, your computer will start to become defragmented which means it will take longer for programs to start and files to open. So it pays to clean out your computer on a regular basis.

Some things should be done once a week while some others (such as defragmenting) can be done once a month. So here are my tips for speeding up your computer.


PC Checkup List - 12 steps to making your computer better.

1. What virus checker are you using? Are you updating your virus checker on a regular basis? How often do you run manual scans? I highly recommend AVG Anti-Virus . Run a virus scan! You may find some nasty little critters trying to mount a hostile take-over of your "C" drive. I have been using AVG for 4 years now and it has NEVER let me down once. It catches every problem that tries to enter my PC. I recommend you do a virus scan every 2-3 days. At the very least once a week.

2. What spyware checker are you using? Are you updating your spyware checker on a regular basis? How often do you run manual scans? I recommend Ad-Aware . Run a spyware scan! You may find "Big & Bouncy Adult Productions" is tracking your every internet move with a tracking cookie. I recommend you do a spyware scan every 7 days.

3. How often do you run the Windows defragmentation tool? Run a defrag session, although the downside is that you can't really do anything else on your computer while it is running (I do mine overnight when I am sleeping). Make sure that, before you run the defrag tool, that you shut down ALL running programs on your computer (but you can leave your firewall and virus checker on) and also make sure that once you start the defrag program, that you don't interrupt it for any reason. Let it run to the very end. One time (when I was ignorant and stupid), I switched off the defrag tool halfway through and I couldn't re-boot the computer anymore. That was a messy problem to clean up I can assure you!

If you haven't defragged your system in quite some time, you could be looking at 4-5 hours for the job to be completed. So as I said, this could be an overnight job while you are snoozing away. You can easily leave defragging to once a month.

Another defrag tool is Auslogics Disk Defrag, although in my opinion, it doesn't do a 100% thorough job. It defrags files but it kind of "skims" across the surface of the problem. Despite its many drawbacks, the Windows defrag tool is still the best one to use for a more thorough job.

4. You MUST download all security updates from Windows. The upgrades are essential patches for security holes in the Windows operating system that are discovered by Microsoft. You have to download them otherwise you are leaving yourself extremely vulnerable to hacker attacks. Switch on the "automatic updates" feature (accessible via your PC control panel on the "Start" menu) so you can be notified instantly the moment there is an update from Microsoft.

5. Do you have a firewall? If not, you definately need one as hackers can attack your computer internet connection which at the very least will slow the computer down and at worst they can take over your computer completely. A very good firewall is ZoneAlarm (and it's free).

Just to show you how essential it is, ZoneAlarm has told me just now that in the last week, it has stopped 1,851 "unauthorised access attempts"! That's just one week's worth! That's over 7,400 hackers a month trying to take over your computer. Scary or what?

6. OK-cokey. Next, I recommend you download EasyCleaner. This allows you, at the click of a button, to delete all cookies and temp internet files, which are notorious for slowing the 'puter down. How often do you wipe the cookies and temp files? By deleting them right now, you can speed up your PC as well as free up some valuable hard-drive space.

You can also use EasyCleaner to delete "unnecessary files" and clean the Windows registry but if you do this, be extremely careful. In the past, I have given myself serious problems with the Windows OS because I ended up deleting the wrong files!! I recommend clearing the temp files and cookies once every 7-10 days. Also don't forget to delete the cache. You'll probably find a folder in your "C" drive called "MSO Cache". You can delete that too and you will then find that Microsoft Office programs will speed up as a result.

7. Now for the start menu (sometimes the biggest offender in slow PC's). Download WinPatrol (get the free version). When it is installed, go to the start menu tab. This gives you a complete list of things that start up when the computer boots up. You can then disable what you think is unnecessary. Cardinal Rule Number One : Don't disable anything connected with Microsoft!

With everything else, ask yourself "does this really have to load at boot-up?". If not, disable it. When you've disabled all non-essential programs, you'll be stunned at how fast the computer boots up. What is even better about Winpatrol is that it continually runs on your computer in the background and detects when a program tries to covertly install something without your knowledge or when a program tries to bury its way into your start menu without your permission. You'll get a pop-up window warning you and asking if you want to allow it or disable it. Brilliant.

I previously wrote a blog post on WinPatrol which you can find here.

8. You might laugh at this but how clean is your keyboard (under the keys)? If you have crumbs under there, that can significantly slow things down. How about dust clogging up the sockets? Get yourself a little vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth (not a wet cloth) and go cleaning (best to turn your computer off for this). Get rid of those toast crumbs and spilt Coca-Cola stains! Try removing some of the keys to clean underneath.

9. When you uninstall a software program, do you uninstall it via the Control Panel? If instead you are uninstalling using the software program's own uninstall tool (normally in the program's folder entitled "uninstall.exe") then chances are that there are still traces of those programs on the computer clogging things up ("uninstall.exe" almost never uninstalls the program properly).

Go to your control panel, via the start menu and click on "software". If you see software titles in that list that you uninstalled months ago then click on it in the control panel box and uninstall properly. Also go to the program's folder in either "programmes" or "program files" and see if the program folder is still there. If so, delete it.

10. Don't install any programs from sources you don't trust. You have no idea what script is in the source code. An unscrupulous programmer could have coded a back-door into your computer. Only install software from sources you absolutely trust. If you have any dodgy programs on your PC, get it off immediately.

11. Consider uninstalling Google Desktop. I use Google Desktop but I have often noticed that GD slows down the computer considerably when it is indexing files. This is why I have uninstalled the program twice in the past. So if you have GD and you don't use it, consider uninstalling it. It has the potential to be a real CPU hog.

12. If you use Mozilla Firefox, uninstall the extensions and scripts that are no longer needed. I reduced my browser to a "bare-bones browser" with ten extensions (down from 30), three Greasemonkey scripts (down from 23) and a minimal number of buttons. The speed in which Firefox moves now is unbelievable.


In part two of "Welcome to the PC Clinic", we'll look at ways of freeing up hard-drive space. Stay tuned.