first go to control panel, system, advanced, performance settings, adjust for best performance, dont ask questions just do it - will greatly improve computer speed and make it look more like windows 98
- Spysweeper by webroot is by far the best for trojans and other spyware
it current checks for 76 000 definitions, also has one pc mag awards
- System Mechanic, is by far the best application for registry cleaning and maintaing (you registry is your computers nevous system) favorite palce for spies and viruses to hide, offers also sytem snapshot, to compare, will remove duplicate files, fix or delete broken shortcuts and comes with a start up gaurd so things dont start with windows u dont want, offers other things but its mainly a registry app
- Tune up utilities has been good to me also, it will do a 1/2 assed registry job
fix some program problems check registry structure with a convient one click maintanance, this programs strenght is in its optamizer, will scan internet say something like u are reciving info bundles at this size change to this... it will optamize almost everything in windows, does an excellent job explainig what is doing and all changes are reverseable, they offer a free full program trial for 30 days at tune-up.com, nough said bout that
- winpatrol, cheap one time 20$ for lifetime, like task manager but gives u much more info on whats running, what it does and so on, takes up very little ram and alerts u when changes happen on comp, asks if its ok, very handy for older version of windows with the poorer task manger
- Diskeeper, just like windows de-frag, a thousand times better, gives way more info and different types of de-frag, also can schedule it, very cool and fast (well for de-fraggin) can also change priority of it so it wont slow down comp
- most anti-viruses are acceptable, stick to the bigger ones like norton, panda, mcafee, all have been tested, and are constantly being updated, i personally use panda platinum 7.0, so far so good...
- optional, windows washer also by webroot, like disk clean up for windows on steroids, more options...
steganos internet anonamous is an excellent way to clean up any tracks, stay invisible online, will change your i.p. address every second if u want, will slow down conection though, pretty neat though,
any coments or suggestins are welcome
enjoy your faster, safer comp!

This post has been edited by microscopic^earthling: Nov 7 2005, 06:49 PM

Personally I don't have a single program from your "must have's". My PC is running perfectly without them.

I use:
1) Norton System Works Professional 2005
2) Spybot S&D
3) Built-in Windows XP firewall (SP2)
4) regedit.exe
5) msconfig.exe
6) My brains

That's all I need to keep my PC running...

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Sadas. My computer runs perfectly without much anti-virus cum spyware software. I barely have a Full norton anti-virus (It expired and i didn't bother to renew it) and another ad-aware software. Thats all i need for my computer to be running fast. It's practically fool-proof!

Yes, it's not necesary, my computer have don't have any firewall, only the built-in firewall of SP2 but that's a realy primitive one.

It depends on your extent of knowledge based on the OS you are using. Since I built my computer from scratch, I know it inside out, outside in and you don't need programs like TuneUp Utilities 2004 when you can tweak them yourself using the built-in Registry Editor but sadly, some settings cannot be tweaked via the registry and you'll need Tweak UI for that (That is if you're using Windows XP). However, you'll need an antivirus, antispyware, firewall and probably a registry monitoring tool in order to keep your computer safe against online threats and what kind of content you are handling. Right now, I use only Sygate Personal Firewall Pro and Prevx Home.

maybe must have's was too strong
they are more designed for lazy peole or people who cant tweat there comp themselves, spysweeper though has won a pc mag award 3 years running i belive
dont quote me on that, but like i said earlier it has 76 000 current defintions, 10 shields including for start up, hi-jacking, keyloggers, trojans... (real time protection)i think spy bot and ad- aware check for like 3 - 6 thousand, not even in the same league, i know alot of these definitions are cookies, but its nice to be able to find out where they came from and wether u want to keep them or not, just from installing and un-instaling different things your registry gets cluttered and slows down, hard to trace old registry keys as far as i know, sytem mechanic does that quickly, also de-fraggs, registry, of course none of these are absolutely nessasary, but i promise u run a sweep by these uttilities and u will notice some improvement, dramatic improvement if your not a comp buff, not saying i am, thats why i use the uttilities..., try diskeeper though, www.executivesoftware.com, very cool, if u choose not to register it, or hit the cancel i think after u hit register there is an option to never register, i dont know if its an error or what, by i have the full registered app, and i didnt rip this one
i have tried these though, and read alot on them and others before making a recomendation, and cause the p2p, was able to try out lots too
if you've used similar uttilies u like, let me know, id apreciate it

The only MUST HAVE to keep your pc runnig is creativity.....

by this i mean, you don't to be a pc genius to fix your problems...

Ok, creaticity...

Read tutorials, participate in te forums such a astahost, etc...

Hard to be creative with comp when it dosent do what it's told, besides are u gonna check each registry key, open every file, manually de-frag (if that's possible), of course not, do u fell like doing a search for evey cookie u find to see if u want it or not, dont be silly, i have a packed 80 gb, hard drive, full of media mostlt, and media programs, my current read time is 24s for the entire volume, 22.5 being perfect, my average fragment per file is 1.06, it's taking 1.1 times longer to open fragmented file, im no genius, never claimed to be but i know things like that from diskeeper, alot of apps have great read ups in them too

thaichatham that's what i'm saying.. it's not a list of programs, it's knowing how to find them.. i manage 240 gb od data... i have lost over 120 gb caused by improper shutdown (ligths went off!!!!!!, if i only has an ups...)

So, you're totally right, software is necessary...

getting to it, and how to doit it's a metter of getting the right resources...

Did anyone give any of these a try or have already used them?
whats your experience like with these,and would anyone recomned another,
Im still learning too...