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One of my first jobs was as a Machinist.  Growing up I enjoyed working at my grandfather’s and uncle’s machine shop.  We had a good group of guys that enjoyed working with each other as much as being at the shop.  One thing we used to do, so that we kept familiar with tools and dies , was to play a little game of “Bluff” or what I liked to call “In My Toolbox”.  We would describe what we had in our toolboxes – sometimes we were honest, sometimes we weren’t – that was the “bluff” part of the game.  Anyway, over the years I have been asked what tools I use to do a variety of tasks on my computer, so  I’ve put together a list of some great System Tools.  As I looked through my “System Tools” shortcut group, I realized the system tool I use are all from the same developer.  Piriform makes four tools that I use with confidence on my personal system.

The first of these tools I use to keep my computer clean.  You may have heard that too many temporary files or too many offline files will slow your computer or web surfing.  It’s all true – it’s like a small pickup truck, if you put a case of water bottles in the bed of the truck, you don’t notice anything; however, fill the bed with cases of water bottles and the truck takes longer to accelerate and stop, turning can be sluggish, and you notice the weight difference.  So, applying this concept to your PC – a good practice is to clean up your computer regularly to keep it running well.  While Windows comes with it’s built in Disk Cleaner, I use Piriform’s CCleaner.  It cleans more than just the normal Temp files, Internet History, and Recycle Bin that the Windows Disk Cleaner does.  It takes into account that you might use Firefox, Google Chrome, and other applications and cleans any of the temporary information those programs might hold.  CCleaner also will scan through your registry and clean up the registry to allow it to be scanned by your computer faster.  All this and there is no annoying Adware you have to look at.

The second System Tool I use is Piriform’s Defraggler.  While the Windows Defragmenter is a good tool, I use the Defraggler for some of the things I can do with it that the Defragmenter just doesn’t do.  I have the option to “defrag” the whole desk drive or I can focus on specific folders or files – this is important if you play some online games that save a cache to your disk drive.  I also can start a defragmentation and set the Defraggler to turn off my computer when it is done.  Do I worry about security or bad practices?  No, Piriform has made the Defraggler to scan the disk drive using the same techniques that the Windows Disk Defragmenter.  The groovy point – Defraggler has been made to optimize your files and free space the first time through.  It doesn’t take seven or more passes to optimize the files on your disk drive.

The third tool is a tool I haven’t had to use except in testing.  Piriform’s Recuva is a file recovery program.  In Windows, you can open up the folder your deleted file was in and go to the “Previous Version” tab and you might be able to find the file you accidentally deleted; however, Recuva scans your computer’s file system and looks for the residue of deleted files.  Once it’s found the file you want, and some searches do take a good mount of time, simply  select it from the list and click the [Recover] button.  Please note, I do not recommend using this as a “file backup” tool.  This is a file recovery for immediate accidental deletions.  For File System Backup and Recovery, see my post about Digital Lifeboat.

The last tool in this System Tools suite is Piriform’s Speccy.  Speccy is a System Information reporting tool like the Windows System Properties.  It reports the summary and details of your computer’s hardware.  While the Windows tool is great for general information, Speccy really goes the next step.  It reports the hardware (how many RAM chips are in your PC), it’s capacity (how much RAM your PC has), and even it’s expandability (your PC is using 2 of it’s 4 possible RAM slots).  If any of that was Greek to you, don’t worry, we will be posting about what your computer is made of in the future.  Speccy even reports your computer’s temperature.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  I know that for some people, System Tools are one of the last things thought about; however, I felt that it needed to be one of the first topics we covered.  A dependable computer is desired and being able to surf the Internet and do the things you want quickly is important.  Just as we all need to change the oil in our car and get it tuned up for better performance, we need to make sure our computers are tuned up.  Again, there are many System Tools available on the Internet nowadays, these are simply the ones…

In My Toolbox

After much thought and advice gathering, I decided [web]Neighbor’s first blog post should be one of the most common computer questions asked to me – “Why is my computer SO slow and how do I fix that?”  Well, the correct answer that any Computer Tech should reply with is, “There are too many things that could cause your computer to be slow.”  So let’s give you some of the most common reasons:

1. Your computer has too many programs in it’s startup list — There are a lot of programs that load automatically when you start up your PC – too many can really make your computer slow.
2. Your computer has too many programs installed — A clean machine is a fast machine.  This means your best option is to uninstall all the programs you don’t use.  Remove things like trial software, older versions, and anything else you’re never going to use.  Remember, you always want your security and antivirus programs, but make sure you’re only running one of the same kind of program.
3. Your computer is running too many instances of the same programs — If your PC slows down while you’re working, check to see how many programs you have running.  All programs take up your computer’s memory and in some cases, having multiple instances of a program (such as several open Word documents) or multiple versions of a program type (more than one antivirus program) can quickly use up memory. If you remember to save documents and spreadsheets, respond to and close email messages, and keep open only the programs that are necessary for the work you’re currently doing — and you’ll see a boost in speed.
4. Your computer might have a virus — Viruses, today, are designed to infect your computer without you even knowing it.  If your PC is flying merrily along and then suddenly slow to a crawl, run a virus scan.
5. Your computer’s hard disk might be fragmented — The more you use your PC, the more programs you use and the more services you’re running.  Closing a program doesn’t always close the service.  This is why restarting fixes so many problems — it flushes the memory. You should also make a habit of cleaning your hard disc to remove temporary files, emptying the Recycle Bin (you take your garbage can out to be emptied regularly), and put the files back in order.  A Defragmentation — Defrag for short — is like playing the game “52 Card Pickup” for your computer.
6. Your computer’s hardware might be too old for the program you are running – New programs are released every year.  They are designed to go faster and do more than the version before.  If you have Windows 7, take a look at the Windows Experience Index, a method of rating your computer based on five key components.  Depending on your particular hardware, you might need a new PC or some hardware upgrades.
7. Your computer might not be up to date — One of the best things you can do to protect your computer is also one of the easiest.  Make sure you are set up to get automatic updates from Microsoft.  If you use Windows and other Microsoft software, you should use the Microsoft Update service.
8. Your computer might look too pretty – “Beauty is only skin deep.” This quote wasn’t referring to computers, but the concept still applies. Windows has some very beautiful themes and effects, but if you need more speed consider changing the settings you want to use for the appearance of Windows on your computer.

So how do you make your computer faster?

• Limit how many programs run at startup
• Uninstall, uninstall, uninstall
• Run fewer programs at the same time
• Run a virus scan and see if your computer has a clean bill of health
• Clean and Defragment your hard drive
• Check your hardware
• Keep your PC up to date
• Adjust visual effects

You can find the step by step instructions on how to make your computer faster in [web]Neighbor’s How To section or if you would like someone else to speed up your computer, go to Ack, Inc. and they will help you.