Spring cleaning?

Well Ive downloaded ad-aware due to the sluggish behaviour of the computer.

Ive been through and have done alot of tweaking, oh and by the way there has
been some much needed fantastic support!

There are alot of programs that I do not use and have left trails. My drive
is a mess.

Is there a way to determine what the good, bad & the ugly is when viewing
this?

I know in the past I really wasnt too sure where files were going, however,
when I go into the c drive I see the files and then a whole lot of junk
afterwards.

ms-dos
application
batch file
recovered frag file
system file
security catalogue
text document
bmk file
log file
cfg file

The distinction is important between the "c--pware" that Ad-aware, or any
anti-spyware tool finds, and any now-unwanted programs that you previously
installed. If you need additional HD space, and do not wish to remove any
previous programs, adding a second, or third HD, may be the best solution.
40-160 GB IDE drivers have become very inexpensive in this holiday season.
I have seen Seagate and WD ATA100 HD's for as low as $29, after rebates,
recently.

If you really desire to remove the old programs, use the Add-Remove Program
wizard to do so. It will be less likely to make a stupid mistake. If you
are not knowledgeable enough to remove further items, find someone who is.
An alternative is to use, with great discretion, a "cleaner", which will
inventory the installed programs, and program remnants, and offer you the
choice of which to remove. Be very conservative, at least at first. You
can always remove more things later.

Unfortunately, some program uninstallers are less than thorough.
Undoubtedly, unnecessary remnants will remain in the registry, which can be
removed with one of several registry cleaners. These must be used
judiciously, also, since a serious mistake can render the machine broken or
unbootable.
Clean the Registry--

RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft Classes.dat only
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q147/7/69.asp

EasyCleaner from ToniArts
http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele/ecleane.htm

RegCleaner from Jouni Vuorio
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/

Registry Pruner"
http://www.Karenware.com/powertools/ Shared DLL's only

After one, or more, of the above tools have been used (or even if you don't
use any), run Scanreg /fix from a clean DOS boot.

At a minimum, you will wish to run scanreg /opt /fix, after your program
removals, to cleanup:
See KB 273889, for details.


As always, before undertaking such tasks, make file/drive backups, including
"scanreg /backup" and System Restore checkpoints, permitting reversion, if
desired.
It is best first to temporarily move unwanted data files to special folders,
or removable media, for recovery if needed. Such can be deleted or
destroyed later when all is known to be well.

I also recommend obtaining the free anti-spyware tool, SpyBot, to compliment
Ad-aware. No single tool is adequate today.
Other excellent similar tools include Spyware Blaster, Pest Patrol, and Spy
Sweeper.

And use a personal firewall -- the free Zone Alarm is quite good. Many
others exist.

And CWShredder 2.12, to kill the Cool Web pests.
You may wish to consider BHODemon, also, to protect against unwanted browser
extensions.

As you may begin to realize, the Internet world is a far more dangerous
place to your computer.
I recently read it takes an average of 15 seconds now for an unprotected
machine to be compromised after connection to the Internet -- even via
dial-up!

Once you have all this in place, repost for advice about pruning your
startup group (if you haven't already).
You may wish to consider running the free tests at PCPitstop, for additional
machine-specific advice.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Sean" wrote in message
...
Well Ive downloaded ad-aware due to the sluggish behaviour of the
computer.

Ive been through and have done alot of tweaking, oh and by the way there
has
been some much needed fantastic support!

There are alot of programs that I do not use and have left trails. My
drive
is a mess.

Is there a way to determine what the good, bad & the ugly is when viewing
this?

I know in the past I really wasnt too sure where files were going,
however,
when I go into the c drive I see the files and then a whole lot of junk
afterwards.

ms-dos
application
batch file
recovered frag file
system file
security catalogue
text document
bmk file
log file
cfg file

jv16 Power Tools gets my vote for clearing out the detritus in the Reg.
Heirloom, old and like it

"Jack E Martinelli" wrote in message
...
The distinction is important between the "c--pware" that Ad-aware, or any
anti-spyware tool finds, and any now-unwanted programs that you previously
installed. If you need additional HD space, and do not wish to remove any
previous programs, adding a second, or third HD, may be the best solution.
40-160 GB IDE drivers have become very inexpensive in this holiday season.
I have seen Seagate and WD ATA100 HD's for as low as $29, after rebates,
recently.

If you really desire to remove the old programs, use the Add-Remove
Program
wizard to do so. It will be less likely to make a stupid mistake. If you
are not knowledgeable enough to remove further items, find someone who is.
An alternative is to use, with great discretion, a "cleaner", which will
inventory the installed programs, and program remnants, and offer you the
choice of which to remove. Be very conservative, at least at first. You
can always remove more things later.

Unfortunately, some program uninstallers are less than thorough.
Undoubtedly, unnecessary remnants will remain in the registry, which can
be
removed with one of several registry cleaners. These must be used
judiciously, also, since a serious mistake can render the machine broken
or
unbootable.
Clean the Registry--

RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft Classes.dat only
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q147/7/69.asp

EasyCleaner from ToniArts
http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele/ecleane.htm

RegCleaner from Jouni Vuorio
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/

Registry Pruner"
http://www.Karenware.com/powertools/ Shared DLL's only

After one, or more, of the above tools have been used (or even if you
don't
use any), run Scanreg /fix from a clean DOS boot.

At a minimum, you will wish to run scanreg /opt /fix, after your program
removals, to cleanup:
See KB 273889, for details.


As always, before undertaking such tasks, make file/drive backups,
including
"scanreg /backup" and System Restore checkpoints, permitting reversion, if
desired.
It is best first to temporarily move unwanted data files to special
folders,
or removable media, for recovery if needed. Such can be deleted or
destroyed later when all is known to be well.

I also recommend obtaining the free anti-spyware tool, SpyBot, to
compliment
Ad-aware. No single tool is adequate today.
Other excellent similar tools include Spyware Blaster, Pest Patrol, and
Spy
Sweeper.

And use a personal firewall -- the free Zone Alarm is quite good. Many
others exist.

And CWShredder 2.12, to kill the Cool Web pests.
You may wish to consider BHODemon, also, to protect against unwanted
browser
extensions.

As you may begin to realize, the Internet world is a far more dangerous
place to your computer.
I recently read it takes an average of 15 seconds now for an unprotected
machine to be compromised after connection to the Internet -- even via
dial-up!

Once you have all this in place, repost for advice about pruning your
startup group (if you haven't already).
You may wish to consider running the free tests at PCPitstop, for
additional
machine-specific advice.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Sean" wrote in message
...
Well Ive downloaded ad-aware due to the sluggish behaviour of the
computer.

Ive been through and have done alot of tweaking, oh and by the way there
has
been some much needed fantastic support!

There are alot of programs that I do not use and have left trails. My
drive
is a mess.

Is there a way to determine what the good, bad & the ugly is when
viewing
this?

I know in the past I really wasnt too sure where files were going,
however,
when I go into the c drive I see the files and then a whole lot of junk
afterwards.

ms-dos
application
batch file
recovered frag file
system file
security catalogue
text document
bmk file
log file
cfg file

It is my currently preferred tool, too, Loon, but Toni Arts' Easy Cleaner
may be less formidable to the new user.
The MS RegClean 4.1a is foolproof, but is less extensive.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"heirloom" wrote in message
...
jv16 Power Tools gets my vote for clearing out the detritus in the Reg.
Heirloom, old and like it

"Jack E Martinelli" wrote in message
...
The distinction is important between the "c--pware" that Ad-aware, or
any
anti-spyware tool finds, and any now-unwanted programs that you
previously
installed. If you need additional HD space, and do not wish to remove
any
previous programs, adding a second, or third HD, may be the best
solution.
40-160 GB IDE drivers have become very inexpensive in this holiday
season.
I have seen Seagate and WD ATA100 HD's for as low as $29, after rebates,
recently.

If you really desire to remove the old programs, use the Add-Remove
Program
wizard to do so. It will be less likely to make a stupid mistake. If
you
are not knowledgeable enough to remove further items, find someone who
is.
An alternative is to use, with great discretion, a "cleaner", which will
inventory the installed programs, and program remnants, and offer you
the
choice of which to remove. Be very conservative, at least at first.
You
can always remove more things later.

Unfortunately, some program uninstallers are less than thorough.
Undoubtedly, unnecessary remnants will remain in the registry, which can
be
removed with one of several registry cleaners. These must be used
judiciously, also, since a serious mistake can render the machine broken
or
unbootable.
Clean the Registry--

RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft Classes.dat only
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q147/7/69.asp

EasyCleaner from ToniArts
http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele/ecleane.htm

RegCleaner from Jouni Vuorio
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/

Registry Pruner"
http://www.Karenware.com/powertools/ Shared DLL's only

After one, or more, of the above tools have been used (or even if you
don't
use any), run Scanreg /fix from a clean DOS boot.

At a minimum, you will wish to run scanreg /opt /fix, after your program
removals, to cleanup:
See KB 273889, for details.


As always, before undertaking such tasks, make file/drive backups,
including
"scanreg /backup" and System Restore checkpoints, permitting reversion,
if
desired.
It is best first to temporarily move unwanted data files to special
folders,
or removable media, for recovery if needed. Such can be deleted or
destroyed later when all is known to be well.

I also recommend obtaining the free anti-spyware tool, SpyBot, to
compliment
Ad-aware. No single tool is adequate today.
Other excellent similar tools include Spyware Blaster, Pest Patrol, and
Spy
Sweeper.

And use a personal firewall -- the free Zone Alarm is quite good. Many
others exist.

And CWShredder 2.12, to kill the Cool Web pests.
You may wish to consider BHODemon, also, to protect against unwanted
browser
extensions.

As you may begin to realize, the Internet world is a far more dangerous
place to your computer.
I recently read it takes an average of 15 seconds now for an unprotected
machine to be compromised after connection to the Internet -- even via
dial-up!

Once you have all this in place, repost for advice about pruning your
startup group (if you haven't already).
You may wish to consider running the free tests at PCPitstop, for
additional
machine-specific advice.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Sean" wrote in message
...

SNIP

It is my currently preferred tool, too, Loon, but Toni Arts' Easy Cleaner
may be less formidable to the new user.
The MS RegClean 4.1a is foolproof, but is less extensive.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"heirloom" wrote in message
...
jv16 Power Tools gets my vote for clearing out the detritus in the Reg.
Heirloom, old and like it

"Jack E Martinelli" wrote in message
...
The distinction is important between the "c--pware" that Ad-aware, or
any
anti-spyware tool finds, and any now-unwanted programs that you
previously
installed. If you need additional HD space, and do not wish to remove
any
previous programs, adding a second, or third HD, may be the best
solution.
40-160 GB IDE drivers have become very inexpensive in this holiday
season.
I have seen Seagate and WD ATA100 HD's for as low as $29, after rebates,
recently.

If you really desire to remove the old programs, use the Add-Remove
Program
wizard to do so. It will be less likely to make a stupid mistake. If
you
are not knowledgeable enough to remove further items, find someone who
is.
An alternative is to use, with great discretion, a "cleaner", which will
inventory the installed programs, and program remnants, and offer you
the
choice of which to remove. Be very conservative, at least at first.
You
can always remove more things later.

Unfortunately, some program uninstallers are less than thorough.
Undoubtedly, unnecessary remnants will remain in the registry, which can
be
removed with one of several registry cleaners. These must be used
judiciously, also, since a serious mistake can render the machine broken
or
unbootable.
Clean the Registry--

RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft Classes.dat only
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q147/7/69.asp

EasyCleaner from ToniArts
http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele/ecleane.htm

RegCleaner from Jouni Vuorio
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/

Registry Pruner"
http://www.Karenware.com/powertools/ Shared DLL's only

After one, or more, of the above tools have been used (or even if you
don't
use any), run Scanreg /fix from a clean DOS boot.

At a minimum, you will wish to run scanreg /opt /fix, after your program
removals, to cleanup:
See KB 273889, for details.


As always, before undertaking such tasks, make file/drive backups,
including
"scanreg /backup" and System Restore checkpoints, permitting reversion,
if
desired.
It is best first to temporarily move unwanted data files to special
folders,
or removable media, for recovery if needed. Such can be deleted or
destroyed later when all is known to be well.

I also recommend obtaining the free anti-spyware tool, SpyBot, to
compliment
Ad-aware. No single tool is adequate today.
Other excellent similar tools include Spyware Blaster, Pest Patrol, and
Spy
Sweeper.

And use a personal firewall -- the free Zone Alarm is quite good. Many
others exist.

And CWShredder 2.12, to kill the Cool Web pests.
You may wish to consider BHODemon, also, to protect against unwanted
browser
extensions.

As you may begin to realize, the Internet world is a far more dangerous
place to your computer.
I recently read it takes an average of 15 seconds now for an unprotected
machine to be compromised after connection to the Internet -- even via
dial-up!

Once you have all this in place, repost for advice about pruning your
startup group (if you haven't already).
You may wish to consider running the free tests at PCPitstop, for
additional
machine-specific advice.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Sean" wrote in message
...

SNIP

One thing for sure, none of them are perfect.......at least, none that I
have found. When I dumped Norton AV, I found about 200 reg entries directly
related to Norton/Symantec/LiveUpdate, etc. that even jv16 did not remove.
Realizing, of course, that the Norton/Symantec bloatware is very invasive.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Mr. Martinelli, and thank you (and the
rest of the gurus) for all the wonderful help over the past years. I have
certainly learned a lot from all of you.
Heirloom, old and thankful for gurus


"Jack E Martinelli" wrote in message
...
It is my currently preferred tool, too, Loon, but Toni Arts' Easy Cleaner
may be less formidable to the new user.
The MS RegClean 4.1a is foolproof, but is less extensive.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"heirloom" wrote in message
...
jv16 Power Tools gets my vote for clearing out the detritus in the Reg.
Heirloom, old and like it

"Jack E Martinelli" wrote in message
...
The distinction is important between the "c--pware" that Ad-aware, or
any
anti-spyware tool finds, and any now-unwanted programs that you
previously
installed. If you need additional HD space, and do not wish to remove
any
previous programs, adding a second, or third HD, may be the best
solution.
40-160 GB IDE drivers have become very inexpensive in this holiday
season.
I have seen Seagate and WD ATA100 HD's for as low as $29, after
rebates,
recently.

If you really desire to remove the old programs, use the Add-Remove
Program
wizard to do so. It will be less likely to make a stupid mistake. If
you
are not knowledgeable enough to remove further items, find someone who
is.
An alternative is to use, with great discretion, a "cleaner", which
will
inventory the installed programs, and program remnants, and offer you
the
choice of which to remove. Be very conservative, at least at first.
You
can always remove more things later.

Unfortunately, some program uninstallers are less than thorough.
Undoubtedly, unnecessary remnants will remain in the registry, which
can
be
removed with one of several registry cleaners. These must be used
judiciously, also, since a serious mistake can render the machine
broken
or
unbootable.
Clean the Registry--

RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft Classes.dat only
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q147/7/69.asp

EasyCleaner from ToniArts
http://www.saunalahti.fi/tonihele/ecleane.htm

RegCleaner from Jouni Vuorio
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/

Registry Pruner"
http://www.Karenware.com/powertools/ Shared DLL's only

After one, or more, of the above tools have been used (or even if you
don't
use any), run Scanreg /fix from a clean DOS boot.

At a minimum, you will wish to run scanreg /opt /fix, after your
program
removals, to cleanup:
See KB 273889, for details.


As always, before undertaking such tasks, make file/drive backups,
including
"scanreg /backup" and System Restore checkpoints, permitting
reversion,
if
desired.
It is best first to temporarily move unwanted data files to special
folders,
or removable media, for recovery if needed. Such can be deleted or
destroyed later when all is known to be well.

I also recommend obtaining the free anti-spyware tool, SpyBot, to
compliment
Ad-aware. No single tool is adequate today.
Other excellent similar tools include Spyware Blaster, Pest Patrol,
and
Spy
Sweeper.

And use a personal firewall -- the free Zone Alarm is quite good.
Many
others exist.

And CWShredder 2.12, to kill the Cool Web pests.
You may wish to consider BHODemon, also, to protect against unwanted
browser
extensions.

As you may begin to realize, the Internet world is a far more
dangerous
place to your computer.
I recently read it takes an average of 15 seconds now for an
unprotected
machine to be compromised after connection to the Internet -- even via
dial-up!

Once you have all this in place, repost for advice about pruning your
startup group (if you haven't already).
You may wish to consider running the free tests at PCPitstop, for
additional
machine-specific advice.
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Sean" wrote in message
...

SNIP