NOT an eCabinet question, BUT important with recent problems

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Al Navas
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NOT an eCabinet question, BUT important with recent problems

Post by Al Navas »

Several recent posts to the Forum have been on issues related to Build 3. Are most, or all, related to Build 3, or is there something we can do on our end to help us get the most out our PCs and laptops?

I would like to learn from the Thermwood Team whether you believe that we (Users of the program) should regularly perform system maintenance, and what type you believe is needed / required / suggested / good / bad, etc.

I am thinking along the following lines:

1. How often do you suggest to defrag hard disk drives, how often to run Ad Aware or similar malware programs, etc. Weekly? Monthly? Does it depend primarily on how frequently the program is used?

2. Are there any Registry operations that are suggested by the Team to fully remove remnants of pieces of eCabinet Systems when installing a new version of the program? Or does each Build take care of cleaning up the Registry in addition to doing the installations?

3. What other things does the Team suggest to help USERS maintain the integrity of our computer systems when running the program?

Thanks for your feedback!


Last edited by Al Navas on Fri, May 11 2007, 5:47AM, edited 2 times in total.
Al
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Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking
Rick Palechuk
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Post by Rick Palechuk »

I defrag weekly, Ad-aware daily, run XP in performance mode. You bring up a good point about the registry Al. A system tweak if you will 8) . Oh also , I run my paging file on a separate HD.
mikesand
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Post by mikesand »

Rick,

What is Performance mode? I searched in XP help and google with no success.

For the poster, I have been running Norton Internet Security and figured out that it uses a lot of system resources. Ditching it speed up a lot of the normal (non-ecabs things) operations. I also get fewer lockups and crashes in certain situatuons without it. I am using a free program now, and am open to sugestions for a good, effecient antivirus program.

Mike
Joe Soto
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Post by Joe Soto »

Mike, this is the one Mr. Epps recommends and I use.
http://www.avg-free-download.us/
Joe
Kerry Fullington
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Post by Kerry Fullington »

Mike,
to set Performance Mode
Right click on My Computer
Select Properties
Click on the Advanced Tab
Under Performance click Settings
Here you can select the radio button that says Adjust for Best Performance

this turns of a lot of the visual effects and stuff in windows that eat up resources.

If you don't like it you can return here and go back to Let Windows Choose
I use AVG anti virus on a six computers also. (Not the Free Version but I don't think there is a big difference) It works great. I had Norton on all of them and junked it.

Kerry
Al Navas
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Post by Al Navas »

My thanks to all who have responded so far.

I also ditched Norton about 8 years ago. Then went to McAfee, but ditched it after we started getting problems with our satellite Internet connections.

Finally changed to Avast! Home Edition (free) anti-virus software - highly rated, and highly regarded. To get the free Home Edition, go to:

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html


Also, setting XP for Performance makes a difference! Since getting this new laptop I have had it at this setting, even while running on batteries, and things are going well.

Could we have comments from anyone else? So far, only Wizards, Seniors, and Gurus have contributed 8) ... I am sure that mere mortals like myself can provide additional useful and meaningful comments! :lol: :wink: .
Al
http://sandal-woodsblog.com
Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking
Rick Palechuk
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Post by Rick Palechuk »

Check out Dan's paging file tip @ Ecab world.
mikesand
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Post by mikesand »

Thanks Kerry,

I dont know why that didn't show up in my searches.... I will switch tmy Ecabs computer to the AVG program and check it out. I don't worry so much about viruses on that computer because I only use it for business.

For the poster. I imagine that you already know this, but I will say it anyway. Do not load your Ecabs computer with junk. It happens very easy. Google desktop, update soft ware, camera uploading, PDA sync, Email services, the list goes on.

Mike
Al Navas
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Re:

Post by Al Navas »

Rick Palechuk wrote:Check out Dan's paging file tip @ Ecab world.
Thanks, Rick.

I made the changes to the paging file, as Dan recommends in his write-up. I probably should have done this a a long time ago, as I have had an external 250GB Maxtor drive for some time now.

In summary, I now do the following regularly:

1. Defrag weekly - scheduled on appointments calendar.

2. Run Ad-Aware daily, to reduce overhead from stuff the system does not need.

3. Keep Avast as the virus scanner.

My thanks to all for your contributions!
Al
http://sandal-woodsblog.com
Sandal Woods - Fine Woodworking
Paul Huff
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Post by Paul Huff »

I just bought Windows One Care. I just let this program do its thing including automatic backups and defragmenting. Plus it lets you control what your computer will do on the web automatically. This thing is a darling and seems to stay out of the way fairly well when I am using my computer. It does most of its work at night. You have full control over its schedule so you can work it the way you want. I don't think it was rated that great as a Virus/Spyware program but this is Microsoft so you know sooner or later it will get better. It costs $50 a year. I think you can download and use it for free for 3 months to give it a try. It only works with Windows XP or Vista and if you are using a network you might have to setup what devices and connections are allowed on the network. I had to allow eCabinets to auto check the internet for updates and such.

Just thought I would let everyone know there is a lazy way to do all of this. :roll:
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