PC MAINTENANCE HOWTO KEEP YOUR COMPUTERS RUNNING

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PC MAINTENANCE HOWTO KEEP YOUR COMPUTERS
RUNNING SECURE

• Greg Kawell
• Samford University
• Instructor/Director of Labs
• Computer Science Department

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Interest

• January of 2006 began working with Perry County
  School District
• Attended AETC 2006
• Have worked on hundreds of machines
• Present solutions that anyone can do with no
  special tools or skills
• Some things may seem simple, but often overlooked
  
• No specific order jump in at any point

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Why concentration on Windows computers

• Bad operating system, right?
• Windows designed to work on almost any type of
  hardware
• So many different configurations
• All one needs is a motherboard, RAM, HD, monitor,
  keyboard and mouse
• Has to manage so many different types of software
• Windows is secure
• Owns 95 of the OS market
• Is a large target

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Connections

• Power
• Monitor
• Dont have to screw thumb screws air hammer tight
• Network
• Should be lights flashing
• Keyboard mouse
• Try a known working set especially if wireless
• Keep a USB keyboard and mouse handy
• Sound

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Dont be afraid to open a desktop computer

• Many different ways to open side panel
• Pull Tug it will open
• Make sure plugs and cables are firmly connected
• Make sure that device cards are firmly connected

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Laptop computers

• Some components can be removed
• Battery
• HD
• CD/DVD
• PCMCIA cards

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Check green power light

• If not on check power supply fan, should be
  spinning
• If no fan then you need to replace power supply
• Match wattage
• Generic at any store is fine
• Pay attention to cables
• All cables are designed to make connections clear

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Check CMOS battery

• If clock on computer has been losing time, this
  is the reason
• In desktop just a watch battery
• Replace, pay attention to positive/negative
• Laptop batteries are specialty, can be costly

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Shut computer down and restart

• Cold boot / warm boot
• Hold power button for several seconds till
  machine turns off
• Nothing on monitor
• Try replacing monitor w/another known working
  monitor
• Try replacing cables if possible (some hardwired)
• Try replacing video card w/another known working
  video card
• Some are hardwired onto motherboard
• May have two, try both
• Watch screen during reboot for any possible
  messages
• Record error message as detail as possible

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Something appears on Monitor

• If manufacturer boot screens appear, but no
  Windows log appears
• Try to run a manufacturer hardware diagnosis, if
  it exists
• May need to replace HD
• If Windows logo appears, but goes no further
• PressF8 during reboot, before windows logo
• Try to boot to Last Known Good Configuration
• Try to boot to safe mode

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Pull HD and slave to good machine

• May want to do this even if machine boots good,
  but has not been running up to date virus
  software
• Make sure good machine is shutdown
• Connect to good machine via CD/DVD cables
• Run virus scan on bad drive
• Make sure the good machine has all the virus
  updates
• This will take a long time on large drive

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Try clean HD in bad machine and if OS still does
not come up

• Do a Repair of the OS
• Only do if data on HD is needed
• Use an XP install CD and try repair
• If repair does not work do a reinstall over the
  old copy
• Do a Clean Install of the OS
• This will wipe all data off the HD, best solution
• Use an XP install CD
• Do a new install
• FDisk
• Delete partition
• Create partition, accept all defaults
• Once OS installed do all windows update
• Re-install all software

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If you can get into Windows

• Use System Restore
• If some new software or hardware has just been
  installed
• Delete all data in temp folders
• Do this right after a reboot and before you open
  anything else
• Temp folders in Document and Settings
• Look in Local Settings folder
• Click on Tools in menu bar, Click View tab,
  Select Show hidden files and folders option to
  see
• Temp folder in Windows folder

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If you can get into Windows

• Clean off Spyware
• Use spyware removal software (Spybot, Adaware)
• Download from a clean machine to a USB drive
• Install spyware software and get updates
• Run spyware software
• If a great deal of spyware found run more than
  once
• Maybe asked to reboot
• If too much, maybe best to reload machine

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Once machine is clean you want to update machine

• Run Windows Update via web off Start Button
• Do not depend on Windows update program
• Run Custom not Express
• High Priority for security
• Software Hardware for smooth operation
• Run until no updates are listed
• Get latest device drivers from manufacturer
• Two types to concentrate on
• BIOS
• Follow manufacturer directions
• Do before upgrading the OS
• Video

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Stop unnecessary startup programs

• Open MSCONFIG
• Click Start button
• Click Run
• Type msconfig, click OK
• Click on startup tab
• Research via search engine to see if problem
  program
• Recheck after reboot to make sure turned off

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Security

• Check which accounts are on the machine
• Use Computer Management
• In Control Panel under Administrative Tools
• Look under Local Users and Groups
• Should only have a few Admin accounts
• Passwords should be Strong
• More than 8 characters
• Combination of upper and lower case letters mixed
  with numbers
• Check accounts in the Admin group

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Security

• Create non-Admin accounts
• Wont allow these accounts to install software
• Delete other accounts

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Finally

• Make sure Windows firewall is running or other
  installed firewall
• Run every 4-6 months
• Run a registry cleaner
• Run Scandisk/Error Checking Defrag Disk
  Cleanup
• Click My Computer
• Right click on HD icon
• Select Properties from menu
• Disk Cleanup is button in bottom right
• Click on Tools tab for Error Checking Defrag
• Have to do a reboot to actually run Error Checking

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Vista Some things the same some very different

• Hardware
• At least 1.5 GB of RAM (2 or more better)
• 3GHZ processor or more
• 256MB of Video RAM (best if dedicated)
• Versions
• Home Premium (missing some nice security features
• Business (missing some nice AV features)
• Ultimate (combination of Home premium Business)
• Look and Feel
• Aero
• Mini-displays on task bar
• Flip program

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Vista Some things the same some very different

• Searching
• Search text box off start button
• Search text box in many windows to limit view
• Parental Controls (not in business)
• Time limits
• Application limits
• Web site limits
• Game limits

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Vista Some things the same some very different

• Audio/Video
• Photo Gallery
• Movie Maker (not in business)
• DVD Maker (not in business)
• Email
• Calendar
• Contact Manager

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Links Mentioned

• Replace HD
• http//www.fonerbooks.com/r_hard.htm
• Windows reinstall
• Repair
• http//www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/inst
  allxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm
• Clean Install
• http//www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/sp2i
  nstallxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm
• System Restore
• http//bertk.mvps.org/
• Spyware
• Spybot - http//www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Des
  troy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?taglst-0-1
• Adaware - http//www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007/30
  00-8022_4-10695895.html?taglst-0-1
• Start Up Programs
• http//www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
• Registry
• CCleaner - http//www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2
  144_4-10669303.html?taglst-6-5

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Contact Information

• Greg Kawell
• Email
• gakawell_at_samford.edu
• Phone
• 205-726-2082