[MachManX]

Even though I consider myself an advanced user, I may as well ask the big question to the other experts around here:  Is there a program(s) to keep Windows running as fast as the day you installed the OS after 1+ years of use?  And don't give me the "Format and Install" answer, because I already do that.  I'm asking about programs that run in Windows.

Sometimes, certain programs you install break functionality of Windows, whether it's the BSOD or super-slow response of the OS.  This brings me to my next question: Is there a program(s) that let you restore functionality of Windows to 100% after a program breaks functionality?  (System Restore sucks)

[Jeff Vader]

Is there a program(s) to keep Windows running as fast as the day you installed the OS after 1+ years of use?  And don't give me the "Format and Install" answer, because I already do that.  I'm asking about programs that run in Windows.

- Virus scan (avast!)
- Malware scan (Spybot, Ad-Aware)
- Registry cleanup (Wise Registry Cleaner)
- Pointless **** cleanup (Wise Disk Cleaner)
- Defrag (Smart Defrag)

Those are the things I'd do, and the programs in brackets are what I use. There are other options for each one and I'm sure many of them are awesome too, but those are the ones I've found out to be quite working and reliable.

[MachManX]

- Pointless **** cleanup (Wise Disk Cleaner)

WOO! That made me LOL Hard!    Never knew they had an app for that

Still, I want perfection, literally as fast as the day it was installed

[Jeff Vader]

- Pointless **** cleanup (Wise Disk Cleaner)

WOO! That made me LOL Hard!    Never knew they had an app for that

Pointless ****, as in temp files and other crap that tends to pile up on the HDD and isn't actually used for anything.

Still, I want perfection, literally as fast as the day it was installed

There is no perfection in the world. Those things have provided some really good results for me, my family, my friends and certain acquaintances. But if you want your OS to be like it was installed 5 minutes ago, you really have to reinstall your OS and wait for 5 minutes.

[Fury]

Eh? You want to know the most reliable way of keeping your system at its peak? Easy answer. Think twice what you do. Just like you don't fill your car's gas tank with diesel, or vice versa if you have a diesel car.

If useless left over junk is a virus or malware and a cleaner app is anti-virus app, then the best cure against such junk is not to install them in the first place. Personally I don't give two ****s about any cleaner apps. And usually any performance gain is just a placebo effect. When running such an app really gives a tangible performance improvement, it means you did something wrong. Not even regular defrag gives you the performance improvement you think it does.

Just find yourself the anti-virus and anti-malware app that uses least system resources and is yet effective. MS Security Essentials does both in one package without being bloated or hard on resources. One of the few good things MS has done through corporate buy-outs. http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

If you're still using XP or older, upgrade to Win7. Or move to linux.

[Jeff Vader]

If you really want to squeeze performance, skip antivirus/antimalware altogether. Get a decent software firewall (or if you aren't moving your computer and are behind a hardware firewall, use that), keep the OS and your programs up to date, use common sense on the Internet and bam: everything works. That's what I do on my netbook. Well ok, I do have Spybot, but I rarely run it, and when I do, it finds nothing.

[MachManX]

Well currently, I simply reinstall Windows + apps like every 5 months or so, depending on how slow the OS has gotten.  Just trying to see if there's a better solution than doing the above every 5 months (not that it's a bother to me, but could help less tech savvy ppl I know -- which means they won't be bugging me for a tune-up  )

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Been running this machine for around 8 years now.  Still as fast as ever.  Anti-virus installed but I do manual scans.  Spybot again nothing resident loaded.  Older version of AdAware also nothing resident (why I don't upgrade it).  Simple firewall and that's it.  Rest of the rules are don't install crap you aren't going to use or only use once.  Don't install anything that isn't from a reliable source.  Keep everything that isn't essential from running in the background.  Oh and only use IE for updates.  Firefox and Thunderbird. 

Same rules on my other machines except for special use ones that do have active anti-virus. 

[headdie]

The only way to keep your computer as fast as the moment you install it is to never go on the internet and never install a program. 

The problem in most cases is that installing games, utility's, office type programs or any other program is that to work they need to add entries to OS files and additional files to the OS which need to be read whenever bootingthe system in many cases and the related processes need terminating safely while shutting down the system.

Also these entrys and files are in use while the program is starting/running/terminating, this includes all the little icons in the bottom right of your start bar next to the clock and its equivalent in other non windows OS, this all uses memory and cpu and just a few icons down there can make a huge difference, and dont give me the **** about it dont matter on new systems, the load of these programs has increased along with the available resources just like any other program.

In addition to all the mentioned above not all programs terminate cleanly leaving junk in memory and when uninstalled many leave the odd file and file entry in the operating system which still get read wasting memory and processor cycles

[MP-Ryan]

If you really want to squeeze performance, skip antivirus/antimalware altogether.

Not recommended.  Recent exploits in Flash have proven that it is not actually necessary to do anything more than browse the web to pick up malware, even with a good firewall and sticking to reputable websites.  Anyone running a Windows OS connected to the internet should have an AV package - I recommend Avast or MSE - and a decent router with NAT (and preferably SPI) enabled.

[Flipside]

I'll pause Anti-Virus if I'm running a system intensive program, where every cycle counts, but that's about it, I certainly wouldn't recommend going without them entirely, and they aren't the resource hogs they used to be.

You'll never quite stop the system from accumulating drag over time, all you can really do is try to keep all the plates spinning as best you can, and keep things as clean as possible, but, seeing as I spent until 1am this morning fixing a friends computer whose Registry-Cleaner had managed to clean a load of boot and product-key details off his computer, it's also possible to go too far.

[Turambar]

delete Windows/system32

it will really speed things up.

[Kosh]

The 100% way of keeping windows fast and functional is to not use it for anything.

[jr2]

Use Norton Ghost or an equivalent (Partimage Is Not Ghost aka PING)... Clean install, get it just the way you want it.  Make an image and back the image up to a DVD, dual-layer DVD, or external hard disk.  When things go south, restore from the image... 20-30 minutes tops usually, and everything is precisely back the way it was when you created the image.  

EDIT: http://ping.windowsdream.com/

[Turambar]

don't use anything made by symantec.  there are free, faster, better alternatives for every single one of their programs.  back when i was in the dorms and people would come to me cause their laptops were slow, no.1 solution is to remove whatever norton bull**** came installed and replace it with antivir or avast and spybot search and destroy.

[jr2]

Norton Ghost is, however, an excellent program.  Although ofc you should use the free, open version, PING.

PowerQuest
At the end of 2003, Symantec acquired its largest competition, PowerQuest. On August 2, 2004, Norton Ghost 9.0 was released as a new consumer version of Ghost, which was based on PowerQuest's Drive Image version 7, and provided Live imaging of a Windows system. Ghost 9 continued to leverage the PowerQuest file format, meaning it wasn't backward compatible with previous versions of Ghost. However, a version of Ghost 8.0 was included on the Ghost 9 recovery disk to support existing Ghost customers.

EDIT: I'll second what you said for the rest of Symantec software, however.  Absolute crap. 

[ChaosityZ]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned using virtualization yet.
I have my base computer running Win7 with all the games install, but I only surf the net using a Virtual PC running WinXP.
If the Virtual gets a virus or malware, you simply reboot the Virtual PC and delete changes.  (undo disks).
Never have to worry about it slowing down or changing the state, and can stay exactly the same year after year.

[Jeff Vader]

Not recommended.  Recent exploits in Flash have proven that it is not actually necessary to do anything more than browse the web to pick up malware, even with a good firewall and sticking to reputable websites.  Anyone running a Windows OS connected to the internet should have an AV package - I recommend Avast or MSE - and a decent router with NAT (and preferably SPI) enabled.

Well yeah, but in my personal scenario

That's what I do on my netbook.

The main issues are that
- I want to maximize the time I can go with battery alone
- I don't want any extra programs doing their weird **** in the background, hogging all my Atom power
- I'd really prefer not having to carry a decent router plus a generator/battery for it when I'm on the move. Which is most of the time, when speaking of my netbook usage.

The "desktop" (well ok, a laptop, but the one I never move and that has some processing power) is an entirely different matter and I happily run avast! on it.

Also, an antivirus is yet another program. Programs can have bugs, security holes and whatnot. And since antivirus software counts as a program, it can also have those. We saw a highly invigorating demonstration last spring, where an antivirus *cough*f-secure*cough* was put to test. A file was created. It was constructed so that the scanner would encounter an error while scanning it. After that file (in terms of scanning order), there was an actual malware program. The antivirus was set to scan the files. It scanned the erroneous file and encountered an error. Did the antivirus crash? No. Did it report that there was an error? No. That would be bad business. Who wants an antivirus that encounters errors while scanning. The scanner simply kept quiet and continued its business. As an interesting side effect of the erroneous file, the scanner completely failed to discover that there was an actual malware right after that. So yeah.

don't use anything made by symantec.  there are free, faster, better alternatives for every single one of their programs.  back when i was in the dorms and people would come to me cause their laptops were slow, no.1 solution is to remove whatever norton bull**** came installed and replace it with antivir or avast and spybot search and destroy.

Replacing the words "symantec" and "norton" with "F-Secure" would produce an equally accurate and true post.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

I also do the Ghost thing but have only ever had to restore after a hardware failure not due to any windows issues.  I like to do quarterly and back up the entire drive.  Takes longer then 20-30 minutes more like anywhere between 2 and 10 hours but it's worth it. 

[Klaustrophobia]

i've been running mine for almost 3 years now with no noticeable degredation in performance.  i use AVG, spybot, ad-aware, and i have malwarebytes and super anti-spyware, though i rarely use those two.  regularly visit windows update, use spybot's immunize, defrag after every major install or driver update.  i currently have ad-aware's process protection on but i'll probably turn it off as it has never caught anything as far as i'm aware.  semi-regular CCleaner file/registry scans.  really the most important thing is just don't install stuff you don't need.  check your clicks on the internet, always custom install to make sure they aren't sneaking in bloat.  and for the record, i use IE.