The computer, after a certain period of use, begins to work more slowly and to show signs of impatience when heavier programs are run. The fact is that, by installing and removing programs and then browsing the internet, many files are added which, often, remain on the hard disk even if they are no longer useful.
Also, using the computer, it is normal for there to be errors, for viruses or malware to enter, to crash by rebooting by itself or for some programs to suddenly stop working.
In essence, a Windows PC is a machine that needs regular maintenance if you want it to always be quick to respond as if it were new .
But the computer is a means of work, therefore, the problem for many is that there is absolutely no desire to waste time putting the PC on purpose and one often forgets to take care of it.
The ideal thing is therefore to automate the maintenance of the computer, so that all operations are scheduled and start on their own, maybe at night ..
To automate the most important maintenance tasks in XP, Vista and Windows 7 and keep your PC looking like new, you can follow these practical indications.
First of all it must be said that, to automate any operation or program in Windows 7 8 and 10, you can use the scheduler (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools) while on Windows XP it is called Scheduled operations .
Alternatively, an easier external program can be used to run timer programs, files and commands.
As written in the past, the 4 basic operations to optimize the computer and keep it clean and fast: disable programs from automatic startup, uninstall unnecessary programs and update those present, defragment and clean the hard disk, make a regular backup.
Among these operations you can automate the cleaning of the hard disk so as to always have space and get rid of old files that are no longer needed.
To program the Disk Cleanup you must add, as a basic activity, the command: C: \ Windows \ system32 \ cleanmgr.exe putting, optionally, as argument / sageset: 1 that allows you to do the complete disk cleanup.
Alternatively, you can instead schedule automatic cleaning on Windows with Ccleaner .
In this case you can add as a basic activity in the activity planning tool: C: \ Program Files \ CCleaner \ CCleaner.exe giving as argument / AUTO .
Other programs to do computer maintenance and clean the disk and registry keys are Comodo System Cleaner and IOBit SystemCare similar to TuneUp.
Disk defragmentation, which can be done with different programs to defragment, can be scheduled from the settings of those programs.
Even using the defragmentation utility on Windows 7 and Vista, you can run the schedule by clicking the relevant configuration button.
On Windows XP instead you have to use the scheduled operations tool and enter, as a command, C: \ Windows \ system32 \ defrag.exe C:
Since defragmentation is a very long procedure, it is better to do it at night.
If there are multiple disks or partitions on the computer, it is better to defragment the hard disks separately, on different days.
To automate backups, using Windows 7, there is the internal backup and restore utility that you can easily configure to create a system image and perform incremental backup every week.
Keeping a backup copy is not only important if you make mistakes or if you delete important data but, above all, it is important to know that, even if the computer breaks, you can always restore all the files on another PC.
On Windows XP, on the other hand, you need to use an external program which, of course, you can configure to copy the data automatically and regularly.
The best backup programs and those to clone the disk are listed on another page.
Automating Disk Control does not make much sense because scandisk cannot be done with the computer turned on and then it is not necessary.
Windows also automatically detects when the drive has problems that require the scandisk to start, but still manually running it every now and then is always good.
To manually activate a disk check (checkDisk) you need to right-click on the local disk, select Properties, go to the Tools tab, then from Error Checking, click on the Check now button.
You then need to check the two items, press OK and restart the computer.
In another article you can deepen the discussion on disk error checking with scandisk.
On Windows it is also important to automate updates, not only those of the operating system but also those of the programs installed on the computer.
Windows updates are automatically installed by default, but if this does not happen, automatic updates must be configured from the Windows Update in the Control Panel.
To update the programs instead I recommend the use of Secunia PC Inspector because it checks if there are updates and security patches.
In computer maintenance, it is also important to keep external device drivers under control by using some automatic driver update programs.
Finally, do not forget to allow the antivirus to update itself automatically and, from its configuration settings, schedule at least one weekly check with antivirus scan .
I believe that after setting up all these maintenance activities, the computer should really always remain in great shape, fast and error free.
