Keep That New PC Clean and Pure
A new PC, whether you know it or not, may well have freed you from many malicious programs that steal credit card numbers and other valuable information or otherwise obstruct your safe and private use of the Internet.
You want to keep that new PC clean from virus’s and other nasty software. Starting with Windows XP SP2, Microsoft included a firewall which prevents certain traffic on the Internet from reaching your PC. Security suites include anti-virus, anti spyware and other software programs in a single package to provide protection. An article in the New York Times Personal Tech section discusses all this and more.
If you have questions or need assistance with any type of security issue or software, head on over to Top PC Support and give us a call. We’re here to help!
I’ve always found that new PCs don’t stay clean for too long even if you install all of the necessary security programs. Whether it’s temporary files, downloads, cookies, registry issues or malicious files/programs something always slows you down. I always re-format every 3-5 months. I know it’s can be a chore but if you have everything in order it can make the process a lot less painful.
Most of the files you describe can be cleaned up with a good registry cleaner, such as CCleaner. While I was a big fan of the “reformat” process years ago, now that Windows and applications keep pieces of the app in different areas (registry, Program Files, ProgramData and AppData folders, it is much more of a pain to reformat, because then you need to reinstall all applications. If you performed a backup and then restore after the format, you are just restoring all the “bad” files.