"user manual"
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1. C Most of your PC s heat is EA Voltages screenshot above right CPU VCORE 1152 V 1152 V 1384 V generated by its own components including the system p M He ele che i which is why the fan whirrs when specifications you ll EL W SOBA V as sage Y you re running lots of processes You need to know if you re aN 11 821 V 11 654 V 11877 V should only be concerned if your F VING 1 696 V LEES V 1 704 V i 5 hoping to upgrade to oo a THEY e processor CPU listed as CPUTIN under Windows 10 Eig Temperatures the Temperatures heading is hotter 7 SYSTIN i F 35 C 5 F c aw Pay particular attention pat ii i ka 5 k AER i than 75 C see screenshot left to the CPU section where AUXTIN 32 C EIA 31 C BIF 65 C 49A To cool things down avoid running you ll find checks and a ig E NE A lots of processes at once and don t add ratings for your PC s El AMD Athlon 1x4 640 to the problem by sticking your PC next processor and the Disk Ghaf Temperatures to a sun facing window or warm i Core 0 19 C 65 F 17 C 62 F 425 C 76 F section where you can aet 19 C 65 F 17 C 62 F 35 C 06 F radiator If you use a laptop mount it on discover any hot files Core 2 19 C 65 F 17 C 2 A 25 C GEA a USB powered laptop stand with a fan Core 3 19 C 65 F 17 C 62 F 25 C 76 F in the base You can get one for under 10 from Amazon www snipca com 16674 gt that2. Configure schedule To run a manual defrag at any time click Defragment disk You can set an automatic defrag in Windows XP too but it takes a bit more legwork Go to Scheduled Tasks in the oo aa click aN oor paces Filen name en click One Select Weekly then choose your defrag day enter your Windows login details if prompted and then save the scheduled defrag to your hard drive Don t attempt to defrag an SSD solid state drive It 1l do more harm than good If you decide to extend your PC s life by installing an SSD Windows will automatically switch off the scheduled defrag Double your PC s life Fite Action Wie Help Get a better boot defrag than Pr a na eo 72h T E aw Windows UltraDefrag has a portable version too but portable We Computer Management Local Mature Lajat Type File System Statics A boot defrag tidies up your PC s digital programs can t run es Maye ea eR Em eee data while the OS is starting so it s automatically when you fi Event Viewer more thorough than a normal defrag start your PC so they can t Gp Leal en and iu Windows 7 and 8 8 1 runs a boot defrag support boot defragging Riekeiacsh automatically every time you switch on your PC but it s not very good When a boot defrag is done properly it s too intensive to run every day Switch off the Windows boot defrag then use a third party tool to run a
3. are weighing down your hard drive Windows 7 has a bug c e Min Use HWMonitor to check that your processor and other components aren t overheating See your PC s hidden workload If your processor is over heating it s probably because too many programs and processes are running at the same time Computer processors are like people make them work too hard and they ll burn out First cut the number of processes that run automatically when you start Windows Our favourite free tool for doing this is Autoruns www snipca com 16681 On page 48 we offer Secret Tips for getting the best out of it including new automatic integration with VirusTotal see box below Next weed out the hidden processes that don t appear in Task Manager but grind away behind the scenes slowly wearing out your processor Some of these are system processes and DLLs that Microsoft doesn t want you to meddle with and others are deliberately hidden by software makers who use special code to make them invisible usually to prevent you stopping or deleting them by accident here s how they do it www snipca com 16700 That s useful in a way but it means you re not really in control of your processor s workload The quickest way to see all these processes is to run Process Explorer www snipca com 16697 which like Autoruns is a free portable tool made by Microsoft owned company Sysinternals You need to run Process Explorer as
4. proper boot defrag no more often than once a fortnight To disable the Windows boot defrag you ll need to edit the Registry Type regedit into Start Windows 7 or 8 8 1 and press Enter then navigate to HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Dfrg BootOptimizeFunction and change the Y yes enabled to N no disabled Then download the installable version of UltraDefrag www snipca com 16714 UltraDefrag is open source and properly free and never nags you to upgrade to a pro version unlike the better known Defraggler www snipca com 16713 UitraDetrag 6 1 0 Action Settings gs Help T Graphical interface H Enable Fit Language ria al sree Script Fiz Boot time scan b Set UltraDefrag to run when you boot Windows to keep your hard drive working well a E3 Stomge UltraDefrag s installer contains some tick boxes but they re not for adware just program components such as Context menu handler and crucially Boot In the program window click Settings and then Boot time scan to set up your defrag You can run UltraDefrag from the command line for minimal impact on your processor and OS Switch on a boot defrag using the command boot on and then switch it off with boot off There s a list of all available commands on the excellent UltraDefrag Handbook www snipca com 16715 For tips on running programs from the command lin
5. Double your PC s life Get a PC health report Before trying to extend your PC s life first find out how much life there is left in it You can get a full System Diagnostics Report also known as System Health Report in Windows without downloading any extra software The process is slightly different in each OS In Windows XP Vista or 7 open the Run box press Win R and type perfmon report include the space before the slash then click OK or press Enter The Performance and Resource Monitor opens and spends 60 seconds collecting data about your system s health and status The System Diagnostics Report then opens automatically In Windows 8 8 1 open Performance Monitor by typing perfmon into Start and pressing Enter Click Data Collector Sets on the left then System Right click the System Diagnostics folder and click Start A minute later your System Diagnostics Report will be available to view in the Reports System System Diagnostics folder This process is more cumbersome than in previous versions of Windows but it automatically saves all your reports in this folder In Windows XP Vista and 7 you have to save the report yourself by clicking File then Save As Whichever OS you re running the report contains Warnings at the top If your PC is ready for the knacker s yard here s where you ll see the bad news The rest of the report divides your PC s health diagnosis into sections including Hard
6. O TEH Google Chrome Google Inc 3972 Gooote Chrome Googe Inc 1584 Kaspersky Security Cerler N Kaspersky Lab ZAO 3932 Microsoft Ward Microsoft Corporation 552 Olent Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation 72 Host Process for Windows 5 Microsoft Corporation 408 Micmsot Windows Search L Micmesoft Corporation 2516 Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Corporation 2724 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation 1144 Host Procesa for Windows 5 Microsoft Corporation 3688 Host Process for Windows T Micrsoft Corporation 6 752 4 CPU Usage 13 35 Commit Charge 21 52 Processes 0 Physical Usage 36 83 Quickly see the hidden processes that are wearing out your processor with Process Explorer file then right click it and click Run as administrator A table of running processes will open instantly far quicker than Task Manager opens anyway It s a colourful affair with system services coloured pink and your own processes in blue Red processes only appear for a moment because Process Explorer identifies them as suspicious and stops them automatically You can customise your colours by clicking Options at the top of the window and selecting Configure Colors To quickly see which processes are making your PC work hardest click the CPU column heading twice Click View at the top of the window and then Show Lower Pane to see each process s hidden components including DLLs Stop and search running proce
7. Tools Help hana podat irtad oe iti noe repesniped L ifin aniiana pethat h ealaied ahd fenidlinsiny conligere Seriy Cente la up neg aiian Aua Chetki tai atin ited aa peie ii Checky iprit of Mabem perri a Busted network adapl r ie bie ihan ITE Lane heti E Discover potentially fatal PC errors and check components like your processor CPU and hard drive Disk in the System Diagnostics Report Charis ibne of Security Canter reem Bar of Windies Maagam ni lefeasiuiches suppceted dse Dak F by bese than TOO freed ete per second cen clink iW Tinaga Dwd Wenell CPA De E CFIA l d Eas 00 oo4 x ake DA aa ij a ali n5 a5 up to two years off a hard drive s life expectancy To check your PC s core temperature as well as the temperature of components such as the hard drive graphics card and processor run the free portable version of HWMonitor wwwsnipca com 16677 It also measures your fan speed so you can see how hard the fan is having to work to keep your PC s components cool Download the ZIP and extract its contents then click the 32bit or 64bit program file to run the appropriate program for your PC s configuration In the window that opens you ll see a table of temperatures voltages and other measurements Don t be alarmed if the figures Sensor Value Min Max view a wealth of B E MATTHEWL PC a look a lot higher than room temperature information see HH EE about 23
8. administrator to see all running processes Click Download Process Explorer save the ZIP and extract the EXE O Process Explorer Sysinternals www sysinternals com DENNIS jane hoskyn Fije HUETE py res el bree lj Be DOD Se e 86 65 OK Process E System idle Process _ Adobe Lightroom CEF Helperexe 4 01 11 844 K H lightroom exe 258 140 264 K LY procept exe 2 28 19 192 K E Internupts 0 55 OK PL ap exe 0 32 257 984 K E System 039 200 K E lsass exe 0 30 6 524 RK K apaw 0 17 10 168 K chrome exe 016 36 576 K amp chome ee 015 77 116 K z Kinagent exe 0 11 21 308 K W WINWORD EXE oT 24 924 K E cass exe 0 10 11 652 K lewohost axe 010 12 280 K 8 Searchindexer exe 0 05 46 176 K G OUTLOOK EXE 0 77 360 K gapos 0 04 33 784 K amp svchost exe 0 03 15 322 K a taskhost ence 0 02 8 628 K a4 ScuptLogic CEM UserExpenenc CPU Private Bytes Working Set PID 4460 K 16 544 K 16 200 K 42 356 K 119 668 K 53 540 K 18 200 K 20 280 K 36 244 134 264 K 54 856 K 19 636 K 14 440 K Description Company Name 24 K Q 16 432 K 1740 167 760 K 29 252 K 4328 Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Adobe Systems 1486 Sysintemals Process Eqplorer Sysintemais www syair OK n a Hardware intemupts and DPCs 1908 Kaspersky Endpoint Securty Kaspersky Lab ZAG 2 7112 K 4 608 Local Security Authonty Proc Micrsoft Comoration 3092 Kaspersky Endpoint Securty Kaspersky Lab ZA
9. alware checker VirusTotal https www virustotal com for a safety check before you run it If the scan result says Detection ration 0 57 the file is safe to run Portable programs can even help your old Windows XP PC live longer You mustn t go online using XP of course because Microsoft no longer keeps it safe However you can run a portable program on an XP PC after downloading it using a Windows 7 or 8 8 1PC and then transferring the program file to a USB stick Scan both the program file and the USB stick for malware first Double your PC s life 11 140 K 1528 Host Process 6 636 K 2284 Host Process 5314K 2020K R Hame HELM SOFTWARE cmr Windows NT Currert Vermon Perbiwid Storage HELMS YS TEM Control Set 00 1 Control Fower Poveer Sating HELM HALM Close Handie Propesties HALIA eevee sore HKLM SOFTWARE Pobcies HELM SOF TW ARE Pokies 7 ee cpu Usage 799 Commit Charge z 0 Processes 63 Physical Usage 3542 i Select Close Handle in Process Explorer to close a process that s in use Google right click it and click Search Online You can now do this in Task Manager in Windows 8 8 1 but Process Explorer is faster Click Check VirusTotal in the right click menu to run it through the VirusTotal database To stop any process including processes you can t stop or even see in Tas
10. an extend a laptop s lifespan using the software tips in this feature and by keeping it well ventilated st Dirk Management B Seraces and Spphcations 65 76 GH NTFS at Online Healthy Systern Boot Pa Open Explore CD ROM Q DWE eh Change Drive Letter and Paths Ho feledia BB nested W Primary partition Shrink Volume Use the built in Computer Management tool to shrink and partition your hard drive If on the other hand your hard drive is still in good nick and you want to ensure it lasts as long as possible partition it This means you divide the single drive into multiple partitions or volumes that work separately from each other If you Keep your OS and programs on one partition and move all your space hogging personal files videos photos documents and so on on to another partition your OS will boot and work much faster as a result This in turn frees up your processor and memory to work better move faster and live longer You can also set up an emergency partition that contains a stripped down copy of Windows a few security tools and your licence information Then if your system conks out unexpectedly you can use the emergency partition to salvage your computer First back up all your important data The partitioning process shouldn t delete any files but backing up is a good habit to get into when working with your hard drive Next type computer into Start Windows 7 and 8 8 1
11. and click Computer Management in the results Click Disk Management on the left to see a list of your existing drives including C where your OS should always be and any existing partitions Right click a drive that contains free storage space select Shrink Volume and wait a minute for the wizard to open then enter roughly the amount of space you want to free up for the new partition The cleared space should then show up in the Disk Management window as Unallocated Space with the black bar across the top Right click it select New Simple Volume and click through the remaining steps of the wizard The steps are explained in full on Microsoft s site www snipca com 16719 Double your PC s life 1 Install an SSD Cost 50 100 Years added to your PC s life 5 SSDs solid state drives are getting plenty of attention not least in the pages of Computeractive see Issue 443 for a step by step guide to fitting one The fuss is deserved because an SSD is the best and best value for money hardware upgrade you can give your PC SSDs replace mechanical hard drives like the one that s gradually falling to bits inside your computer Mechanical hard drives are extremely fragile but SSDs are built to last they really are solid and they re much much faster They also help your processor survive longer by making it work less hard Cemas jeden GTX PUI Aare teats thee IDL prr ory phere 106 bas be
12. ck Terminator Also use AdwCleaner www snipca com 16710 and Malwarebytes Chises the process handed WI Sends the Wim TI T eninabes the poces in kernelaeode P fa Re FR GS FS PGs fy PE a a Fa Pa a r E Gvchostexe BUsechostexe tA Sen 5 ores CPU Usage 572 a Phatal Merman 38 32 Processes DI fenmnmabes the process threads faltematve method Sends the AM DESIRTOY message bo the process ii WE Sends the WM QUM message to fe process windows CLOSE message tothe process yer sky Endpoint Security L as ll PTE EEM rye Tli Aggie lhe poies to a pb object anid bamnat s i z WI Debugs the pocesrond closes the debug omeri Termites he process Hrest r berne mode m4 Terninates the process Greads using a dangers k MiL Virites garbage to the process memory regiang Sete the page protection af the process memory reg Run Selected JE Process Hacker DENNIS jans hoskyn MAdrrinatratar E Ki ll E processes Ey Refresh TF Options Gare ar Proceppes CE e pP that other tit A Termi eve 1856 TS Servis Netw Tanninater chrome 4558 software Mame Double click a terminabon method or dick Run Selected Ppisa can t stop System kile it Descaiation using i interrupts an TI Terminates the procesas using NiTerminateProcess Sots and OPCs Process TPI Crashes 6 re
13. e using Command Prompt see Microsoft s website www snipca com 16716 Double your hard drive s life with a partition The most dramatic ways to improve your PC s lifespan depend on what state the hard drive is in If it s a mess making horrible noises like these www snipca com 16718 and corrupting your files then wipe it or replace it Our cover feature in Issue 444 explained how to wipe your hard drive and re install Windows On the next page we ll offer tips on upgrading to a new drive You laptop has three lives the lifespan of the computer itself the lifespan of the battery before it has to be replaced and the somewhat shorter life of the battery before it runs down and needs plugging in Here s how to keep them all going BATTERY LIFE Your laptop s display gobbles up a disproportionate amount of battery life so reduce screen brightness and set the display to turn off after a few minutes Disable Bluetooth and if not needed Wi Fi BATTERY LIFESPAN Treat the battery well and you can get hundreds or even thousands of charges from it www snipca com 16720 Avoid letting it run down to O per cent and calibrate it every couple of months see more tips at www snipca com 16738 LAPTOP LIFESPAN Laptops are harder to upgrade than desktops and their portability can be their downfall hard drives tend not to survive being dropped on the kitchen floor That said you c
14. k Manager right click it and click Kill Process If you see a Windows error message saying the file or folder is in use and therefore can t be stopped or deleted Process Explorer can help you there too Click Find at the top of the window then Find a Handle or DLL Type the name of the file or folder that Windows won t let you stop and Process Explorer will tell you which process is locking the file To remove the lock click the stubborn process and find the troublesome DLL in the window at the bottom make sure Show Lower Pane is ticked in the View menu Right click the DLL and then click Close Handle Stop rootkits killing your PC If you can t manage to kill a process in Process Explorer even after tracking down and unlocking DLLs it may be a rootkit Rootkits are malicious processes designed to run undetected by security tools and resist any attempts to stop or delete them If a rootkit has infected your PC it will send your processor to an early grave To root out rootkits use the new version of Process Hacker www snipca com 16701 This free open source tool sounds and looks like Process Explorer and acts like it up to a point but its more complicated there s a lot more colour coding for a start and can remove processes that won t EA Schedule Current statis Disk ae CH Wy Disk Defragmenter Disk Defra amen Wer console PONS a
15. mot threed in he process whic termin AE E H k E chomesre TTI Terminates the pogess threads Chrome i acKer s 5 services ere TT Meodfesthe proces threads wath contexts which tE Ess and Controller app Terminator This Tetmninabes the process using NiTerminaleProcess jal FOP Windows Manager Tila ferme Ge tool ny EPH PServer Runtime Process recess for Windows Ser Process for Windows Ser Par Sesion Manager Service Use Windows Disk Defragmenter tool to set or change an automatic defrag Anti Malware Free wwwsnipca com 16711 for quick automatic malware scans that help you stop dodgy processes from working your processor memory and OS to death Defrag automatically even in Windows XP Remember defragging Defragmenting as it s properly and tongue twistingly called used to be an essential part of PC maintenance In Windows XP and earlier you had to defrag your hard drive to clear the digital junk that got left behind after you deleted files or moved them around It was like hovering the floor after tidying a room Windows 7 and 8 8 1 now defrag automatically unless you ve got an SSD we ll come to that in a minute The defrag is usually set to run in the middle of the night every Wednesday see screenshot above You can change the oe in tie Disk Defragmenter tool de nenter into Start and press Enter e click
16. nsive upgrade that only really makes a difference to your PC s speed and lifespan if its RAM was on the measly side to begin with Check your System Diagnostics Report page 51 to see how much you ve got If it s under 1GB install a new 4GB stick of RAM DDR3 or DDR4 for best results There s a selection on Amazon www snipca com 16737 5 New graphics card Cost 40 80 Years added 3 Don t blame your processor if your PC struggles to play videos smoothly You probably just need a new graphics card GPU Newer PCI 3 0 cards are backwards compatible Check your PC s power connections 6 pin or 8 pin before you buy As with all the upgrades we ve mentioned don t Shell out until you ve checked your PC s user manual If you ve lost it find a free copy at Manuals Online www manualsonline com J
17. ore GHz MB cache It s needlessly confusing Higher numbers basically mean more power Old processors had one core new processors have two dual core from 50 or four quad core 100 200 Processors for show offs have eight cores or even 12 but diminishing returns set in after four Dual core is enough for most of us and quad core if you re that video loving multi tasker The GHz number is the clock speed Between 2 and 3GHz is fine for most uses The cache size matters if again you use lots of programs at once go for 3MB or more We ve narrowed down the selection on Amazon to give you an idea www snipca com 16736 A dual core Intel processor can make your PC work like new for under 50 Find your PC s user manual on free website Manuals Online 3 New optical drive Cost 10 40 Years added 3 Does your PC s DVD CD optical drive still work You may not know or care but that drive will suddenly be invaluable when you need to re install Windows or other software from a disc Optical drives are cheap www snipca com 16732 and easy to replace If you can spend a few extra pounds on a drive that lets you watch and record write to Blu ray as well as DVD and CD and does so quickly 24x That way you can use your PC as a TV recorder and Blu ray player just by adding a Scart cable 4 More RAM Cost 20 40 Years added 1 RAM memory is an inexpe
18. r Do d files on your computer s hard disk to improve syam perfarmance T r Defragment Scheduled defragmentation ls turned on Run at 01200 every Wednesday Nest scheduled rur 03 06 2015 02 17 Only disks that can be defragmented are shawn To best determine if your disks need defragmenting nght now you need ta first anatyze pour disks Sy Configure schedule Last Run 07701 2015 92 10 10 fragmented Progress Defragment disk ad Analyze disk Close budge in any other program Process Hacker works in all versions of Windows from XP to 8 1 and comes in portable and installable versions To get the portable program click Binaries portable save the ZIP extract its contents and click the x86 folder if your PC is 32bit or x64 if it s 64bit The fact that the numbers don t tally is an annoying Windows quirk Here s how to find out which version you ve got www snipca com 16702 Run the program file ProcessHacker exe as administrator Click View then untick Update Automatically to stop the processes constantly changing in the window Now you can investigate each one in your own time The right click menu is much bigger than in Process Explorer with options to search on several virus databases and even run a process in a virtual machine For an array of file killing options click Miscellaneous in the right click menu and then cli
19. sses Process Explorer gives you plenty of information about all your PC s running processes Right click and click Properties to see detailed information about the item s CPU and memory usage You can even see how hard all these processes are making your graphics card GPU work click View at the top of the program window and select System Information To run an instant search of a process in WHY PORTABLE PROGRAMS ARE GOOD FOR YOUR PC Most of the third party tools we mention in this feature are portable Some such as HWMonitor and Process Hacker see page 53 also have installable versions Installable software has the advantage of updating automatically and can be set to run when you start Windows but it also fills your hard drive and Registry with files that build up over the years and can hasten your computer s demise System monitoring tools and PC health checkers are not the kind of tools you need to run every day Run the portable version of HWMonitor for example and then delete it from your PC When you want to run it or any other portable tool again at some vrus Dotel Ss s fee seice that onalyzes aueplolous files and URLs and fecilitabes ihe quick detection of vinses worms imans and all kine s of malware later date simply download the latest version Always use the latest version of any portable tool because old versions may be unsafe Upload a portable program file to the free online m
20. wa running Corsair s SSD Toolbox You can get a decent SSD for under 50 wwwsnipca com 16724 but it won t have much storage space 200GB if you re lucky High capacity SSDs are disproportionately expensive 300 for a 1TB drive No thanks but you don t need one of those Instead install a relatively low capacity SSD as your main hard drive for your OS and programs and keep your personal data photos and so on on external hard drives You can buy a 2TB external drive for around 60 www snipca com 16731 SSDs are easy to install in Windows 7 or later and not impossible to fit in an old XP or Vista computer You ll need to disable Windows defrag tools and use a Trim tool to optimise the drive Trim is built into Windows 7 and 8 8 1 in XP and Vista you ll need a third party Trim tool such as Corsair s free SSD Toolbox www snipca com 16727 Before you go anywhere near your hard drive or try any of these upgrades back up all your data so you may want to buy in more than one of these external drives 2 New processor Cost 40 100 Years added 5 Processors vary widely in price Its JS not a simple iS matter of getting what you pay for it depends how you use your PC If you re a congenital multi tasker and love editing video a cheap processor is a false economy Conversely the latest eight core 4GHZz 8MB cache processor is a total waste of money if you only use your PC for emails C
21. ware Configuration Disk hard drive and Memory Click the small arrows at the right of the window to open each section and CPLID HWMonitor Syrtem Diagnostics Report Computer MATRA Cotbed I7 Play BS ah Durata BH Ganon Diagnestle Resulta Warnings Infermatianal a Erg Secutey Camber Past oo recoded pi artisan product Couns Thir Serwa y Center ip neble to tdeniitp an ect anise appicaiion fiiherthene is ra am Besout L bery heke iniia produt iy intilef Rela led Bails Syeient Checks Tests Recut Baud D Peet Poul Peed O Pred Dew ipiion EE pi its En lik Dhecky FF Sec iiy Tiia Teil jE abem berre Cheech mage Om i AH Checks fordrar Resource Overview omic hahuy CAfiratics Deisi CPU O idk IE Lew CPU nad 1 Abeba rh lilt 1 Het D hir iliret Mimir feral ke TSM ME avalible Sofware Configuration Hardware Canfigguration epu Preciai Image Stativtcs that prevents your antivirus being recognised by your report under Informational below Warnings It ll tell you your antivirus isn t enabled even if it is To solve this download the free Microsoft Hotfix www snipca com 16678 Take your PC s temperature You may be happy that summer s here but your PC probably isn t Hot components age faster Last year UK science group National Instruments www snipca com 16680 found that an increase of 5 degrees Celsius C can take File View
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