System Maintenance

If you have had your computer serviced recently by Custom Computers or have recently purchased a Custom Computers built computer system, we have installed a set of programs to maintain your computer operating system’s health. These tools can be found within two folders located on your desktop called, AntiSpyware and System Maintenance. They are provided as a service to you to help you keep your computer in a well running state. It is important to follow the below instructions if you want to keep your computer running optimally and prevent future spyware/virus outbreaks.

These tools and instructions are the equivalent of an oil change for a vehicle. If you don’t do them regularly, it will be highly likely to have a future computer breakdown. Everyone seems to understand that you must change the oil in your vehicle regularly as well as the consequences if you do not do the simple maintenance. This same theory applies to computers in this day and age. It seams that with computers as well as cars, they are a necessity in our lives and when they fail, it always seems to be at the most in opportune time possible. These simple measures of preventative maintenance will help reduce the chances of future computer failure do to virus and spyware problems and keep your computer running optimally.

We understand that not everyone understands how to maintain a computer and what steps need to be taken. We also understand that this may seem like a complicated task to those who are not computer savvy so we have not only just installed the set of tools needed to maintain your computer but we have documented the procedure in an easy to follow, step by step fashion so that anyone despite the level of computer knowledge is empowered with the technical ability to maintain their system and prevent future problems. Doing so will not only save you money by reducing the chances of a stop at the computer repair center but will also keep your computer running well, prevent down time, save you personal time and enhance your computer experience. Without fighting through pop-up advertisements, inappropriate pop-ups, application crashes, system reboots, internet and system slow downs, you are left with the simple ability to enjoy using your computer.

AntiSpyware Tools Folder

Windows Defender - This is a free spyware protection and removal tool from Microsoft that has real time protection, automatic update and scheduled scanning ability and is only available on Windows 2000 and XP. Windows 98 and ME users will not have this product on their system. By default, it is set to run a daily scan at 2:00am, remove any spyware it finds, realtime protection is enabled and it also updates itself when you are online. If all the default settings are used, it does not require any user interaction and you do not have to run this program weekly.

 - Make sure you are connected to the internet.
 - Open the Microsoft Windows Defender program.
 - On the upper middle, click the drop down menu for the help Icon, click "About Windows Defender"
 - Allow updates to finish, click "scan", located at the top of the screen then "full SCAN".
 - Allow scan to finish, if it finds anything, change all "Quarantine" or "Ignore" selections to "Remove".
 - Click "next" to remove.
 - Close program and move to the next.

NOTE:  If you leave this program on overnight, it will check for updates (provided there is an internet connection available)
and run at 2am.

Ad-Aware Personal Edition - This is a free spyware detection and removal tool that does indeed require the user to run it manually. It is capable of detecting and removing spyware. This application should be updated and run on a weekly basis for the best possibility of trouble free computing. Here is the step by step directions for using Ad-Aware Personal Edition 1.06:
 - Connect to the internet.
 - Launch the program from the shortcut with the antispyware tools folder.
 - Click on Check For Updates Now
 - Click on The Connect Button to check for an update.
 - Click the OK button to download the update or exit if an update is not available.
 - Click the Finish button.
 - Click the Start button.
 - Click the Next button and the system scan will begin.
 - When complete you will see the details of the scan, click the Next button.
 - This page will show you all items that were detected, put a check in the box next to all items found.
 - Click the Next button and you will be prompted to remove the items, click the OK button.
 - When complete, you will be returned to the start page, close Ad-Aware.
 - Repeat this process once per week.

Spybot Search and Destroy - This is a free spyware detection and removal tool that does indeed require the user to run it manually. It is capable of detecting and removing spyware. This application should be updated and run on a weekly basis for the best possibility of trouble free computing. Here is the step by step directions for using Spybot Version 1.4:
 - Connect to the internet.
 - Launch the program from the shortcut with the antispyware tools folder.
 - Click on Search For Updates
 - Put a check in the box next to each of the available updates on the list.
 - Click on Download Updates and the updates will download and install
 - Click on Search and Destroy
 - Click on Check For Problems and the system scan will begin.
 - When the scan is complete, it will display a list of the spyware items found.
 - Put a check in the box next to all items on the list.
 - Click on Fix Selected Problems
 - You will be asked if you want to remove these items, click Yes.
 - Spybot will remove the spyware items that were found.
 - Spybot will report the number of items that were removed. Click Yes and close Spybot.
 - Repeat this process once per week.

Spyware Blaster - This is a free spyware prevention tool that attempts to permanently block known spyware, spyware related websites and components of known spyware.
 - Connect to the internet.
 - Launch the program from the shortcut with the antispyware tools folder.
 - Click on the Updates button on the left hand side navigation bar
 - Click on the Check For Updates Button
 - If any updates are available, they will be downloaded

Ewido - This is a free spyware detection and removal tool that does indeed require the user to run it manually. It is capable of detecting and removing spyware. This application should be updated and run on a weekly basis for the best possibility of trouble free computing. Here is the step by step directions for using Ewido:
 - Connect to the internet.
 - Launch the program from the shortcut with the antispyware tools folder
 - Click on the Update button on the top toolbar
 - Click on the Start Update button and the update will begin
 - When completed, click on the Scanner button on the top toolbar
 - Click on the the Complete System Scan
 - If spyware items are found, click on the Remove All button
 - Otherwise close the program

SpySweeper - This is a free spyware scanning tool only. It will scan your computer and report any spyware found but will not reomve spyware. This application should be run duringg the week maintenance routine to assess your system for spyware. Here is the step by step instruction for using SpySweeper:
 - Launch the program from the shortcut with the antispyware tools folder
 - Click on the start sweep button and the scan will begin
 - When completed the program will report any spyware that is found
 - This report can be used by our tech support staff to assess what action is required

The rest of the tools in the AntiSpyware folder are specific removal tools or security tools and are not required to be run on a regular basis.

System Maintenance Folder

Within the system maintenance folder we have a set of tools that will clean up and optimize the information that is stored on the hard drive.

CCLEANER - This program cleans up the hard drive by removing the temporary internet files, temporary system files, internet history logs, system history logs, recently opened document logs, recently visited web sites, and other temporary files. To use this program follow these steps:

 - Open the System Maintenance folder on the desktop
 - Double click on the CCleaner icon and the program will open
 - Click on the Run cleaner button in the lower right hand corner of the window
 - When the process is complete, it will display the details of what it removed
 - Click the Exit button in the upper right hand corner of the window

CleanUp - This program cleans up the hard drive by removing the temporary internet files, temporary system files, internet history logs, system history logs, recently opened document logs, recently visited web sites, and other temporary files. To use this program follow these steps:

 - Open the System Maintenance folder on the desktop
 - Double click on the CleanUp icon and the program will open
 - Click on the CleanUp button on the right hand side of the window
 - As the process takes place, it displays the details of what it removed
 - Click the Close button on the right hand side of the window

Diskeeper - This program is a disk defragmenting tool that outperforms the tool that is provide by Microsoft with the Windows operating system. Diskeeper will optimize the information that is stored on your hard drive. Over time, information becomes scattered around your hard drive or fragmented. This happens as new programs are installed, old programs are removed and new files are saved. Because the information is not in any logical order and scattered it takes longer to access and retrieve the files causing the system to perform slower. Defragmenting of the hard drive is the moving of data to the front of the hard drive where it can be accessed the fastest and aligning the information in an order that puts the most frequently used system and program files towards the front so they can be accessed fastest. To use Diskeeper follow these instructions:

 - Open the System Maintenance folder on the desktop
 - Double click on the Diskeeper icon and the program will open
 - The free version of Diskeeper opens a popup screen that asks you to buy the full version of the program and if this program works well for you and you would like the ability to schedule automatic defragmentation, you should purchase it otherwise just close this popup screen.
 - The first step is to select the drive you want to optimize. You should select the C drive.
 - To select the drive you want to optimize, single click on it in the main window
 - Then click on the defragment button in the upper right hand corner
 - The process will begin and a progress meter is displayed in the lower left hand corner
 - Once completed, simply close the program.