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Could Spyware Be Slowing Your PC Boot Up Time?
Carey Holzman
Contributing Writer
2003-06-16
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
I have a HP pavilion 512n system. I have 256 Megs ram and a 1.4 gig hard-drive. I empty my temp Internet files daily to keep the cookies out. The problem is that my system boots like a turtle. Do you have any suggestions? The system works good but as I stated, the pc boots very slowly.
I am a computer tech by trade, and can fix anyone's pc but this one has me stumped, and of course, it is my pc
Thanks
Mike Christensen
Hi Mike,
Cookies don't slow you down nor do they take up much hard disk space. It makes no sense to erase them. They are tiny little text files that are placed there to help you navigate certain web-sites. I highly recommend leaving them be.
The Internet temp files are allocated a certain amount of hard disk space, so erasing them is pointless as well. It would make better sense to simply reserve less space for them.
As for speeding up your computer, I recommend you download and run AdAware to search for and remove any Spyware. I discuss this in detail here: http://www.webpronews.com/wpn-22-20030610RemovingSpyware.html
Also, click Start, click Run and type MSCONFIG (then hit Enter or click OK)
The last tab is the StartUp tab. This lists everything that Windows is starting when you first start Windows. Removing unnecessary items from here can make a huge difference in boot times and available resources. Be warned that some items are required for Windows to run properly, so only remove the items you know are safe to remove.
Here is a list of some of the items you might find and what they are for: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm
Thanks for writing!
Carey
About the Author:
Carey Holzman owns and operates Discount Computer Repair (602-527-9723) in Phoenix, Arizona, where he offers repairs, upgrades, custom built PCs and network wiring at highly competitive pricing. His networking tips have appeared in David Strom's book, The Home Networking Survival Guide (McGraw/Hill), and his own book on PC maintenance is currently available at local book stores, amazon.com or directly through him. His free informative web site can be found at http://www.careyholzman.com. Donate $30 to help maintain his site and you'll get a free autographed copy of his book. Carey can be reached directly at carey@careyholzman.com.
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