Churnd

The PC HOWTO Thread

I thought it might be a good idea if all the great tips in the PC Tips sticky were condensed into one post to make it easier to find what you need. This post will start off as a rough draft and gradually develop as time permits. If you have any tips you'd like to share, post them here and they will be added to this post with the appropriate credit given. Please bear with me as it's going to take a while to get enough info added, and will never be finished since computers are changing every day. That said, let's get started.

How to build your own PC

I've seen several websites that guide you through building your own PC, but I like this one the best:

A guide for first-time PC builders.

After you've built your computer, and for some reason it doesn't work, don't freak out! Try this checklist first to see if there's something you may have missed.

Keep your computer safe

Sadly, there are several security measures that must be taken to help maintain a clean computer these days. Here's a general guide of things you can do to help keep that PC running like it did the day you bought it.

Here is a more detailed thread covering these topics. Tons of useful information here, so I strongly suggest you read it.

• Get a good firewall. Why? Well, I'll just put it this way. Go to Shields Up! and run the tests on that site. If any of your ports are open, get a firewall.
  • If you have a broadband connection, any router with NAT (Network Address Translation) will serve as a great firewall, and can be had for cheaper than software firewalls cost. D-Link, Netgear, and Linksys all make good routers that would serve well for this purpose, and can be bought at your local Wal-Mart or Costco. If you have dial-up, a software firewall is a MUST.
  • For maximum protection, a software firewall can be run alongside a hardware firewall. Three good, free software firewall programs are:
    • Kerio Personal Firewall
    • Sygate Personal Firewall
    • ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall - There have been reports of users having trouble with getting this firewall configured properly. If you don't know how, or don't want to learn, try one of the other two first.
  • Windows XP with SP2 has a software firewall built in that does a decent job. That, combined with a router, would be very effective in keeping your ports monitored as they should be.
  • Anything older than Windows XP with SP2 doesn't have a firewall built in, so if that describes you, click on one of the links above.
• Run Anti-Virus software
  • It's not necessary to pay for AntiVirus software, because there are free ones that'll give you the same kind of protection. Also, it's been noted that most commercial AntiVirus scanners are full of bloat and can slow your PC down quite considerably. However, if you want to pay for one, Kaspersky has the best detection rate of them all and doesn't contain much bloat.
  • Here's a list of good, free AntiVirus programs:
    • AVG Free Edition - a good combo of good detection and ease of use.
    • AntiVir - best detection rate, but interface can be confusing at times.
    • aVast! is probably the easiest to use of the three, but you sacrifice a little on the detection rate side.
    • Trend Micro Housecall - you don't have to download software to scan for viruses. Just click here and do an online scan.
    • Kaspersky Online Scan - Kaspersky now has an online scanning tool! I've tried it out, and it seems to work pretty well.
• Run Spyware prevention/removal software. Here's a few free programs:
  • JavaCool's Spyware Blaster - a good step in preventing spyware. It's not a removal tool, but an excellent prevention tool.
  • eWido Security Suite - Grisoft just bought this excellent software, which will run in a full version mode for 14 days or so, then cut itself down to a limited version if you decide not to purchase it. Even cut down, it's still worth having.
  • Windows Defender. Microsoft has released a newer version of Microsoft Antispyware that it calls Windows Defender. It has a cleaner interface, and doesn't leave an icon in the taskbar, but does monitor the computer the same. It does a very good job at both removing and preventing spyware, as it has several shields that monitor the computer continuously.
  • SpyBot Search & Destroy
  • Adaware SE Personal
  • Crap Cleaner - this program also does a lot of the maintenance listed below for you.
  As far as removal procedures go, this site outlines some very good ones. If you have an infection, follow the steps listed there word for word.
  
• Develop a regular maintenance routine.
  • Update your software! This includes Windows, Office, Adobe, whatever you use... make sure it's updated! Click here to update Windows.
  • Windows has a built in disk cleanup utility. You can get to it by clicking Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. After you do that, here's a good guide on how to clean your IE cache.
  • If you use a 3rd party browser such as FireFox, clean it's cache every now and then.
  • Clear out your temp folder. Click Start, Run, and type in "c:\windows\temp", and delete everything in that folder.

Set Up A Home Network

The complexity of this topic ranks higher than building your own PC. Because of that, I would never get done writing my own page of how-to's. So, I found a website maintained by a Microsoft MVP that already covers a broad scope of topics concerning setting up Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Networks. It's not the prettiest site, but contains a wealth of detailed and useful information to getting your network up and running right the first time.

EZLAN.NET

I've found it especially useful to use the links on the home page, as well as the search function on the left menu bar.

More to come...

Churnd

Updated 12/8/05

humanoid

This is great, Chris! Wish I found that link when I was building my own computer a few years back! It was pretty horrigying, but very rewarding.

Churnd

Updated Spyware section on 02/28/06 to include information on Windows Defender.

Churnd

Updated 6/25/06

-Consolidated Security thread link at beginning of "Keep Your Computer Safe" section.
-Updated spyware section to include eWido Security Suite, JavaCool's SpywareBlaster, and a link for spyware removal procedures.

iamsuperbleeder

just thought I'd contribute some too

for almost 4 years I've been a member on devharware forums. Great group of people on there, and it's where I've gained a LOT of computer knowledge through the years, about pretty much anything

ironically, I have the same user name on Dev as I do here on YT; not quite as many posts as I do on YT though