XP upkeep tips?

[alhalsey]

Suggestion for a place to get tips to keep XP running smoothly and not slowing down over time. Plus any other software upkeep tips.

[JPMiller]

There are many free optimizing options out there...
The main ones being the removal of spyware, and bloated windows applications...
Spybot for spyware removal and some blocking...
Adaware for whats left of the spyware when Spybots done...
XP-Smoker... for tweaking windows and getting rid of alot of the MS garbage that hogs resources.
TuneXP... which does alot of the things XPSmoker doesnt... under the "Help" tab at the top is a "Documentation" option that will help you choose what tweaks to use
RegscrubXP... one of the best registry cleaners...
Diskeeper 8 ... ... soooooooo much better than windows neutered, stripped down, defragmenter...
EverestHome...... in my opinion the best diagnostic tool for windows Ive used... I'm STILL finding things out using this proggy... its much more in depth than anyone gives it credit for...
And I would also go to PC Pitstop and run the free diagnostics they offer...
Click on the first yellow key... then click the middle yellow key for "New Members" ... click yes on the "Security Warning" window that pops up... then click the "test anonymously" button..... click the "lets go" button and finally the "OK" button... do not touch anything while it is scanning... when its done, fill in the info and check "no thanks" for the free PCAnywhere trial and click next...
This will give you info and tips on what should and can be done... run it once for reference before doing any work, and then once afterwards to see the results of what you've done...

[RayH]

This board.

I all freeware to keep my computer running smoothly:

SpywareBlaster: It doesn't remove anything. It just blocks certain known malware. Free Updates.

Spybot Search and Destroy: Blocks, scans, and removes. Can be set to do this on schedule.

Spybot comes with a utility called TeaTimer. This tells you when something is trying to uninstall or put itself in the Startup. Very HANDY. A lot of valuable software wants to sneak in the line up.

Startup Monitor (www.mlin.net). This will help you turn off things you don't need on.

Easy Cleaner V 2. It's free. But Toni Arts charges to join its site. Get the program from a third party download. It's excellent. You don't have to worry. Just don't use the DUPLICATES. You might dump the wrong file. There are more thorough cleaners IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. This will clean your drive good enough!

AVG 7 Free Edition. I have it set up to do everything automatically.

Zone Alarm: Firewall

MoveOn Boot: Helps get rid of files locked by Windows.

You might also want to try the Microsoft Malware removal tool. I also back the anti-virus with three free online scanners: HouseCalls, Panda, and RAV.

Now do a Google for each of these. They are very effective.