Hardware & Technical Driver and general pc clean up
- Thread starter Jezzah
- Start date
How much crap do you use. If the system is slow, probably the easiest way for tech idiots (I'm one, as well) is to simply reset the PC to factory settings (if you're using Win 10) and then reinstall things you generally need.
Other than that, you can go to settings - Apps and uninstall things you don't use (If you're not sure about one, google it up to see what it's doing and if it happens to be a system part or something useless)
For general rubbish just use the delete key.
If your system is bugged, you can run some anti-malware stuff like Kaspersky to get rid of the trash, but at that point it's probably safer and easier to simply reinstall the system.
Other than that, you can go to settings - Apps and uninstall things you don't use (If you're not sure about one, google it up to see what it's doing and if it happens to be a system part or something useless)
For general rubbish just use the delete key.
If your system is bugged, you can run some anti-malware stuff like Kaspersky to get rid of the trash, but at that point it's probably safer and easier to simply reinstall the system.
Before doing anything - back up your data, then back it up again!
They won't usually cause trouble, but the driver cache can become quite large over time, especially with graphics drivers pushing huge amounts of data in there.
There are tools like RAPR that show you how much old gunk you have in there (I currently have around 3.5GB in old graphics drivers) and let you remove it, but that's beyond "idiot-proof". That said, removing some obviously old stuff hasn't broken my system yet.
My favorite 2 utilities since XP days have been Ccleaner and Defraggler. Both from here for free.I'm a proper technical village idiot.
What do you guys use to clean up the rubbish that collects on your HDD?
Full idiot proof instruction would also be really appreciated
Ccleaner will clean registry, junk files , edit startup, analyse HD usage etc
Defraggler sorts things physically on your HD by making contiguous files. It can also benchmark and show you wheres what.
Edit:
You can delete the old drivers, only take up space. They don't interfere.
take all WIndows updates. Update your GPU driver when it prompts it.
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I'm always anxious to use or recommend tools that fudge with the registry. By now, Windows has a pretty good grip on its internals, and if something in there breaks it's reset time anyway. It will also trim SSDs on its own, and "maintenance" beyond that is mostly snakeoil; not that it hurts anything unless you run it over and over again, it just won't improve things
Defragmenting mechanical drives every now and then is a good idea though, especially games like Elite with a crapload of moderately sized files will profit a bit if you run a defrag pass after updates.
Registries over time collect a ton of invalid and useless entries that can be removed safely with tools such as Ccleaner It's the only one I trust.How much crap do you use. If the system is slow, probably the easiest way for tech idiots (I'm one, as well) is to simply reset the PC to factory settings (if you're using Win 10) and then reinstall things you generally need.
Other than that, you can go to settings - Apps and uninstall things you don't use (If you're not sure about one, google it up to see what it's doing and if it happens to be a system part or something useless)
For general rubbish just use the delete key.
If your system is bugged, you can run some anti-malware stuff like Kaspersky to get rid of the trash, but at that point it's probably safer and easier to simply reinstall the system.
Windows has no easy app for it. I do not recommend editing the registry manually.
I have had zero errors using this and I've used it for over ten years.I'm always anxious to use or recommend tools that fudge with the registry. By now, Windows has a pretty good grip on its internals, and if something in there breaks it's reset time anyway. It will also trim SSDs on its own, and "maintenance" beyond that is mostly snakeoil; not that it hurts anything unless you run it over and over again, it just won't improve things
Defragmenting mechanical drives every now and then is a good idea though, especially games like Elite with a crapload of moderately sized files will profit a bit if you run a defrag pass after updates.
Ccleaner asks if you want to backup but I never do. Piriform and Spybot Search and Destroy (my two go-tos to fix ANY computer) have been around since 386 -Win 95
Do not defrag SSDs, they need a different method.
Don't things like Ccleaner need to be installed on a fresh system so they can keep track of the rubbish that's been added afterwards to be able to delete it later?
Or do they work retroactively also?
They work retroactively and will show an immediate improval after a reboot. Especially if you cull the junk in your Startup queue too.
It helps a fresh system to remove all the install stuff left behind.
Be careful not to defrag a SSD of course.
Deffragler is for use only with hard disks.
Ccleaner is a very good cleaning tool.
I'm running Oculus on a GTX 1060 3GB. That's stretching the graphics memory to the max. Recently I found that ED was studering more and more, so I looked at what was actually running in the background. Then I removed the Nvidia "Experience" leaving the driver, the X-52 software that didn't work anyways, etc., just using Settings/Apps.
After that cleanup and a reboot, I went from all settings low and to all setting medium (a few high), and I don't see any studering anymore.
PCs get bloated very quickly, unless you are very strict on what you allow to install. Also many PCs are sold already being bloated.
After that cleanup and a reboot, I went from all settings low and to all setting medium (a few high), and I don't see any studering anymore.
PCs get bloated very quickly, unless you are very strict on what you allow to install. Also many PCs are sold already being bloated.