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[Duke 2.0]

 

 Oh what is this bullshit.

 So after a while of using this computer and doing a decent job of trying to keep it working smoothly I took note of a growing amount of junk in various places I know was not there before. Probably just installers being irresponsible and automatic updates being dicks. I know all of this is less than a gig of space total but I really want this drive to be somewhat clean and free of bloat. What would you guys recommend for cleaning all this junk? And how much of this could I safely delete? I really shouldn't be poking around with some of these directories, so what can I safely mess with?

_{And because I know somebody will point out this would be better fit in the swirling Life Advice hellhole}

 So, what programs do you guys use to keep your computer somewhat clean? Virus scanners? Defraggers? System resource scanners? Uninstallers? Anything really. Trustworthy websites for technical advice for stuff like this is also appreciated.

_{Games is for my DOSBox junk to ease messing with the directories.}

[PsyberianHusky]

Thanks Duke, you posted what I was considering posting about for a while now.
ccleaner is something that gets alot ofhype for dealing with this kind of clutter, I cannot vouch for it myself, but it is worth looking into.

[ToonyMan]

Spoiler: Yeah I've been wondering what the hell these jditkgjdudydnsmaka folders are for awhile now (click to show/hide)

Are they viri with paid reservations?!

[woose1]

http://ask-leo.com/can_i_delete_these_randomly_named_folders.html

Derp derp

[Duke 2.0]

 I could google this yeah, but I figure it's better to ask some of you fine folks instead of a search engine. Seems to be a bit safer than the wide range of answers I got on the subject.

 Ooh, that gives me an idea for another category for the OP, thanks.

[tehc]

For antiviruses, I use Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, and does the job just as good (and often better) than paid antiviruses, as long as you have genuine Windows (I can confirm it also works with pirated Windows + Daz Loader). I do a weekly quick scan using both MSE and the free version of Malwarebytes. I also use Firefox with NoScript and AdBlockPlus. NoScript ensures that literally no scripts (JavaScript, Flash, redirects, popups...) will run unless you give them permission. Just look at how much crap it blocks from loading on an ad filled website like Cracked. AdBlockPlus with a subscription blocks all ads from loading, on every web page. Not only does it clean up every page, but it blocks malicious ads too. Note that the Firefox version does not even allow the ads to download and plain removes the frames from the page, unlike the Chrome version which allows the ads to load then makes them disappear from the page.

Regularly run a defrag, Windows 7's (and Vista too, I think) is perfectly fine and helps a lot.

Disable some useless services that are running and not being used. The safe option is a good optimization, I personally use a mix of the safe and tweaked options.

Disable the unnecessary features that Windows has on by default. I only have .NET Framework enabled as i'm not sure if disabling that will uninstall it. You can get to this by going to the Computer folder, clicking 'Uninstall or change a program', and then clicking 'Turn Windows features on or off'. The screen before can also be used to quickly uninstall shit you don't need anymore.

Disable programs from running on startup. To do this, press Windows+R, type in msconfig, and hit enter. Go to the startup tab and disable any shit you don't need. Typically only your antivirus and anything related to drivers need to start on startup.

CCleaner can clean up the registry and get rid of a whole lot of unnecessary crap.

Another thing I disable immediately on a new install is UAC. It is completely useless and a pain in the arse.

[Sir Finkus]

Those random files in the root of drives are left by all those Microsoft redistributable installers.  It drives me nuts.  It seems to extract the installer and a bunch of temp files, then simply not delete them.  Lazy, tacky, and generally a bad way of doing this. 

[Itnetlolor]

List of programs

Everything listed there.

Defraggler is great for a quick defrag too every once in awhile. Spybot Search and Destroy is also a pretty decent spyware scanner/cleaner which also provides immunization (best done after scanning/cleaning). PCDecrapifier is also a good program for cleaning out unnecessary programs that come with your computer (especially advised when you first get your machine or reinstall from a formatted drive). I also use Avast to clean up anything SB:S&D and Malwarebytes tend to miss.

CCleaner is great for when you want to clean out some unecessary backups Windows tends to make which tend to get rather big.

It also helps to keep everything up to date, so look around for Filehippo.com updater. It checks everything you have installed, and notifies you if they're up to date.

[olemars]

+1 to CCleaner for cleaning up useless junk.

[Thief^]

Another thing I disable immediately on a new install is UAC. It is completely useless and a pain in the arse.

It makes viruses have to work to get admin permissions, instead of just having them. And once your pc is set up, you won't see UAC unless something suspicious triggers it anyhow.

[Akura]

Another thing I disable immediately on a new install is UAC. It is completely useless and a pain in the arse.

It makes viruses have to work to get admin permissions, instead of just having them. And once your pc is set up, you won't see UAC unless something suspicious triggers it anyhow.

By "something suspicious", do you mean "every single little thing you try to run"? Because that's how UAC worked for me, 5 minutes before I turned it off.

[anzki4]

Another thing I disable immediately on a new install is UAC. It is completely useless and a pain in the arse.

It makes viruses have to work to get admin permissions, instead of just having them. And once your pc is set up, you won't see UAC unless something suspicious triggers it anyhow.

By "something suspicious", do you mean "every single little thing you try to run"? Because that's how UAC worked for me, 5 minutes before I turned it off.

Plus it prevents some games from working completely.

[olemars]

I keep UAC on, but what I always disable is system restore.

[Thief^]

By "something suspicious", do you mean "every single little thing you try to run"? Because that's how UAC worked for me, 5 minutes before I turned it off.

Last time I saw UAC was a few days ago when adobe acrobat reader wanted to update. I couldn't tell you the number of things I have run in that time, but it's a fair lot.

Plus it prevents some games from working completely.

You can use the compatibility option "run as administrator" if it does. The same games would fail to run under a limited user account anyway, so it's not a failing of UAC as such.