Desktop Support: Temp File Cleanup, Malware and Virus Removal

The simple answer to this is USE TOOLS. Unless you're very comfortable finding and removing temp stuff the computer operating system and applications create and perhaps have done it once or twice already, use tools and utilities to do the work for you. Also, cleaning means deleting! You will be removing files so if you are not sure of what you are doing, then don't. Another reason for using cleaning utilities and tools is the speed at which these tools will do the work for you.

I often enjoy cleaning a computer of temp files because I know I look at locations on the hard-drive these programs don't and I am aware of other spots these tools often don't look into or avoid but, I also have been doing it for many years. However, when I need to do a fast job I use the tools listed below.

System Registry
As far as registry cleaning goes, definitely use tools. That is a very tedious and dangerous task. even though I'll use a registry cleaner like the one in ccleaner, I do manually check the "start up" location of the registry, meaning, the location where items are placed to start up when windows starts. I prefer not to have too many programs starting up with windows automatically and be on my task-bar, especially when I don't need them.

Automatic Program Start-up
I can manually start-up programs I need when I need them. I don't need them all starting up automatically. That includes all the updater programs that come with so many software applications. This is a trend that I don't suspect will reverse anytime soon. Automatic software updates are okay, but they don't all have load and run every-time the computer is started - just wasting memory.

I prefer to remove temp files manually from computers. That can be time consuming so a tool that I often use to remove built-up temp files is ccleaner. It can be found on the piriform.com website or by entering the following search terms into your favorite search engine, ccleaner download. They have a free version of their cleaner. The free version is what I have been using for many years.

Download and install ccleaner using default settings. When installing unchecked the box that adds to the installation a toolbar unless you want it.
Depending on your operating system, you'll have more options available.

I have always left the default option for the registry cleaner. All check-boxes are checked.
When the program runs, depending on how many years and how much you have used your computer removing and adding programs, the registry cleaner can run for up to a minute or two. When it completes the scan, continue to clean. The program will ask you if you want to save a copy of the section of the registry it's going to change. Answer yes to that question. You'll be asked where you want to save the registry before it is cleaned. Leave the default location, unless you prefer to save the file elsewhere. The files are very small so space is not an issue. The file it saves is a registry file. It will have a .reg extension and can be imported back into the the working registry if needed. The default name is a component of the date and time. I'm mentioning this because I'm going to suggest to re-run the registry cleaner. I run it at least three times. The file name to save changes each time automatically because the ccleaner uses the time as part fo the file name so the file names can never be the same.

Once complete with the registry scan and clean the recommended three times, restart your computer.

Even worse, your anti-virus software may not have picked-up on the badware on your computer. That is possible depending on the antivirus software and also often, if it's up to date or not. Out of date Av software is one of the leading ways bad-ware can by-pass the security of such software and get on your computer. Another way, and I have to admin I am guilty of this, is the software is older AV software.

Superantispyware.com is the site. Do a search with your preferred search engine with the term superantispyware portable download.They have several versions of their cleaner product. They have the pro version which is a paid version that has additional features over their install-able free version. The install-able free version cleans just as good as the paid pro. The major difference between the free and the pro is the pro version has a constant live real-time scanner. The free version scans and cleans when you initiate the program to do so.
The portable version has of recently been my favorite. It was only produced and release in the last year or two. The pro and free version of the pro has been around for a long time but has to be installed. The portable is very handy when a computer is infected with badware that prevents the installer to run. The portable can also be run from a USB memory stick or other media.

Download portable and run. then select complete scan. I actually use some of the other options like quick or critical points scan. They run faster but are not as in depth.

Once you computer or computers are clean of the badware and extra files left behind by everyday use of applications, it's wise to get a good backup of it. It's even wiser to have a backup before some bad software like trojans and viruses get a hold of your computer and make it impossible to use or near impossible to even start-up and function correctly.

I have been using Acronis True Image Home for several years now for my home office computers. The software has developed and progressed greatly over the years. This "home" edition is based on their enterprise Acronis Director software. It has always been very good quality software but it just gets better and better. More features are added with every update. The software so far has not let me down.

For home or small office users, it's simple and intuative. It permits you to not only create a backup image of your hardware, from wich I was actually able to recover a system that failed but also gives you the ability to just backup files if that is what you prefer.

You can backup to external storage such as USB drives or eSATA drives. Or you can backup to a network share or to another computer. Acronis True Image Home has some of the features Enterprise or the small to medium business backup applications have. It can keep track of your backups and you can define how many you would like to keep going back to only a day to weeks or months or more even .It's up to you and fits just about anyone's storage capacities. It cleans up after itself such that you specify how back you want to keep your backups either chronologically or by backup set count. It can alert you but also can run silently if you prefer.