windows xp maintained

[honsbeekgmail2]

Hello,

Please show me how to maintain Windows Xp
Top 10 things to do in order to have it run properly

By the way , today I noticed many files on my Desktop disappeared and
were not to be found again. What can cause such a thing ??? I did have some virusses that I deleted, but my files never came back

thank you
have a great day
ralph

 

[weilin]

I would start off with Virus Scanner/Adware/spyware scanner. Next learn to back up data, use a DVD/CD-RW and back up all important data at all times becuase pcs are notoriously known to break when you need htem the most. Next remember to delete stuff that you never use. By doing this i dont mean go into the harddrive and start deleting stuff you have never heard of but go into add/remove programs and remove programs you never run. Also if there are programs on that list that you have never heard of, be sure to google it and see what does it actually do and the determine if u want to keep it or not. Next remember to run disk cleanup/scandisk and defrag atleast once a month. If you really know what your doing i would also throw in a disk format once every year or so to start things fresh. other than that, just use common sense. dont click on every email attachment and dont randomly browse random websites.

 

[Jak_Sparra]

What he said, but i would also check for all the latest drivers for your mother board, graphics card and sound card atleast once every 1-2months. And it might be worth getting a peice of software (like spybot S&D or something) and stopping stuff you dont need from starting when you start windows, ie; web cam software, dvd players etc... unless you are gonna use them everytime you start up your pc

 

[bigbadwolf]

If some files that were on your desktop randomly disappear you might have desktop cleanup wizard, which is a part of xp, set to run at certain intervals.

If you think this might help you, you can check it like this:

right click on desktop > properties > desktop tab > customize desktop , and see if 'run desktop cleanup wizard every 60 days' is ticked, if so it will explain where your files have gone.