Win 10 Management Notes 1.1.20
Nofrillstech
recently went delving into Win 10, to see what changes were to
be found, and
realised that XP was not far below the surface.
So, short notes on managing Win 10 follow, to do with
cleaning,
defragging, optimising, et al, tho other program usage is all
about
heuristics...nothing changes in that respect. More
such relevant
notes can be found in the Computer
Management Factfiles on the main PDF
and WORD Page.
Re
basic
Win 10 tweaks, go to Control Panel:
Turn off Indexing, (stops this
always running in the background),
Settings/System Properties Turn off Remote
Access, (security step, trust
your IT dept does not require this ), and,
Settings/System Properties/Visual
Effects/Performance/Best Performance, all squares
unticked.
(All of these are reachable via Search,
as well)
Plus, install Toolwiz, for file and
Registry cleaning/defrag, et al, also turns off some unwanted
Services...never
had any problems with this program, run once per week,
interesting to check out
various ancillaries as well. You will notice an immediate
speed
improvement, tho also note that, after any Defrag, a couple of
boots may needed
to get the OS to run optimally, this always being the case, as
Win re-deploys various
System files and Directories. Use the native Defrag/Optimise Administrative
Services.
Note
that defrag does
not apply in the case of SSDs, make sure that is
never
happening. Win 7, and
above, should automatically take care of this, viz, SSDs
instead
need TRIM to free up/overwite vacant space on the drive.
1) Use the Windows
key +
X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User
menu and select Command
Prompt
(Admin).
3)
If zero (0) is the result, then TRIM is enabled
4)
If not, to enable TRIM, command line is: fsutil behavior set
DisableDeleteNotify 0
Bleachbit is a
handy cleaner, complementary to Toolwiz,
tho leave Passwords, Memory, Diskwipe, and RAM unticked, the
rest should be OK.
Crapcleaner
and Dustbuster are also useful.
Running a ClamAV virus check, with the
HDD/SSD plugged into a Linux system, will be
worth doing after
initial full install, including the ancillary programs. (Tho note that native Win 10 anti-malware objects
are
protected.)
Libre Office and CDBurnerXP, Firefox,
Thunderbird,
all work well, plus, usual Win programs, such as Office 97/2003
also.
Plus, Seamonkey/Kompozer/Kompozer 0.7.10,
Filezilla, PDFCreator, PDFSAM, Photoshop, VLC, are all OK.
Crystal Disk, CPUID/Z, Easeus Clone,
Clonezilla, SSD Life, Speedfan, HardwareMonitor, HardInfo, all OK too. Native
Win antivirus/antimalware kept updated should
be sufficient.
Heuristics will apply for
other specific programs, especially legacy versions, OK!
To
get rid of the new Index,
install Classic Shell, if needed,
then the system will look and feel more like XP again.
Drivers,
if required, are obtainable by the usual methods, tho
Win 10 seems to be well-supplied for modern systems.
To dig deeper re turning
off Win 10 Services:
http:www.askvg.com/beginners-guide-to-configure-windows-10-services/ ...and,
there are many other refs via Google, depending on how keen you
are. Some
of these links also deal with Win 10 Bloatware. Well-resourced/fast Win 10 systems
should not actually need any
more tweaks, up to you...?
Re
installation and validation: Win 10 will install, boot, and run,
including
updating, installing ancillary programs, drivers, et al, and,
the un-validated
drive OS will be swappable, from one system to another, which
would be useful
for finding the best system match, and for cloning purposes. Note that, when the OS installation is
validated online, the request for validation no longer appears
in Settings.
Existing validation
codes
may be utilised, from Win 7 and above, tho, be sure to install
the version that
matches the label code chosen. However,
actual
validation will then match that OS installation to that
specific system .
If needed: fix-windows-10-startup-problems, plus, reinstallation and updates are
simpler and faster, currently.
Note that Win10 OS is quite
resilient, so, look for hardware
problems like failing HDD/SSD, RAM, DVD, et al, when problems
first arise.
Some computer and Internet security notes, and also power security, using UPSs, et al.
1) Recommend using a good-quality surge monitor powerboard, and a UPS. ‘The three major types of UPS system configurations are online double conversion, line-interactive and offline (also called standby and battery backup). These UPS systems are defined by how power moves through the unit.’ (See also: https://www.vertiv.com/en-emea/about/news-and-insights/articles/educational-articles/what-are-the-different-types-of-ups-systems/
A quality powerboard with surge monitoring capabilities will, in turn, protect the UPS, and, anything else plugged in it. Note that laser printers should not be on this particular board, as they draw a lot of power when switched on, and should be directly plugged to the mains, via a separate circuit/oulet, if practicable, or, switch on before swithing on the ret of your systems.
2) Re data security and The Cloud, The Cloud also has its rackets, sadly, and cheap or no-charge sign-up soon changes....and you definitely get what you pay for. Google has 10 Gb free, which must be regularly accessed, to be 'live'. Cloud security will always be an issue online. Meanwhile, email repositories can also be useful, and/or, a personal website could suffice to store extra current files which you can retrieve as you want, ie, stored without links ..? A separate working storage partition on you main system hard-drive is a must, also, as well as any other offline storage.
Good quality portable HDDs, for main backup storage at home, cannot be bettered, especially if you have a lockable fireproof repository. Also, consider another backup set at a different location..?
If not backed up at least 3x, then not backed up at all, is the realistic motto these days.
3) Use a separate Internet interface system, (a reliable laptop would do), if online security is an issue, and keep your main processing system air-gapped, as much as possible, only go online for updates, when not otherwise in use, plus, usual virus-checker, et al, must be installed.
4) Consider local wifi providers, rather than major telecom providers. Eg, your landline number retained, and unlimited data for approx $80 pm..? Personal service, better security, and less outages..?
5) For reliable system, as always, buy from established, dedicated, computer businesses of good reputation. Never trust a department store bargain, or online trading, unless you really know what you are doing...
6) Meanwhile, a further tip for your computer security, recommend that your main Internet interface system has a Linux OS, very easy to use, (eg, Mint, being very much like XP), can read/format to NTFS, re external drives, so, passing files for uploading from your main processing computer to your Linux interface system will pose no problems, and then upload to your website with Clonezilla. Takes about 15 mins to clone any Linux OS partition to a given HDD/SSD, using live Gparted, no problems there. Also, ClamAV is a useful Open Source antivirus, compatible with Mint, that can also read Microsoft data hard drives plugged as slaves, or via USB..