Computer Maintenance Routine

[Jtalk4456]

On top of a lot of other projects I need to get done, I've been deeply neglectful of basic pc maintenance and I'm having to deal with BSOD's lately. Aside from finding the issue and resolving it, this is encouraging me to get a clear routine in order for my PC's. I want to run by what I'm planning so far and get feedback. If I forgot anything, or I'm not doing something enough, or doing it too much, I want to get a really solid practical routine I can put in my calendar.

So Far:

Weekly

Run CCleaner - standard cleanout and check for registry errors

Clear Recycle Bin

Blow out Dust

Close any extra tabs I've been leaving open

 

Monthly

Dust Case outside really well too

Unplug Case and monitor and dust desk off and tidy any cord mess

Full Antivirus Scan

Check Startup Programs and unused software

Clean Keyboard/Mouse

Software Update/Drivers Check

Defragment HDD

Check Temperature monitoring software

Signature updates? - Saw this suggested on a pc maint list, not sure if this is separate from just software updates

 

Bi-Monthly

Run Ram/Storage Health Scans/Testing

Backup to NAS

Check for unused steam game installs/files and remove or backup to nas as necessary

 

Yearly

Backup and Reinstall Windows Fresh

[Dedayog]

Interesting  Weekly CCleaner?  What do you use your machine for that you need to do weekly or even monthly maintenance outside of virus/malware scanning?

 

Malware Bytes and Windows Defender are all I do for the past 5 years.  

 

 

[Jtalk4456]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

Interesting  Weekly CCleaner?  What do you use your machine for that you need to do weekly or even monthly maintenance outside of virus/malware scanning?

 

Malware Bytes and Windows Defender are all I do for the past 5 years.  

 

 

IDK if there's any reason other than me wanting to feel like I'm keeping it clean and running at it's best. That's why I'm wanting feedback, I'm just guessing here. That one is more for my OCD, so even if that's a bit much, that one is for my brain, not practicality XD

[SupaKomputa]

6 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

Run CCleaner - standard cleanout and check for registry errors

Full Antivirus Scan
Defragment HDD

Only dusting when needed, like 6 months to a year.

Those thing would only f-up your pc even more.

if you have bsod, fixing the problem manually is the best solution.

no need automated process.

 

defragging is no longer needed post windows 8, windows will automatically defrag in the background.

especially for SSD, defragging is no point.

[Jtalk4456]

6 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Only dusting when needed, like 6 months to a year.

Those thing would only f-up your pc even more.

if you have bsod, fixing the problem manually is the best solution.

no need automated process.

 

defragging is no longer needed post windows 8, windows will automatically defrag in the background.

especially for SSD, defragging is no point.

I've got 5 kids and 2 dogs, so as needed dusting might be more than average

I'm aware not to defrag ssd, but i didn't know win defrags in the background, good to know!

The BSOD I'm working on manually, but I wanna make sure I'm taking better care of my stuff and not neglecting until BSOD comes. 

When you say those things would mess up my pc more, can you elaborate?

[SupaKomputa]

2 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

The BSOD I'm working on manually, but I wanna make sure I'm taking better care of my stuff and not neglecting until BSOD comes. 

BSOD is not something that build up over time. You either have it or you don't. If you have BSOD, probably something wrong with software / hardware thar require fixing.

 

6 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

When you say those things would mess up my pc more, can you elaborate?

automated process like ccleaner might remove something that is needed by windows, like removing services or registries that is deemed unnecessary by ccleaner, for the sake of reducing space or ram usage. if you have a proper pc with more than enough specs, you really dont need the fix. windows can sort it by itself.

since windows 10 i also never use any antivirus, windows defender is all you need.

[paddy-stone]

When you mention "backup to NAS", is that an image of your PC, or all relevant files?  if relevant files, I would and Do it much more often, like daily. But for me that means any new files I've gotten from nzb  etc for example, these are backed up to my NAS daily, and my NAS gets backed up weekly to my backup server and Rpi.

 

My Rpi is basically OMV and running things like plex server, and a few other things, so that my main pc only has to be on when I am actively using it, saving me electricity. It also mean my PC can be much more streamlined. I am in the process of upgrading my PC to 11400f right now, and only gonna run essential software on it, everything else can be either run on the pi 24/7, or used on one of my other laptops/pcs if it's being tested first for example.

[Jtalk4456]

10 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

BSOD is not something that build up over time. You either have it or you don't. If you have BSOD, probably something wrong with software / hardware thar require fixing.

 

automated process like ccleaner might remove something that is needed by windows, like removing services or registries that is deemed unnecessary by ccleaner, for the sake of reducing space or ram usage. if you have a proper pc with more than enough specs, you really dont need the fix. windows can sort it by itself.

since windows 10 i also never use any antivirus, windows defender is all you need.

I wasn't implying it builds up, but more that If I'm checking things more constantly, I won't get behind on updates and everything will be running its best.

I can see what you mean about cCleaner, is that something I should customize within a ccleaner registry check or just not do a registry check at all. I've heard before that it was something good to do to prevent issues from happening, but that may be wrong

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

You've got some ambitious plans, there. Here I am with a custom water loop that's been running for 2.5 years without draining. 

[SupaKomputa]

3 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

I wasn't implying it builds up, but more that If I'm checking things more constantly, I won't get behind on updates and everything will be running its best

haha, yeah you have ocd man. i would just monitor the cpu / gpu temps, when its out of bound, then i would check the coolers.

i kept regular backups of my C drive, when something goes down, i would just load the latest backup and try to fix it from there.

that's why i try to have the smallest size possible for my boot drive (512gb currently), to reduce backup space, move private docs and big apps from it so in the worst case, i wont loose anything important.

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, Hairless Monkey Boy said:

You've got some ambitious plans, there. Here I am with a custom water loop that's been running for 2.5 years without draining. 

Speaking of that, my AIO is almost 5 years old now.  I should be watching that a bit closer, isn't that the normal life span of them?

[Jtalk4456]

15 minutes ago, Hairless Monkey Boy said:

You've got some ambitious plans, there. Here I am with a custom water loop that's been running for 2.5 years without draining. 

ambitious plans and reality are very different XD I have ADHD and getting myself on any routine is a pain. I can make detailed plans all day but doing it is where the issue comes in

[igormp]

All I do is update my system and reboot every couple weeks or so, nothing else really (although I don't use windows).

 

I don't even check for temps or anything like that, I trust the hardware to thermal throttle if needed lol

[Needfuldoer]

You guys maintain your PCs?

 

My desktop is literally covered with icons, to the point they start stacking up in the top left corner. Once it gets so bad that Windows bogs down, it all gets dumped into the "Stuff" folder and it's fine again.

 

My PC is in the "CPU holder" area of my desk, off the floor, and I don't have pets. It doesn't get too dusty.

 

I can't remember the last time I ran CCleaner on anything.

 

When it starts complaining that it needs to do updates, I let it update and restart.

[wasab]

CC cleaner, virus scan, registry, lol.

 

Ah, the windows world. 

[NGamer]

4 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

automated process like ccleaner might remove something that is needed by windows, like removing services or registries that is deemed unnecessary by ccleaner, for the sake of reducing space or ram usage. if you have a proper pc with more than enough specs, you really dont need the fix. windows can sort it by itself.

since windows 10 

This has happened to me now TWICE...

 

Screwed up something (deleted something I suppose) and Windows would not update anymore...

 

I would download the updates just fine - but then when installing them - all of the updates would fail.

 

Had to do a backup of folders and reinstall Windows - and then it worked fine.

 

Then stupidly, I used another program (Bitdefender One Click Optimizer) and it screwed up my LAN/wireless.

 

Had to do a restore from disk image that I made...

 

These programs today seem to be not smart enough yet to not delete files, etc. that are needed.

[TomChaai]

Too much work for me even if they are necessary, not to mention most of these are totally pointless.

I don't do weekly, monthly or quarterly maintenance in any form, hardware or software. I just clean the dust off if it is visible and apparently clogging something, replace thermal paste after maybe 3 years if I haven't got a new PC by then.

I leave all software optimization/cleanup/update on automatic schedule and that should do more than enough for my usage scenario. I only do proactive update if I know the new version has something I want.

All service troubleshooting for me is incident triggered, I don't check if they work. The only exception is storage SMART status.

[TetraSky]

Over the years, I've found that Ccleaner cause more issues than it fixes, not worth it over simply running built-in disk clean up.
 

My "routine" is basically just :
-set up automatic defrag/trim and never touch it again
-set up automatic browser history clean up and never touch it again

-run AV once in a blue moon

-empty out the recycling bin.

-clean the filters on my case whenever I remember

-backup to external drive twice a week.

-reinstall windows 10 at every major release... Which is probably never again now that Windows 11 is out.

 

That's pretty much it.

[dkoudijs]

I do my home maint the same time i do the PM at work (Once a month is the main PM)

I made an excel sheet that has all the items broken down by type (Server, NAS, Network, etc)

Then I have all the tasks listed, and if they are done monthly, quartly, yearly etc

 

- From your list I would skip the CC cleaner every week, and look at each month.

- Add in driver updates once a month

- Run OS updates once a month (So you control when your PC decides to reboot)

- Check AV is running once a month

- Check your backups once a quarter at least, not just they are running but test a restore. People seem to rely to much on the report saying it backed up and not actually testing them

- Empty Recyling once a month

- Check HDD space, make sure its not getting to full, and that space matchs use. So if you experiance about 1 GB growth a month, and then see a 100 GB growth something is wrong. (I know my excample is odd, but you get the idea of rapid unknown growth is bad)

- Reboot router/ap/switchs once a month. Is it needed? Maybe not but I don't experiacne network issues at home because of this

- Reboot PC once a month

- Check your logins work on your devices, Also this test makes sure you can login to your devices. Checks for lock ups

- Do a test print once a month, checks if printer has any issues

 

I do more stuff, but generally just think of all the little things you have in your house, doing a 5 second check saves you later head ache if a device fails to work right when you need it.

[Lurking]

CCleaner has screwed up my system multiple times in the W7 days. Never again...

With newer W10 and not installing all random software I also think Windows is good at healing itself. Gone the days of XP where reinstalling the OS annually gave a boost.

 

Get as case with filters and positive pressure ventilation. Then it stays clean inside forever and you only clean the filter.

[Alan G]

I let Windows Defender handle all the AV stuff.  I don't visit any dodgy sites or open email attachments that are questionable so I don't see any need for Malwarebytes.  Our condo is pretty dust free so I only clean the three computers every 6-8 months. 

 

All files are backed up daily to a separate hard drive and 3 times weekly to Amazon cloud.  A fresh system image is carried out monthly (fortunately never had to use it).  I let Windows manage all the clean up stuff and empty the recycle bin every two weeks.

[wanderingfool2]

On 7/12/2022 at 7:25 AM, Jtalk4456 said:

I wasn't implying it builds up, but more that If I'm checking things more constantly, I won't get behind on updates and everything will be running its best.

I can see what you mean about cCleaner, is that something I should customize within a ccleaner registry check or just not do a registry check at all. I've heard before that it was something good to do to prevent issues from happening, but that may be wrong

I could be wrong, but it seems more likely to mess up a system than help it.

 

Could there be leftover registry files from programs, sure...but it really can't know which is which (unless it's hardcoded).  The issue becomes when it decides something is useless when it's not.  Actually in the past CCleaner I believe has been responsible for some peoples systems BSOD'ing because of precisely that, it removed a registry or important file.

 

I honestly never have run such a tool on my computer, and haven't had any issues.  The key is only install trusted programs, and the probably of having an issue software related is pretty small...especially if you are doing a fresh install every few years.

 

On 7/12/2022 at 6:41 AM, Jtalk4456 said:

Bi-Monthly

Run Ram/Storage Health Scans/Testing

Backup to NAS

Check for unused steam game installs/files and remove or backup to nas as necessary

Which definition of bi-monthly are you talking about?  Based on the placement, I'm assuming you meant once every 2 months?  [That's the issue with the word bimonthly, it has 2 different meanings...twice a month or ones ever 2 months].

 

Anyways, if it's every 2 months you really should consider doing backups more often.  You can even do an incremental backup...that way it's quicker than a full backup and if something does happen you are less likely to lose important data.   With that said, I get that most people don't (it would really be nice to have better backup software  out there).

 

There isn't much point in testing RAM, imo.  In all the years I've only had 2 computer become glitchy due to RAM (managing an office full computers).

[AndreiArgeanu]

I do little to no maintenance. Just let windows do it's thing like virus scans and defragging and I very rarely have problems. I dust my pc maybe once every 3 months, it's more whenever I feel like it than anything else. I clean my desk pad whenever it gets too dirty. And every once in a while I run disk cleaner on the C drive to get rid of old stuff and free up some space.

[cmndr]

My maintenance technique

1. Dust once a year or so or whenever I upgrade and notice an issue.
2. I reinstall the OS whenever I screw something up badly. More common on linux, less common on windows.

 

 

FYI running CCleaner can do more harm than good. Screwing with the registry can go wrong.

[IntMD]

My maintenance routine...

 

Dust it when it is dirty/maybe give it a clean if I upgrade something.

Let AV/whatever else do it's thing.

Fix or reinstall Windows if something properly breaks in it (last had to actually do that on Vista) or if I do a major (multiple component) update, I will sometimes do a fresh reinstall of Windows. I don't keep anything solely on there that I actually need, so usually a full delete and reinstall.