Maintaining Windows XP

As soon as your computer boots up...  Do the following each month:

(1) Remove Temp files...

Click Start > Run
Type in:      cleanmgr
Click OK
Check "Temporary Internet Files" and "Temporary Files"
Uncheck all other items in the list and click OK and then YES.

(2) Run a free online scanner to find and remove malware and viruses...

Click here to see several free scanners

(3) Perform Disk Error Checking...

1. Click on Start > My Computer
2. Right-click on the hard disk drive you want to check and left-click Properties
3. Click the Tools tab and then click the Check Now button
4. Select "Automatically Fix Errors" and click "Start

(4) If you have an antivirus program installed, make sure the virus definitions are up to date...

Norton and Symantec
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html

McAfee
http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/index.html

Trend Micro
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/

Kaspersky
http://www.kaspersky.com/avupdates

Grisoft AVG
http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-update

(5) Run Windows Update...

1. Click here:  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
   (or click Tools > Windows Update from within Internet Explorer)
2. Click "Express" and wait while your computer is checked for updates.
3. Click "Install Updates"
4. Click "Install Now" to begin downloading and installing the selected updates.

For additional information on maintaining your computer, please review these articles:

Maintaining Your Windows XP System...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810588

Windows XP Professional How-To Articles...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/usingwindowsxp.mspx

How to prevent spyware...
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/spyware/prevent.mspx

Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base...
http://support.microsoft.com/search/

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for other Microsoft products...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=faqs