General PC Clean / Speed up Process

[dpsystems]

Hi there,

I have around 60 XP SP2 Desktop pc's on my 2003 Doamin, i'm getting a few calls for some users claiming pc's are running slow.

So i have decieded i will arrange to visit each computer and carry out a Update, Clean Up, Speed Up. I would like to make a quick check list so things dont get missed out.

So far :

Carry out all MS updates
Remove all tmp,cookies & crap
Custiomze Performance options, Page file, Visual, move page file to d drive.
Check virus def.

Can the desktop guru's please give me a list of other stuff i can do on pc's to ensure they have been cleaned up and custmozied to run fast.

PS, all pcs are HP P4's with 512mg RAM

Thanks

 

[stduc]

Get the user to demonstrate the problem. There may be nothing you can do except advise that they change their work practices. For instance they may use a spreadsheet that used to be a few KB but has grown to be 50MB and you need to advice them to split it up - or if it is still recalculating everything then maybe stuff that doesn't need to be recalculated can be changed to values. That sort of thing.

Check for any unnecessary system processes and stop them if need be.

Check page file is a fixed one and not fragmented.

Uninstall any software the user has put on that is not company policy (NB stop them doing that again by amending your GP)

Do a defrag.

 

[outonalimb]

Depending on what rights you have given your users in the past, check for background processes from programs they may have installed. Use MSCONFIG to do this.

Run a disk defrag on all the computers. If the computers are fairly old, try replacing the hard disk to see if you get a performance increase. You could clone the drive first to save time. This will give you some kind of benchmark and an idea of whether disk access in slowing the machines down.

You may also want to consider investing in a program such as Diskeeper to keep the hard disks optimized.

Check for spyware.

 

[linney]

Perform the maintenance tasks you have mentioned.

Check the Event Viewer for errors and warnings.

Check the speed of the Machine from Safe Mode.

If the speed is considerable better in Safe Mode compared to Normal Mode then you can investigate further.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH