microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support

Thanks for your response. I am using CA Anti Virus software.

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:13:17 -0400, Frog wrote:
>
>> I am looking for the actions I should be taking to keep my XP
>> machine working properly. For example, I would routinely perform Scan
>> Disk, Defrag, Adaware and Spybot checks, and a number of other
>> maintenance checks on my old 98SE system in order to keep it healthy. I
>> was wondering if somebody had a similar list of maintenance tasks that
>> should be performed on my XP machine.
>
>
>
> Scandisk doesn't exist on XP; the equivalent there is called chkdsk.
> However I do not recommend running either one, whether on Windows 98
> or XP, on a routine basis. It needs to be run only of there is a
> problem to be addressed.
>
> Defragging is fine, although it's less significant on an NTFS drive
> than it was on FAT32 drives.
>
> Running anti-spyware programs continues to be very important.
>
>
>
>> I do have Windows Defender on my XP system. I, however, am not
>> sure what it actually does in the way of keeping my system clean.
>
>
> It's an anti-spyware program.
>
>
>> Does
>> it take the place of Adaware and Spybot?
>
>
> No. A single anti-spyware product--even the best one--is *not* good
> enough. Note what Eric Howes, who has done extensive testing on
> Anti-Spyware products, states:
>
> "No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
> best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one
> quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries" See
> http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm
>
> I would run all three.
>
>
>> I have virus scan software on
>> my system
>
>
> Which anti-virus program do you run?
>
>
>> that does not include spyware checker. Do I need to add
>> spyware checker?
>
>
>
> Yes. See above.
>
>
>> Are there some maintenance software packages that do a
>> reasonably good job of cleaning XP machines without causing problems?
>
>
> Beware of all such products that are offered to you. With very few
> exceptions, they are all much more likely to cause problems than to
> solve them. Very few external programs are needed--basically just
> antivirus and anti-spyware software.
>