Your cyberworld needs a good spring cleaning

Question: Now that winter is over, I was thinking aboutspring-cleaning my computer (after I recover from thegarage cleanup). I'm running Windows 95 on a Pentium 133Mhz. Any tips?

-- P.C.

Answer: There are a dozen things you can do to tidy upclutter in your computer.

Let's face it, there's probably a winter's worth of Christmasclip art, temp files and digital refuse that needs to be taken tothe virtual curb. There's also real dirt to take care of -- if itlooks arable, it probably needs cleaning.

Most of the tips here apply to your machine, but I also threwin a few pointers for the non-Windows 95 set. Here theyare:

1. Before you take the Fuller brush to the digital world, takecare of external smears, smudges and those stains that looklike a melted orange popsicle took up residence on yourcase. Wipe down any surface areas with a damp cloth, beingcareful not to get any excess water between the keys and inswitches or plug receptacles. Of course, it's a good idea toturn your computer off before you do this, but leave itplugged into your power bar. A grounded computer is a safecomputer.

2. While the computer is still off and grounded, open thecase. Before you touch anything, be sure to ground yourself.Touch a metal object not connected to your computer todiffuse any static electricity. Dust accumulates inside yourcomputer at an amazing rate. The cheap method of disposingof excess dirt is to put a stocking over your vacuum cleanerhose and gently remove dust components, suggests MathewFiszer, a senior technican at the west EdmontonCompuSmart store. He also suggests buying some cannedair to efficiently blow the dirt away. You can pick one up atany electronic store for around $20. Be sure to clean the fanon your chip, if you have one. Also check the fan in thepower source. If you're not confident about working insideyour computer, your local computer jockey can do the workfor about $25.

3. Clean your mouse. Wipe the surface of it as in item one.Also, unlock the mechanism that holds the little roller ball inplace and remove it. You'll see three rollers inside. Gungelikes to cling to them, so use a cotton swab with a littlealcohol to send it packing. Also wipe down the ball andtrade in your dirty mousepad for a new one or wipe it down.

4. As I said in a recent column, it's a good idea to install theWindows 95 service pack. It updates some quirks of theoriginal release of Windows 95 as well as some new systemadministration tools and drivers for Windows 95. Afterinstalling the update, your System properties will reportversion 4.00.950a. Also available is Service Pack 5 forWindows NT 3.51 and Service Pack 2 for NT 4.0 (ServicePack 3.0 is impending). Windows 95 and NT users can getmore information at www.microsoft.com.

   Mac owners with MacOS version 7.5.3 can update to7.5.5. Those with version 7.6 can update to 7.6.1. Specificquirks and details are at www.info.apple.com.

5. There are further updates to the Windows 95 platformthat you might consider. "There are several bugs introducedby the Windows 95 Service Pack," explained reader HalHoover. "If you install it, you may need to install some of thesubsequent patches." They can be found atwww.microsoft.com.

6. Of the several patches available in item five, considerinstalling two mail patches: Microsoft Exchange Update forWindows 95 and Internet Mail Service for Windows 95Update. They not only improve mail upload speed, but alsofix the handling of attachments.

7. Kernel32 Update for Windows 95 fixes the very heart ofWindows 95. Without it you might find your machinecrashing after a prolonged TCP/IP connection. In lay terms,it means being connected to the Internet. It resolves amemory leak, which is a mismanagement of memory thatoccurs when a program doesn't clean up after itselfeffectively.

8. You should regularly defragment your hard disk -- theequivalent of reorganizing the hidden filing cabinet that isyour hard drive. In Windows 95, clickSTART/Programs/Accessories/System Tools. In the sameplace you'll find Scandisk, which is a utility that scans andrepairs disk and file errors. It's a good idea to run both ofthese utilities every couple of weeks (and not just in thespring). Norton Utilities offers upscale versions of theseprograms in their stand-alone package for Windows andMacintosh platforms. Mac users might also consider usingthe tools in the utilities folder on the MacOS 7.6 CD. Itincludes Disk First Aid, a hard-drive repair and maintenancesoftware, and various other handy utilities, says my pal DalePort, a Mac columnist in these pages. Windows 3.1 andDOS 6.0 users can run "defrag" and "chkdsk". Chkdskauto-fixes problems if you run it at the DOS prompt asfollows: "chkdsk /f."

9. My favourite Windows platform cleanup software isCleansweep 95. It provides a myriad of utilities to clean upunwanted, long-forgotten and useless files. If you're lookingfor a way to reclaim more hard-drive space withoutcompression software, Cleansweep 95 does the trick.Versions are available for NT, 95 and 3.1 users. A trialversion is available at www.quarterdeck.com.

10. It may be worthwhile running an anti-virus check onyour system to clean out any unwanted bugs. I like PC-Cillin95 by Touchstone Software (www.checkit.com), buta reader recently suggested Dr. Solomon's Anti-VirusToolkit. Check out a downloadable trial version atwww.drsolomon.com. Norton Anti-Virus andMcAfee Scan also get good reviews.

11. You should also consider doing a back-up of your data.Unless you have a tape back-up or a large medium storagedevice like a ZIP disk drive, a back-up to floppies is goingto require some time. The various flavours of Windowscome with built-in back-up utilities, then again, so do tapeback-up accessories. I like the idea of backing up to asecond internal hard drive. No fuss, no muss.

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