I performed a search and found various, somewhat stale, threads with advice on how to maintain optimal computer performance. I thought I'd ask the experts here to provide me with advice on what I should be doing to keep my laptop running in tip-top shape. Here are the things that I'm currently doing:

Operating the McAfee suite of anti-virus, anti-spam, etc. programs. The anti-virus scan runs weekly, and I get automatic updates whenever they are available.

I've set the Windows updates to "automatic", so whenever Microsoft issues patches, etc. I get them and install them.

Running AdAware from time to time. I have the free version and I don't think I can schedule it to run at a specified time, but I try to run it manually every week or so.

I'm pretty sure that McAfee defrags my hard drive once a quarter or so.
I have no idea if anything is cleaning/deleting unused or odd registry keys.

A post in OMNI offered this link: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....html?t=133269
that seems to have some decent advice on how to keep a computer clean and remove viruses.

I don't seem to have any issues or viruses today, though I noticed that my hard drive is starting to reach maximum capacity (I do have a 500 GB external hard drive and I'm slowly starting to shift data there to create additional capacity on the C: drive).

I locked into the McAfee subscription through August of this year, and don't really want to pay for additional software at this time, but, if there are programs out there that are "must-have's" and they cost a little, I would be willing to part with some money to get some peace of mind.

Thanks in advance.

First, system tools aren't that great at doing this, I find a compauter that has SystemWorks, Mcafee suites and the like to be INCREDIBLY SLOW.

Also ignore those finally fast dot com commercials, totally bogus.

If you want a fast computer most of the tools you need are built in, get a good AV scanner like Fprot or NOD32, both very effective, small, and very fast, they don't bog you down in work.

You can use built-in tools for the disk checks, there is little to no benefit of any of the mass produced defrag software, in fact they defrag too often IMO degrading the life of the HD systems.

The best system is one that is not destroyed by multiple useless software installs, tampered with by registry 'cleaners' and taken care of manually by the owner, or on a schedule by different applications that are best of class for their purpose and not part of bundle of sub par junk.

I used Norton for years and after it started to bog down my computer went to McAfee. Dumped McAfee after getting multiple false alerts and am now using Panda A/V and am totally happy. I agree with Steph3n on most of his points with the exception of a defragger. My six year old desktop would sometimes taking longer to boot than my 12 cup coffee maker to make a full pot of coffee. After a lot of research and speaking with computer techs at big box stores and the three local schools of higher education I bought RegCure by ParetoLogic� and my system is back to whiplash start-up speed ^ Two other options you may want to consider is the free version of Zone Alarm and check out the excellent freeware at Gibson Research (http://www.grc.com/intro.htm).

In general, this is the advice I'm seeking - what are the "best-in-class" applications that a home computer owner needs? McAfee and AdAware seem to be doing a good job of keeping my computer free of viruses, spyware and the like, but then again, how can I be sure? I mean, the machine generally seems to be running fine, but I'd like a little more assurance.

Also, I can boil my computer useage down to a handful of programs, so I'd love to shed all of the "junk" programs or programs I don't ever use (mostly the handful of stuff that was pre-installed on the machine by Dell). I have no idea how to do this without risking corrupting the things that I really want to save and that really work for me.

Finally, is there a way to migrate various programs over to my external hard drive without corrupting them? I know how to move data, pictures, and music, but what about full programs? Is there a simple way to shift something like Flight Simulator over to the Western Digital drive without completely fouling it up?

I gave two best in class AV examples.

For defragging if you feel you must have it diskkeeper is good.
Moving programs, it is not recommended, I'd rather do a proper uninstall and reinstall it over to the WD external typically you can move any saved games and such on there.

As for removing programs, most of them can be done via the Control Panel, add/remove programs and this is a proper uninstall that will not harm other programs. A few of those pre-installed apps are a beast to remove, I typically end up formatting and installing a fresh windows copy when I buy a machine.

Format the machine once in a while (every few years), don't use IE, and keep a firewall working.

McAffee and Norton are cr@p.

Okay. How so? I've been using McAfee for 3-4 years and haven't seemed to have any trouble. Have I just been lucky, or is McAfee doing its job?

I dont know that crap is the appropriate word. There is a very good chance that it has helped you. The problem most people have with Norton and McAfee is it is unusually high on overhead. Programs like NOD32 offer better virus protection and is much smaller and alot less bloat to go with it.

The main problem with McAfee (and Norton, and most others) is the performance hit they impose. Plus the intrusive nature of the Firewall/Anti-Malware/Anti-Spam/Anti-everything else portions. Plus, all the major players have been reasonably ineffective in preventing and/or catching and removing the really nasty Trojans that have appeared in the last year or so.

Most of the major AV programs started becoming really bloated when they issued new products in response to XP SP2. I'm a longtime Norton user, and their 2006, 2007, and 2008 products slowed computers considerably. They've considerably improved performance with the 2009 Norton AV. I won't go near their Norton Internet Security or Norton 360 versions, however. Users of Trend Micro and AVG have reported serious performance problems in the last 2 years, also.

McAfee has always had the reputation of being worse than Norton in exacting a performance hit. This may not have been true in 2007 and 2008. Eset's NOD32 is highly streamlined compared to Norton or McAfee. Several other products impose very light performance penalties, but you need to study the reviews to find out if they are effective, take forever to scan, or have other issues. Interestingly, many of the best AV products come from Russia and Eastern Europe - also the place many of the viruses come from.

Best advice to avoid performance problems -

- buy an antivirus program that specializes in viruses and is still fast. ESET's Nod32 is good, Norton 2009 isn't bad. Kaspersky's not bad.
- if you use McAfee or Norton on a desktop behind a hardware firewall, turn off any internet protection (firewall) features.
- turn off anti-malware features and use a trio of ad-aware/spybot S&D/malwarebytes on an occasional basis (twice a month is plenty once the machine is clean).
- turn off anti-spam. If you have spam problems, a) get a better ISP, 2) a better mail client, 3) 3rd party anti-spam programs.

I recommend keeping apps that you use on a daily basis installed on the computer HD while installing your games and other less used programs on the external HD. Follow Steph3n's guidance using the Control Panel, add/remove programs to uninstall the programs you don't need or intend to reinstall on your external HD first. Restart your computer after you have uninstalled all the programs then start installing to your external HD. Even though you are installing to your external HD there will be a number of files that will be written to the computers HD.

You asked about "best-in-class" do you know which of your computer ports are open and can be exploited? Try the free 'SheildsUp' by Gibson Research Corp. No program is installed on your HD so no need to worry about additional clutter. And no I do not work for nor am I related to GRC.

I'll vouch for GRC products too, while I haven't seen a lot of new tiny apps from him(very useful ones in the windows 98 days!) the shields up is very solid, along with his other apps if you need their scope of service.

One of the best ways to keep your system running well is to not install software unless you absolutely need it. A lot of software will install pieces that run all the time, even when you don't have the program running. This will make your system slower, especially when you have limited RAM.

Keeping a reasonable amount of free space (at least 10%) on your system drive also helps.

every 6 months do a reformat and OS reinstall

the only way to truly keep your computer in top nick

There is a program called TuneUp Utilities that i like. seems not to do any harm. it is amazing how many "left ins" it finds the first time it runs. it is also very good at getting rid of the crap that decrapify does not dig out.

i think hard drives start slowing down by the time they are 50% full. stick another hd in your machine and store all the pics, videos and music on it. hds are very cheap, and very easy to install in today's world.

Are there issues that can arise with the regular use of AdAware on a Vista machine?