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Jason Bache, technical support consultant and owner of Nerds Limited, reviews crucial tips on how to keep your computer running smoothly.

Show me how to: Make my computer faster

Jason Bache is an information technologies consultant and owner of Nerds Limited, an Albuquerque-based tech support business that makes house calls to fix both Mac and PC computers. He graduated from UNM with a BA in psychology with a minor in business he says he doesn’t just fix computers, he teaches his customers how to be good computer owners. The Daily Lobo spoke with Bache about how to make PC computers run faster and last longer.

Daily Lobo: So what can people do to make their PCs run better?

Jason Bache: Uninstall anything that you have never used. Almost every PC comes preloaded with a bunch of “crap-ware.” It’s all sorts of junk, like Dell has that stupid dock at the top that you don’t use and are afraid to touch, and Norton and McAfee and all sorts of junk that you don’t need and that will just completely destroy your system in time. The idea is, “We want you to love your Dell until your Dell is unfixable, or so painfully slow that you call India for some tech support and before you know it you’re buying a new one when it’s 18 months old.”

DL: Okay, what else?

JB: Use Ninite.com. This is awesome website that will automatically update any application you tell it to. Flash, Java, Picasa, iTunes, you name it, and it’s completely free. So, use that if you get an update.

Don’t believe the Java update, because you don’t know if that’s some sort of malicious something. That’s the most common way, especially over Facebook, that people get infected. It doesn’t actually have to do with Facebook, it has to do with people, your friends, clicking on this video of you last night and you’re like, ‘I wasn’t out last night, what the hell is this?’ So you click it, you get to a site that looks just like You Tube but it’s You.tube.net, and it looks like it’s about to play the video and then before you know it, it says your version of Flash is out of date. And you’re like, ‘Oh no! How am I going to watch this video of me that didn’t happen last night?’ So you’re like, ‘Okay, install,’ and you’re done. It’s that easy.

The other thing you want is Adblock Plus. It makes your computer faster by blocking all ads from running. Ads use Java which contributes to the load time on computers. You can surf the Internet ad-free, faster, with this program.

DL: So, that helps prevent viruses? What else can you do to prevent viruses?

JB: Do not use the anti-virus that was preinstalled. The reason that PC prices keep going down, and you go to the bookstore and are like, ‘A $500 laptop from Dell? How is that possible?’ It’s not. The way that they make the money back is the price of the laptop, just like the price of oil, is subsidized by Norton and McAfee, and Microsoft even subsidizes their own operating system to Dell or Office, which is not a Windows product, but you get that 90-day free trial and before you know it you have to pay for it again. The best program for anti-virus is Microsoft Security Suite, which is free.

DL: Are there any PC brands that don’t come with all this junk preloaded?

JB: Everybody, unfortunately, preloads, but some make it easier for the preload not to kick in, meaning it’s not preinstalled; it’s just waiting for you to activate it.

Lenovos are by far the best PCs. They are the original IBM ThinkPad. I think the t420i is the best PC on the market, and it’s more expensive but that’s okay because to think you can get a $500 laptop is a joke. You’re going to end up paying a tech $300 the second it slows to a crawl.

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DL: Can you give our readers a list of things they should go home and uninstall?

JB: Generally, if it’s not from Microsoft or Dell and you’ve never heard of it, it’s crap-ware. So really it’s a process of elimination. I can’t tell you exactly because it’s just a big long list of things.

Make your computer run faster and last longer:
Uninstall preloaded “crap-ware” programs that you don’t use.
Never click on updates from unknown websites. Use Ninite.com to automatically update programs you want updated.

Use Adblock Plus to prevent advertisements from clogging up your computer.

Don’t use the preinstalled anti-virus programs that came with the computer.

The following website compiled by Nerds Limited provides links to free programs, along with their descriptions, that Bache recommends for improving the speed and safety of your computer.

http://bitly.com/bundles/nerdslimited/8

Nerds Limited provides free advice to students via phone and email. Check out nerdslimited.com or call 505-750-8885.

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