A direct result of the recent recession has been an increase in the numbers of people holding onto their Windows XP computers rather than make an upgrade. This Reimage review highlights how scheduling some upkeep of your computer and PC maintenance software can be combined to keep XP running well.
Many XP machines are now several years old with numerous applications/patches installed and removed over the intervening years. Keeping XP stable and secure is a two step approach. First you should schedule your own tasks to establish a baseline healthy system as follows:
- Regularly install the Windows Update patches for XP (especially the critical/security ones).
- Run anti-virus scans often.
- Maintain a healthy amount of free disk space (at least 10% is good).
- Use a disk defragmenter application monthly on all hard drives.
- Make back-up copies of personal data and important system files (e.g. the registry file).
With the baseline system maintained it is then easier to deal with faults that arise. When something like a corrupted registry or a blue screen error occurs most folk can attempt a remedy themselves and/or resort to automated PC maintenance software like Reimage.
Reimage works on the principal that software/OS faults can occur due to issues in the registry as well as the file system. With this in mind the Reimage review process does a scan for registry keys that are incorrectly set or missing based on their online database of correct configurations. The software runs within a browser as an online service so requires no installation of its own.
Likewise the scan checks the file system (application files, device drivers, OS files, etc.) for virus damage, missing files and outdated files then downloads the latest working files from their data store (containing millions of XP related files).
The full Reimage review and repair process takes 30 minutes or less to complete. About the only XP issue it cannot fix are internet connection problems (since it runs as a web service it requires a net connection).
While Microsoft will someday pull their XP support, these machines should still be capable of being productive whether as backup machines/family computers/media servers/ etc. A little scheduled maintenance and effective home PC repairs using tools like Reimage should help XP stay stable & secure.
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