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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Which tab in Msconfig can you use to find out if the computer is using a dual boot
configuration? What information on this tab tells you that two operating systems are
installed?

2. How can enabling and disabling items listed on the Startup tab be useful when you are
troubleshooting a problem boot?

3. Which tab in Msconfig can be used to restart the system in Safe Mode?

4. Which tab in Msconfig can you use to find out if a service is currently running?

5. How can the Tools tab in Msconfig be useful to a technician?

LAB 11.7 CRITICAL THINKING: USE WINDOWS UTILITIES TO

SPEED UP A SYSTEM
OBJECTIVES
The goal of this lab is to help you learn how to clean up processes that might slow
Windows performance. After completing this lab, you will be able to:
Use Windows tools to clean up startup
Investigate processes that are slowing down Windows
Configure the system to keep it clean and free of malware

MATERIALS REQUIRED
This lab requires the following:
A Windows 7 computer designated for this lab
Internet access

LAB PREPARATION
Before the lab begins, the instructor or lab assistant needs to do the following:
Verify Windows starts with no errors. For the best student experience, try to use systems
that are not optimized and need the benefits of this lab. For example, you can do this lab
using your own or a friends computer or one your instructor assigns to you that gets
heavy student use.
Verify that Internet access is available

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ACTIVITY BACKGROUND
A troubleshooting problem youll often face as a PC support technician is a sluggish
Windows system. Customers might tell you that when their Windows computer was new,
it ran smoothly and fast with no errors, but now it hangs occasionally, is slow to start up
or shut down, and is slow when working. There is no one particular problem that stands
out above the rest, but a customer just says, Please make my system work faster. When
solving these types of general problems, it helps to have a game plan. This activity will give
you just that. Youll learn how to speed up Windows, ridding it of unneeded and unwanted
processes that are slowing it down.
ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME: 60 MINUTES

Activity
Use an administrator account to log onto the system each time you need to log on during this lab. Before
you make any changes to the system, first get a benchmark of how long it takes for Windows to start up.
Do the following:
1. Power down the computer and turn it on. Using a watch with a second hand, note how
many minutes are needed for the system to start. Startup is completed after you have
logged onto Windows, the hard drive activity light has stopped, and the mouse pointer
looks like an arrow. How long does startup take?

2. Describe any problems you observed during startup:

This lab assumes that Windows might be slow starting but does start up without errors. If you see error
messages on-screen or the system refuses to boot, you need to solve these problems before you continue
with a general cleanup in the following steps.
Youre now ready to begin a general cleanup. Do the following:
1. If valuable data is on the hard drive that is not backed up, back up that data now.
2. Run antivirus (AV) software. Here are your options:
If AV software is not installed and you have the AV software setup CD, install it. If it
fails to install (some viruses block software installations), boot into Safe Mode and
install and run it from there.
If you dont have access to the AV software setup CD, you can download software
from the Internet. If your PC cannot connect to the Internet (such as when Internet
access is blocked by an active virus), you can download the software on another
PC and burn a CD with the downloaded file. But before you do that, first try to
connect to the Internet using the Safe Mode with Networking option on the
Advanced Boot Options menu. (This option might disable a virus that prevents
Internet access.)
If you dont have AV software installed and dont have access to an AV software
setup CD, but you can connect the computer to the Internet, you can run an online
virus scan from an AV web site. For example, Trend Micro (www.trendmicro.com)
offers a free online virus scan. (This free online scan has been known to find viruses
that other scans do not.)

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List the steps you took to run the AV software:

List any malware the AV software found:

3. Reboot the system. Is there a performance increase? How long does startup take?

4. If the system is still running so slowly you find it difficult to work, you can temporarily
use MSconfig to control startup processes hogging system resources. Click Start, and
type msconfig.exe in the search box and press Enter. The System Configuration utility
window opens. Click the Startup tab.
5. You can keep services from starting by unchecking them in this window. List all the
services that are run at startup, and use the Internet to determine the purpose of each of
them:

6. Uncheck all the services except the ones associated with your antivirus program. Reboot
the system to cause these changes to take effect.
7. Is there a performance increase? How long does startup take?

8. Clean up the hard drive. Delete temporary files and check the drive for errors. If the
system is slow while doing these tasks, do them from Safe Mode. Note that you need
about 15 percent free hard drive space to defragment the drive. If you dont have
that much free space, find some folders and files you can move to a different media.
Windows requires this much free space to run well.

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9. Reboot the system. Is there a performance increase? How long does startup take?

10. Check Device Manager for hardware devices that are installed but not working or
devices that are no longer needed and should be uninstalled. Did you find any devices
that need fixing or uninstalling? How did you handle the situation?

Challenge Activity (Additional 15 Minutes)

MSconfig doesnt necessarily show all the processes that run at startup. So, to get a more
thorough list, you need to use a more powerful startup manager such as Autoruns from
Sysinternals.
1. Go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx and download and
install the latest version of Autoruns.
2. Run Autoruns and select the Logon tab, as shown in Figure 11-6.

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Figure 11-6

Autoruns startup manager by Sysinternals

Source: Microsoft Autoruns

3. How does the list of startup processes differ from the list generated by Msconfig? List
any additional processes identified:

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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. If AV software is not installed and you dont have access to the Internet, how can you
install it?

2. Which window or dialog box is used to check a hard drive for errors?

3. What two folders can contain programs to be launched when a specific user logs onto
the system?

4. When cleaning up startup, why should you not delete a program file you find in a
startup folder?

5. What utility lists all currently running processes?

Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.