Anyone know what Geek Squad does to optimize your computer?

[thenetduck]

Hi,

I am making this post because Geek Squad charges 30 bucks to optimize your computer and I don't have the money (plus I wanna know). Has anyone worked on the Geek Squad? I am interested to learn how to do this. Does anyone know how this is done on windows XP?

Do they use some kind of cd? or is there a different equivalent for free?

Thanks!

The Net Duck

[I-75]

Hi,

I am making this post because Geek Squad charges 30 bucks to optimize your computer and I don't have the money (plus I wanna know). Has anyone worked on the Geek Squad? I am interested to learn how to do this. Does anyone know how this is done on windows XP?

Do they use some kind of cd? or is there a different equivalent for free?

Thanks!

The Net Duck

For me personally I would not allow anyone to touch my computers. Seriously, If you want to optimize your XP computer, save your files and do a re install. Another way is to add RAM, change your antivirus to a less resource hungry one.

If you have Vista, disable system restore, indexing, windows defender, aero and minimize start up to one or two programs.

[timcredible]

they don't do anything except take your money. wait, that's not true, they also sometimes claim that hardware is broken that isn't and then harass you into buying more stuff. ok, here's the story:

friend of mine was having problems with his pc, i told him to quit using windows, that i would install linux, he said noooooo!!!! so he went to best buy instead, where they found lots of viruses, and charged him $50 or something. immediately after, he had no sound, so he took it back and they said the sound card had died and sold him a new one for over $100. i just shook my head when i found out.

[Canis familiaris]

Use nLite and vLite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLite

[Flynn555]

i've always wanted to buy a video card and have them install it on my linux box...i bet they couldnt do it.


EDIT: woot 100 posts!

[SkonesMickLoud]

A friend of mine fell on some hard times and decided to apply to Geek Squad (he's a Linux guy, but can (somehow) stand using Windows). Even though he was/is vastly overqualified for the position, he ended up not getting hired, and later told me that the manager actually asked him "What's Linux?".

It'd be hilarious to bring in a Linux box with an Xorg problem. Even funnier if it was something like Gentoo or Arch.

@thenetduck: Just remember that everyone who works at GeekSquad is in some way, shape, or form a salesman. That's not to say they shouldn't be trusted or that they don't know what they're doing, but they do sometimes have ulterior motives when offering advice.

All they'll really do to "optimize" XP is run through the list of programs in your System Tools directory.

[seanc7]

Yep, that's about it - Defrag, Chkdsk, run an antispyware (that they make you buy), run an antivirus (that they make you buy), etc, etc.

[thenetduck]

Thanks for the helpful advice. I am a Linux guy and (100% for about 3 years now for some reason hardy isn't installing on my girls computer so we were looking at other options to make it better. I think she might just need to get a new laptop, it heats up and runs pretty slow.

[I-75]

Thanks for the helpful advice. I am a Linux guy and (100% for about 3 years now for some reason hardy isn't installing on my girls computer so we were looking at other options to make it better. I think she might just need to get a new laptop, it heats up and runs pretty slow.


How much RAM does it have? What model, make ? Sometimes adding RAM can make a difference. Also using the alternate text installer version instead of the live CD will make a difference in trying to do a installation.

If increasing the RAM is not a option, then try using Xubuntu instead of Ubuntu and use the alternate text installer version.

Ubuntu alternate install

http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04/ubuntu-8.04.1-alternate-i386.iso




Xubuntu alternate installer

http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Xubuntu/8.04.1/release/xubuntu-8.04.1-alternate-i386.iso

[smoker]

A friend of mine fell on some hard times and decided to apply to Geek Squad (he's a Linux guy, but can (somehow) stand using Windows). Even though he was/is vastly overqualified for the position, he ended up not getting hired, and later told me that the manager actually asked him "What's Linux?"

why do they call it the Geek Squad when they don't employ Geeks :lolflag:

[TenPlus1]

If you really wanna tweak your Ubuntu system for performance, check out these links:

http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2008/04/tweak-and-optimize-ubuntu-linux-boot.html

http://thedailyubuntu.blogspot.com/

also read the Ubuntu forums as more people post valuable information on making their systems faster...

I personally disable any services/sessions that aren't needed, set my swappiness level to 0 (cause I got 1gb+ memory) and turn OFF tracker...

[jaredcheeda]

¯

[sdowney717]

there is a lot changing for linux for the better over the last year even.
I find linux challenging and interesting and constantly improving
I got bored with windows. I dual boot with XP and almost never go back to windows. Tried a few distros and came to realize Ubuntu offered the best desktop experience.

Major benefits include

no defrag issues
no malware
no spyware, adware
no viruses, trojans
user space separate from file systems
free all at no cost

big hurdle is to learn something different.

Major frustrations are some hardware just wont work since those companies wont bother to release drivers for linux. So you just pick hardware that will work. We have one amd laptop that you never could get to run ubuntu always hung but it would run the live cd.

And you got to wonder if linux keeps on improving if it might just take over the desktop.

[earthpigg]

...our official Geek Squad MRI disc...

sooo anyone smart enough to run this google search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Geek+Squad+MRI+torrent) and burn an ISO has no need for geek squad's optimization services.

[jaredcheeda]

¯

[Grant A.]

I would personally not recommend Geek Squad. The Geek Squad in my area has been known to install viri and bloatware on computers, and break drivers on them just to get your business again.

[Dr Small]

GeekSquad? You mean those dudes at BestBuy in suits in ties? Sheessh... They ain't geeks. I can tell that as soon as I spotted them. I would never let anyone touch my system(s) unsupervised.

[kosmoskid]

Optimization, in my understanding, is a CD they put in that removes all third-party bloatware (including all registry entries), disables background software, and cuts back on system startup processes using msconfig.

The CD is software that a geek has written to do all this in about 30 minutes, as opposed to you uninstalling each piece individually, or doing the system restore that takes even longer.

The other thing is that even though we may see no use in it, there are people who do, and don't want to deal with it.

[notwen]

I would never let anyone touch my system(s) unsupervised.

What he said. *nod*

[Viranh]

I don't know what geek squad does, but I can give a pretty good guide for how to optimize your computer yourself. I usually do this from a clean install of windows xp, but you don't have to. I install all drivers and programs I want from my recovery drive, then reboot. Then I go into run>msconfig and uncheck almost all startup processes. I leave my firewall (Sygate) and my antivirus (NOD 32) and that's about it. If I'm unsure, I google the process/program. I noticed blackviper recommends using services.msc so that you don't disable things your system needs. I support this recommendation if you can't afford to crash your system and/or have never done this before.
Then I apply the settings in control panel>administrative tools>services from http://www.blackviper.com/. I usually go somewhere between "power user" and "bare bones." Also, "power user" has been renamed to "tweaked." This step seems to make the most difference. Then run regcleaner (be careful looking for this, there are alot of programs with similar names) and ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) to clean up the registry from installation and any program removal. I usually turn off system restore and themes, and I keep automatic updates off, but I remember to allow it to run regularly. I also have had automatic updates run and crash while I was doing important things, so I prefer for it to run when I want it to.
The right antivirus makes a big difference on an old system too since it will use the most RAM of any other background process. I like NOD 32. My old Dell from 2001 couldn't do anything and could hardly boot when running bit-defender or Norton. I get windows xp to use ~120 mb of RAM at idle by doing this. This is less than I have ever gotten Ubuntu to use.
To keep your system optimized, regularly run fsc and chkdsk, and become familiar with what processes run on your computer. I run Hijackthis! (http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download) , regcleaner, and spybot/adaware, and an in depth virus scan regularly and keep logs to monitor for changes. Process explorer is pretty good for checking out what's running too, but task manager is usually passable. Every time you install a program, remember to remove it from startup in msconfig. It's mostly spyware that slows you down over time, so knowing what your computer is supposed to be running is an important part of staying optimized. A little extra work plus CONSTANT VIGILANCE makes Windows a pretty good system. If you're not in to constant vigilance, use Ubuntu.

[Twitch6000]

NEVER EVER EVER use geeksquad they are the biggest rip off artists(well ok not artists lol) that I can think off.

If you want to tweak your xp to good performance use this guide here -

http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks1.htm

go down the lists and follow the directions step by step.

After you get done you will see better performance :).

I would also suggest using lighter anti virus and anti spyware programs.

Defrag with auslogics defragger

Oh get rid of any programs that you don't need or use.

[whitefang5412]

Many many moons ago a friend of mine sent his Computer to geek squad. It was running just fine, but he needed some stuff installed and I opted for him to let me do it for free but no that was too hard. Computer came back so slow he couldn't use it.