Computer Tips?!! Advice???

I just bought a Dell inspirion laptop. What are some things that I can do to make sure my laptop is always running at its best? Im not computer literate. Whats disk fragmenting? etc. Thanks.Computer Tips?!! Advice???
I do NOT recommend you reinstall. Your Dell CD is most likely a restore CD that will only put back all the stuff they give you. You can go to Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall any Dell programs you dont want. Start....Control Panel (I would set this to Classic View)...Uninstall a Program...look for anything Dell related.





Download the programs linked below. Install them. Update them. Scan your pc with them, and do so weekly.





AVG Antivirus - Free Antivirus Software


(CNET: ';AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the most popular free solution available at no cost to home users and provides the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers.';)





Ad-Aware - Free Antispyware Software


(CNET: ';One of the first applications built to find and remove adware and spyware, Ad-Aware 2007's excellent reputation is well-justified.';)





Spybot Search%26amp;Destroy - Free Antispyware/Antitrojan Software


Some REALLY great features of Spybot Search%26amp;Destroy: Its ability to help your PC block known spyware/hijacker sites with Immunize feature, a Secure Shredder for truly removing files from your PC, and Startup, which allows you to view the files starting with Windows.





SuperAntiSpyware


SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition is 100% Free and will detect and remove thousands of Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and Worms. SUPERAntiSpyware features many unique and powerful technologies and removes spyware threats that other applications fail to remove.





Defragmenting a drive means taking all the files that have been saved onto your hard drive, in open spots all over the hard drive (in fragments), and putting them all together. Think of a grocery store. If the store didnt put all the cans of Tomato soup together, and just put them in the first empty spot they found (3 here...7 over there), then it would take you forever to shop. The computer must search your drive for these parts too. So, your computer runs slower. Defrag about once a month, no more. Open My Computer (or Computer with Vista), right-click (C:) and choose Properties...Tools tab...Defragmentor.





You also want to keep your computer OFF THE CARPET. Your PC uses air to cool the inside of the computer, which can get very hot. Cool air from your room is sucked into the front of your case, and the hot air inside is pushed out the back. Keep the area around your PC clear, so good air flow can occur. That air carries any dust inside with it, that dust covers the inside and makes things hotter. Carpet is very dusty, so dont set your PC on the carpet. Once every six months, you might want to open your case, and use Dust Remover (can of compressed CO2 from Walmart) to blow the dust off the inside, especially all the fans.





Hope this helps.Computer Tips?!! Advice???
Like bill said Dells do come with a lot of ';crapware'; however since you say your not as computer literate I wouldn't recommend trying to re-install the OS. The best thing you could do is just spend an hour two looking up computer ';checklists'; that explain in detail what you should do to take care of your computer.





It doesn't give much detail, but here is a good article on what you should be doing. Just do some research on each of the steps.





http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehac鈥?/a>





Because it's being recommended quite a bit, let me say again I would not recomend re-installing an OS. If something happens and your friend isn't as computer savvy as you thought your just SOL, and then you have to spend 3 hours talking to some guy in India.
ooh! email me at trierweiler.christina@gmail.com, I will help you out a ton. I love this sort of thing! (and I'm really good at it) disk fragmenting is essentially moving files around on your hardrive to make accessing them more efficient.





Optimizing your computer ranges from ';really easy and everyone should to it'; to ';complicated and people who don't know what they are doing should stay away';





The site that helped my friend (I was gone at the time) was http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/鈥?/a> but that is for windows XP. (which is what my dell came with, I don't know what your dell came with)
well, first of all, dell comes with crap ware, i would recommend, take the laptop to a friend who knows about computers, and get them to reinstall the operating system for you, ( trust me it runs a lot faster without the crap ware) and then have them ghost the drive for you, just in case of virus and crush, also they can install anti virus and firewalls, they can also set the computer to auto defrag and update itself, so that you don;t have to do it.
billxni...'s suggestions are right on the money!


Get rid of the crap. Backup entire system. Spend some time learning about how to secure your computer.