Detailed discussion of changing schedule settings

The PCCare Settings page presents the Current and Default settings as well as the controls to change the events and task schedule.

The tasks are organized according to the three (3) main functional groupings:

• Security
• Disk, Folder, and File Maintenance
• System Integrity Management

The Default schedules show the Digiticians® recommended schedules; you are free to change this as you need to. Keep in mind that some features and functions will have no effect until the completion of other functions. Please see the table below for the Digiticians® recommended Default settings.

Security

The Update Anti-Virus Definitions task should be executed every day as viruses and their counter agents are constantly changing. Your PC should be turned ON and connected to your cable Modem. We recommend you run updates overnight when you will not be using your PC. Your anti-virus software should already be set to scan all internet downloads, all incoming and outgoing email messages as well as other optional features. Please see your vendor documents to setup and configure your specific anti-virus software.

The Run Anti-Virus Software task should be executed once a week in case an old virus can be detected and cleaned with updated definitions. We recommend an overnight period when you will not be using your PC. Choose a time that your PC will be on (not needed to be on the internet) and not busy.

Disk, Folder and File Maintenance

The tasks under this grouping have a logical order.

Ideally you should run Internet Folder Cleanup first to get rid of any internet cache and old temporary files.  

Next you should run Scan Disk/CHKDSK to diagnose and repair damaged file/folder structures and physical drive errors. For older versions of Windows, PCCare™ will run Scandisk, followed by a file/folder cleanup. For newer versions of Windows, PCCare™ will actually run CHKDSK and CHKDSK Cleanup.

Once you have deleted the old, unused files and folders, and diagnosed and repaired your physical drive, you should run Disk Defragment to regain all the hard drive space used by those old files and folders. Please note that Disk Defragment will not run on drives that have physical damage; in this case, please run Scan Disk first.

Digiticians® recommends running Temporary Internet Files Cleanup twice daily with a 2 week value for aging files. The Value of Delete Cached Files Older than field is set for 2-weeks. This allows you to get rid of files, folders and unused cache older than 2 weeks, but still allows you to access those folders younger than 2 weeks. This value may be changed. Please realize that the longer you leave files and cache around, the slower your system may run as you will have many more files. The trade off is that if you delete files, cache and folders that are still in use will not be available.

Scan Disk and Disk Defragment are initially set for once a week leaving some time between the tasks to allow the prior task to complete. Please allow about 15-20 minutes for Scan Disk, 5-10 minutes for Clean Folders and as much as 2 hours for Defragment Hard Drive.

Note that the Scan Disk and Defragment Drive tasks may be set for monthly or weekly.

Note that the Clean Internet Folders task may be run daily or weekly.

System Integrity Management

Correct System Clock While only one scheduled task is displayed, there are three tasks that will be reported in the Dashboard: Synchronization of the system clock online with the NIST¹ atomic clock in Boulder, CO If the user resets the clock more than 5 hours different, or If the time drifts beyond five minutes over a twelve hour period

Digiticians recommends setting the clock once a week. If the Dashboard shows that the time has drifted beyond the acceptable lag, you have the option of setting the interval for synchronization to a daily task. If you are running a data service or other critical time marked application (email server, file server, etc.) then we recommend setting the interval to daily.

Software Change Monitor Any software that is installed or uninstalled using any of a variety of installation programs will be detected and reported. PCCare will NOT prevent the installation or removal, but will detect and report it to you so that you can acept or undo the changes.

An optional feature Request System Profile  will direct your browser to a new window on the Digiticians Web site where you will be able to view a sample report and decide if you wish to purchase a full report of all hardware and software installed on your PC.

Digiticians; Default Schedule

¹ NIST  National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOTE:

Running PCCare does not guarantee you will not get a virus, worm or other intrusion. PCCare is not an anti-virus application, users are required to own a valid, licensed copy and active anti-virus definitions subscription service for PCCare to run properly.

PCCare™ supports the following anti-virus software:

• McAfee VirusScan
• Symantec Norton AntiVirus
• Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus

PCCare puts a "wrapper" around your existing anti-virus software to ensure it has the best possible chance of running as easily and consistently as possible without putting the burden on you and your time.