Nobody denies that maintenance tasks on a Windows computer are tedious, but unless the operating system learns (once and for all) to do that work on its own and in the proper way, we have to get our hands dirty. The alternative is to prepare a sort of script aimed at automating several steps, and the Tron project takes that concept to the extreme, running dozens of tools integrated into a single package that occupies more than half a gigabyte.
The last malware purge I carried out on a computer took me three hours. I admit that I am getting old, and my patience is no longer what it used to be, but there are users who cannot stay even ten minutes in front of an error message. For this and other reasons, it is so hard to convince the average user to perform maintenance.
At the same time, the appeal of automated tools and the "one-click solutions" becomes very tempting, even though they don't do a complete job. The lack of depth and patience lead us to the doors of the TronScript project, a script that is at version 11.0.0, updated in February of this year, and registering thousands of users within its official Reddit profile.
A Complete Maintenance Script
Tron presents itself as a glorified batch file, which executes a broad battalion of commands, patches, and cleaning systems aimed at improving the security and performance of the computer. Its operation is divided into multiple phases:
- Preparation (registry backup, process pause)
- Temporary File Removal (CCleaner, browser cache, etc.)
- OEM Bloatware Purge, Disinfection (combines Malwarebytes, Sophos, and Kaspersky)
- Repair (permission issues, SFC command, etc.)
- Updates (7-Zip, pending Windows hotfixes)
- Optimization (reset of swap file and defragmentation, SSDs are ignored)
- Report Generation.
Despite its efforts, Tron cannot automate all tasks (for example, Malwarebytes Free requires user confirmation), and it is inevitable to encounter some warning messages, but beyond these small irritations, the Tron script should help (and a lot) those computers that haven't received maintenance in months, or even years.
Now, there is always a price to pay, and what we save in work, we must give in time: The average execution for a complete Tron cycle takes between four and seven hours. The reasons are obvious: Anti-malware scanning with three different engines, defragmentation, integrity checks for system files... these are inherently slow tasks, but it is not something we need to do every day. Test it in an isolated environment (like a virtualizer) and see for yourself if it is worth running on your PC.
