How to Clean Up a Computer

Computer slowing down?? It's probably time to clean it up. There are a couple easy ways you can clean up your computer and optimize its performance.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. The first step you'll want to accomplish is cleaning up files that you don't use. Excessive files can take up memory and slow your computer down.

2. Go to the Start menu at the lower left hand corner. From there you will select Programs. Under Programs you'll want to select Accessories. Under Accessories, select System Tools.

3. Under System Tools, you'll find Disk Cleanup. Select Disk Cleanup. Your computer will run a scan of files that can be deleted and the file sizes. Place a check in each box and select Ok. Selecting Ok will delete all unnecessary files. If you're feeling really brave, there's a "More Options" tab in Disk Cleanup where you can delete installed programs you no longer use.

4. The second step you'll want accomplish is defragmenting your computer. Defragmenting rearranges the programs on you computer so that they operate in a more efficient manner.

5. To begin the Defrag process, start by following Step 2.

6. In System Tools, select Disk Defragmenter. When the defragmenter program opens, select Analyze. Your computer will analyze whether your computer needs to be defragmented or not. If so, select Defragment. This process will take a while so it's best to do so when you don't need to use the computer.

7. That's it!! If you followed these easy steps, your computer should be running more efficiently.

[Arius]

on 2/9/2009 nice tip and easy to follow

[meacham01]

on 12/30/2008 Great tips and the comments were helpful too. I'm taking notes. I store a great deal of words on my pc and these tips will help me keep up to speed.

[Wasatch]

on 12/29/2008 Good tips. Everyone should do this on occasion.

[TomCom]

on 12/27/2008 My late step-Father, a former career Computer Programmer, taught me to always run Scandisk (Windows 'Error-checking') first and Disk Defragmenter second. To get there, open 'My Computer', right-click on your hard drive and select properties, then, select Error-checking, under the Tools tab. To do a thorough job of it, check both boxes and allow it to run on reboot. Once that is done, I will run Defragmenter, even if it says it isn't necessary.
Good article! Most people don't have a clue...

[poseidon]

on 12/18/2008 Nice step-by-step instructions.
Just a couple of comments:
(1) If you use an alternative browser like the free Opera, it's best to empty the internet cache from the option in Opera itself because the Windows disk cleanup utility doesn't do that.
(2) If there is heavy fragmentation, system files are fragmented, or disk space is low, the Windows defragger is ineffective. In such a situation, it's best to use a more advanced and powerful defragmenter like Diskeeper 2009 to restore drive perfomance. Diskeeper 2009 is also fully automatic, so all you need to do is merely install it. It works perfectly on my system, removing fragmentation automatically.