How Do You Get to Disk Clean Up on a Computer?

The Windows operating systems include a small utility that will allow you to remove unneeded files from your computer with a simple mouse click. The Disk Clean Up utility will remove temporary files, downloaded program files, Internet files and others that can take up disk space and slow down your computer. Disk clean up should be run often to remove these files when they are no longer needed.

Instructions

1. Click the "Start" button on your desktop. On later versions of Windows, XP, Vista and 7, click on "All Programs" and then "Accessories" from the menu. On older versions, 95, 98, 2000, click on "Accessories" from the menu.

2. Click on "System Tools" from the Accessory option

3. Click on "Disk Cleanup" from the options given.

4. Click on the drive letter you wish to cleanup from the drop down box displayed in the wizard. Your primary drive, in most cases Drive C:, will be listed as the default.

5. Allow the wizard to determine what files are ready for cleanup.

6. Click in the boxes next to the items and file types you wish to be deleted. Click "OK" to begin disk cleanup.

Tips & Warnings

• Disk cleanup can be set to empty the recycle bin and any offline web pages you may have collected and no longer need. After running Disk Cleanup, you should also run the Defragmenter utility to optimize Windows. This utility is found in the same folder as Disk Cleanup.

References

• Microsoft: 5 ways to speed your PC - Windows 7
• Microsoft: Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP
• Microsoft: Delete files using Disk Cleanup - Vista