Do you have a Windows desktop or laptop PC that was fast when it was new, but has since slowed to a crawl?  Or one that is constantly popping up disk-full or error messages?  The usual cause of these problems is hard disks that fill up as you install applications and add data, or inefficient use of your PC’s available horsepower.   Before you replace that PC, try these fast and free cleanup and optimization steps.  Perform the steps in order (any step can be skipped), and reboot when prompted.  A caveat: there are as many cleanup routines as there are PC users.  I’ve refined the steps outlined here over the years.  They purposely don’t make major configuration changes or delete data, but are offered without warranty, for use at your own risk.  If in doubt, consult a specialist before making any changes to your PC. 

1.      Optimize available memory settings.  This step varies slightly between Windows versions and you may have to reach each function by a different route.  In Vista, for example, right-click Computer (on the desktop or from File Explorer), select Properties, click Advanced System Settings and select the Advanced tab.  Under Performance, click Settings.  Under Visual Effects, de-select all options except Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts.  Under the Advanced, Virtual Memory tabs, click Change, select Custom Size and set both Initial Size and Maximum Size of the paging file to the Recommended Total Paging File Size (found at the bottom of the window).  Select a single drive--other than c:\ if one is available--to hold the paging file.  OK all the way out, confirming changes. 

2.     Use a virus checker.  Common sense is always the best virus preventative when providing personal information on the web, when opening email and when following links,  but if you don’t already have a virus scanner, install the free version of the AVG virus checker (search from Google; make sure you’re at free.avg.com and not an ambush site).  If you do have a virus checker, confirm it is on and up to date.

3.     Run Windows’s own cleanup.  These steps vary between Windows versions, but in Vista for example, highlight a hard drive (usually c:\) from File Explorer, right-click and select Properties, then select Disk Cleanup and Files From All Users.  Deselect the checkboxes for Temporary Internet Files and Recycle Bin.  Also click the More Options tab and select Clean Up under System Restore.  Click OK and Delete all the way out and repeat for any other drives on your machine.

4.     Remove temp and junk files.  Install and run free CCleaner (search from Google or go to www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ ).  On first launch, de-select all options under the Internet Explorer choices, select only Thumbnail Cache under the Windows Explorer section, select all options under System except Empty Recycle Bin, and de-select all options under Advanced except Old Prefetch Data and Tray Notifications Cache (these settings retain cookies and don’t clean out remembered usernames and passwords).  Then click Run Cleaner and confirm deletion of all suggested files. 

5.     Optimize the registry.  Click CCleaner’s Registry icon, select all checkbox options, click Scan For Issues, select all suggestions the scan produces and click Fix (opt for registry backup if you’re the cautious type, but unlike most registry cleanup utilities, this one is not overly aggressive).

6.     Remove unused applications.  In Control Panel select Programs (or Remove Programs in some Windows versions) and uninstall any truly obsolete applications.  Be circumspect, because they were originally installed for a reason, and your disk space saved is marginal.

7.     Review Recycle Bin.  Select and delete any unwanted files (generally anything more 6 months old can go).  Don’t store files in the Recycle Bin, or on the desktop—move them to a thought through file structure under My Documents.

8.     Clean up email.  Unless you use webmail only, clean up your email client’s Deleted items folder, then review the Sent Items folder for sent emails with large attachments, since the attached files are probably already on your PC  (in Outlook or Outlook Express, sort by Size, open the large email, right-click over the attachment file(s) and select Remove, then Save the email).  Also archive old mail to prevent the working email file from becoming excessively large—in Outlook, for example, click File in the top menu, and Archive items older than (say) six months, then compact the top folder (right-click it, select Properties, Advanced, Compact Now.  Depending upon when Outlook last self-ran compaction, this process takes from seconds to hours).

9.     Update Windows.  Install all Windows (and Office if you use it) patches and updates.  Then set update to Download updates but let me choose whether to install them.  If you haven’t yet installed Internet Explorer 8, don’t: it still has bugs.  Other browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome are fine and fast, but on balance I still prefer IE version 7 with Google Toolbar installed.  If you have installed IE8 and it’s running slowly or only works the second time you launch it, try this: right click on Command Prompt, select Run as Administrator, enter regsvr32 actxprxy.dll at the command prompt and hit Enter.  This step essentially re-registers IE’s security policy.

10.  Finally, defragment your hard disk.  Windows provides a file defragmenter, but install the more powerful, free MyDefrag (www.mydefrag.com/Manual-DownloadAndInstall.html ).  After closing all running programs (plus use Task Manager to close down further memory resident processes like Outlook for a better defrag), run MyDefrag at the Weekly level.  This process might require several hours or even overnight for a first defrag. After this Ten Step Program, your PC should have a new lease on life.  Steps 3-10 should be repeated approximately monthly.  There are further steps available, such as minimizing programs that launch at Startup, removing networked drives, defragging the swapfile, and optimizing internet connections, but these options are too case-specific for the scope of this article.  Search the web for more information. 

Finally, memory prices are low enough these days that if your machine has memory slots available, you should add RAM to the physical memory limit of the operating system version (which is 4 GB for most recent 32-bit versions of Windows; search the web for other version’s limits).  Don’t forget to increase the paging file to the new recommended size per Step 1 above if you add RAM.

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