If you have a PC, chances are it runs too slowly for your tastes. Over time, your computer slows down due to all the virtual junk that accumulates in there.
It doesn’t have to be that way. With the help of free and low-cost downloads, you can turn your sluggish system back into the youthful, zippy machine it once was. Read on to find out how.
(For links to all of these tools in one convenient list, see our “Clean Up Windows and Your Hard Drive” collection.)
Clean Everything
If that’s all it did, this program would already be a must-have–but it can do more, as well. You’ll find a very good Registry cleaner for zapping outdated Registry entries (see the Registry section below for more on that topic), plus a tool for deleting Internet cookies you don’t want while leaving behind the ones you wish to keep. And if you don’t want to use the Windows uninstaller, CCleaner has a built-in uninstaller, too. Sound overwhelming? No worries: CCleaner lets you select the tasks it should perform. For example, you can tell it to erase traces that Chrome and Firefox leave behind, but not to clean up after Adobe Flash Player or Windows Media Player.
Just as remarkable, you don’t have to pay a pretty penny for this program–it’s donationware. You can pay what it’s worth to you, from zero dollars on up.
Sweep Away Gunk
The very first time you start up a new PC, you might expect it to be free of gunk and unnecessary software, such as trialware. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Even on a PC’s maiden voyage, you’ll typically find it loaded down with “craplets”–unwanted demos, trialware, and the like that the software makers have paid the PC manufacturer to install. These craplets junk up your hard disk, and can slow down its performance.
Tidy Up the Registry (Perhaps)
One cause of many system slowdowns is the Windows Registry, which contains information about all your installed software, your preferences, how Windows should run, and more. Over time, as you install and uninstall software, change your preferences, and so on, the Registry fills with outdated entries, incorrect entries, and entries that conflict with one another. The likely result? Your system slows down and becomes more susceptible to crashing.
Note, however, that the benefits of cleaning the Registry are the focus of much debate. In some cases, Registry edits may help an ailing PC; in others, they may create problems. Before diving in, read “Are Registry Cleaners Worth It?” for some analysis.
The software gives you greater control over Registry cleaning than does CCleaner, but you’ll be able to fix only 100 entries with it unless you pay the $30 fee to buy it. If you are confident about making sweeping changes to the Registry, get this program; otherwise, CCleaner will do fine for you.
Be aware, too, that you should always create a Windows system restore point before using Advanced Registry Optimizer 2010–or any Registry cleaner–in case it makes changes that cause your PC problems.
Remove Duplicate Files
Lurking on your hard disk are plenty of duplicate files that take up space for no reason. If they’re media files such as music or photographs, they could be consuming hundreds of megabytes of storage. Finding them all can be tough because identical files may have different names, and even files with the same name may be sitting in different directories.
Be aware that it does make mistakes sometimes, so be sure to use its built-in ability to launch files to examine them before deleting them. If you’d rather not vet the possible duplicates so closely, you might prefer the more accurate (and, at $30, more expensive) Easy Duplicate Finder.
Defragment Your Hard Drive (but Not Your SSD)
Here’s one more reason your PC might be sluggish: The hard disk may be fragmented. Windows stores files in pieces, and as you open and save them, those pieces go to various parts of the hard disk, leading to fragmentation. When you open the files, your PC needs to work harder to find them across the many different pieces. Fragmentation is a bigger problem for older PCs, but even new systems reap a benefit from defragging: If you happen to lose any files, defragged data will be easier to recover. (Solid-state drives, however, don’t need frequent defragging; for more information, see “Defragging: Why, How, and Whether.”)
Make Your PC Boot Faster
PCs seem to take an eternity to boot. That’s because many programs set themselves to run automatically at startup even if they’re not needed, which makes your PC chug along at boot time while you twiddle your thumbs. And once your PC boots, it runs more slowly since too many unnecessary programs are loaded.
The result? A faster-booting PC–and possibly a speedier PC overall.
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