How do I clean up my computer?

Cleaning a computer from time to time is essential if you want your computer to run efficiently and without problems. Similarly, if your computer has encountered problems, then cleaning it may fix the problems. There are several steps which must be undertaken to keep a computer running smoothly. This article outlines the different clean-up tools which are required to clean up your computer.

Clean the registry

The PC registry is what your computer turns to, when trying to find or open a program or a file. As things are moved and deleted, they can leave false entries in the registry. This can confuse the computer, and sometimes may cause it not to work properly. A registry full of outdated entries can also slow your computer down. Therefore, it is very important that you keep it clean. The easiest way to do this is to download a dedicated registry cleaner program. While some of these cost money, many are free. One of the best, and handily one of the free ones, is CCleaner, which can be downloaded from Cnet.com. Once you have installed this, just ask the software to clean your registry. It will quickly fix any problems for you.

Scan for viruses

This is an obvious suggestion, but it is always very important to regularly scan your computer for viruses and malware. You should already have a virus scanner installed. Therefore, just make sure that you run a full system scan regularly.

Defragment your computer

Occasionally, it becomes necessary to defragment your system. Your hard drive can become cluttered and un-optimised. To check whether you need to run the defragmentation tool, right-click on each of your drives. Then, click on ‘properties’, on ‘tools’ and then, on ‘check now’. If the tool finds many errors, then it should present you with an option to defragment from the same screen. If it does not, you must click on ‘defragment now’ ( it is below the ‘check now’ option).

General cleaning

The only other thing that can be worth doing from time to time, is clearing out internet cookies and temporary files. If you downloaded CCleaner to clean your registry, then you can use the same program to accomplish this. Once you have completed all these steps, your computer should be running much more smoothly.