How to Clean Up Your Computer & Optimize Performance

Often times your computer may seem to lag, every task seems be taking even longer than it once did when it was its original speedy self. At times this can indicate you have too many programs loaded up at once, causing a drain on the memory. At other times, performing some simple optimization/cleaning tips on your computer can do the trick.

Try these simple steps below before rushing out to buy a program or calling to pay for tech support:

Run Anti-Spyware and Anti Virus Software - Especially Anti-Spyware, as these items have been known to slow down computers. Spyware is usually a cookie or tracking device which a website you visit installs on your computer, to keep you in its system. As more of these items become embedded on a computer they can start running in the background, hence the slowdown. At least once a week run the Anti-spyware to clear up these pesky files Personally recommended are AdAware by Lavasoft and Microsoft's Beta Defender, both are free (the latter if you have a PC and your copy of Windows is confirmed as your own by the site).

Anti-Virus software also can help with computer performance. Viruses and malware are harmful to your computer's overall operations and can ultimately ruin your system. Some begin to delete very important files from your system, which would eventually render your computer as useless. Run this weekly and make sure you update the anti-virus' definition database if it is not done automatically. The definition database is part of all Anti Virus software which defines the latest viruses and provides protection. Recommended names here are Trend Micro's PC-Cillin Antivirus 2007 and NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2004 (although some say Norton tends to slow a computer down when its running in the background).

Disk Cleanup - This is a simple procedure you can use on any hard drive in your computer. Go to the Start menu, then select My Computer. From here right click on any drive, C: is usually the first choice to make, and then select Properties. You should be on the General tab on a pop up window and see a pie chart of the drive. Next to this pie chart click the button Disk Cleanup. The program will start to calculate what old unused and temporary files are unnecessary to really have on your computer. Usually these are all safe to be cleared, so no worries here. Click theOk button and it will begin to delete the files to free up space on that drive. Perform this step for each of your hard drives.

Run Disk Defragmenter - This is something many people don't do often enough on their computers. "Disk Defragmenter" will clean up various data pieces on your hard drives that have been spread around when you do things like create or delete files. Doing this definitely optimizes the performance of your computer hard drives. It can be time consuming, depending on the size of your drives and what's on there. It may be best to run over night or while you're away during a day.

To do this, on Windows, go to your Start Menu, then Control Panel. Make sure you are on the Classic View (should be an option on the Left hand side). From here, choose Administrative Tools, then double click on Computer Management. Here you should see Disk Defragmenter on the Lefthand side of the panel. Highlight that choice once by clicking on it once. You will then see a display in the window which lists all of your harddrives. The info will show how much space you have on each drive being used and available as well. Highlight any drive and then click the Analyze option below. Disk Defrag will then take a look at the drive to see how much you can optimize it by running this program. Once it completes this phase, the program usually gives you a pop-up telling if you should run "Disk Defragmenter". O bviously if the difference is relatively big, run the disk defragmenter. Click on "Defragment" and let it run its course, usually overnight should do, sometimes a day is better. Depending on how many drives you have, you may need to repeat this step for each drive you have in your computer.

Toss out/Organize your files - Getting rid of un-used files you have including pictures you don't want, or other files you may have downloaded is a small step to speed up your computer overall, but it can help. Also the more organized your files are, the easier it becomes to maintain. Put similar files in organized folders, and it will go a long ways toward your sanity as well.

Buy more memory - Some computers can handle only 512megabytes of memory, but most should be able to take 1 to 2 gigabytes these days. If your computer can handle more and you can afford it, this is ultimately your best option to speed up overall performance. If you tend to use many programs at once, memory allows you to do that. A computer can only handle so much, so it relies on the memory chips to allow you to handle multiple applications. Tigerdirect.com and Buy.com are usually good places to check on the latest prices. Make sure to consult your computer's manual, or online read-me help manual to obtain which memory is right for your system. Most computers have 2 available memory slots, with 1 already being used by the memory chip your computer came with. If your computer can handle 1 gigabyte and you have 512 megabytes in there, you can buy another 512 mb or you can simply replace your current chip with one 1 gig chip. Visit a local computer vendor for more info on how to properly replace your computer's memory.

Note: A final but more risky and less advised option is to completely re-install Windows. This involves a lot of groundwork, backing up files and remembering what you were running and can take some time to do, but often it is the final resort in making your machine even speedier than before.If you perform the majority of the tips above maybe once a month (Spyware/Anti-Virus should be more often), you should be able to enjoy a relatively fast performing computer, which is clutter free.