Below are some tips and ideas on clearing out you hard drive and making your computer run smoother.

1.  Uninstall Windows components and Programs you no longer need/want.

  1. Open your Control Panel (select Start > Settings -> Control Panel)
  2. Open Add or Remove Programs
  3. Go through the list of applications and uninstall any applications that you want to remove.
  4. Click the Add/Remove Windows Components button
  5. Select the components you want to remove and press OK

2.  Clear out program files that get left behind:

Sometimes the uninstall programs aren’t perfect and they leave behind bits and pieces.  Look through c:program files and see if there are any folders or programs that you don’t recognise or don’t want.  I don’t suggest you delete these immediately.  Move them to a temporary folder called something like ‘delete in 1 week if not needed’.  You may not recognise the name of the folder but it may be used for some program that you use regularly – it’s best to keep a backup for a while just in case.

3.  Run ccleaner and spybot.

Download, install and run these apps from the following websites:
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
http://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors/

CCleaner is a great program for removing temporary files like temporary internet files etc and spy bot is a great program for scanning for and removing spyware and adware that can dramatically slow down your pc. Running these is pretty straight forward.  I’d recommend keeping these both up-to-date and running ccleaner at least fortnightly and Spy Bot monthly.

4.  Search for large files.

  1. Start -> Search -> Files and folders.
  2. In the sidebar, click ‘what size is it’ and select ‘Specify size (in KB)’.
  3. Enter a value of around 10,000 or higher and search your whole hard drive.
  4. Review the files in this list (there may be a lot) and see if there’s any here that should be removed.

5.  Defrag your hard drive.
This will recover some space, but not a great deal but it will also help you computer find and load files faster.

  1. Right click on ‘My Computer’ and choose manage.
  2. Choose ‘Disk Defragementer’.  Then select your main hard drive and click ‘defragment’.

6.  Consider a fresh install.
It sounds dramatic but often the best way to clear things out is to backup EVERYTHING , format your hard drive and start again with a clean slate.  Don’t take this option likely.  Do some research and (I’ll say it again) back everything up.  This can cause problems if you’re not experienced with re-installing software or you don’t have anything to back up all of you data onto but it’s worth considering.   If you’re buying a new computer or new hard drive then this is a great time to consider this option.

7.  Consider a second hard drive:
They don’t cost that much and if there’s nothing you can find to delete then this is the next logical step.

8.  If you don’t have at least 2gig of ram, consider some more.
Ram is temporary memory that you computer uses when it is thinking.  If you computer doesn’t have enough RAM it uses hard drive space to make up for the deficit.
Ram prices vary greatly depending on the type or ram your machine will take and how much of it you need.   But generally you can upgrade your ram for less than $100.

I hope this helps you out.