Over time, as you install more and more programs on your computer and collect more and more data, it can have an affect on your computer’s performance.   In extreme cases this can cause your computer to freeze or stop booting.  Having a lot of applications running at startup or running all the time puts demands on your computers limited resources.

But there are some simple steps you can do to regain some control.  Its like servicing your car regularly to keep it running in tip top shape, there are things you can do to service your computer and keep it running well.

 

Delete Temporary Files

Nearly every application on your computer stores temporary files.  The biggest culprits are usually web browsers.  Web browsers store files locally on your computer (called caching) to speed up the response time if you go to the same site again and it hasn’t changed since you last went there.  For example, if you go load a website, there is a good chance that it will take a while to load but your computer will save a copy of the images etc to your local computer.  This means if you go back to that site or reload the page again, it should be faster but all those little cached files are taking up space on your hard drive.

Windows has built in tools for deleting temporary files:

For Windows 7:

Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

For Windows Vista:

Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup.

For Windows XP:

Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

 

Call in the experts:

There is an application that I use a lot called CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER) – this application can clean out all the files that Windows built in tools can but has extra templates for other programs you may have installed, and has other tools for helping you clean up space.

 

Do it regularly:

We recommend you clean out temporary files on a regular basis.  Every week to 2 weeks is usually a good schedule without going too overboard.

 

Be aware of what you’re deleting:

Sometimes, these applications will remove cookies, form data and other useful temporary files from the internet.  This usually isn’t a major issue but you may find yourself logging into facebook again after you had previously saved your login details or setting up a website with your favourite settings again.

 

Defrag

When files are deleted they leave a gap on your hard drive.  This gap is then filled by files that are saved later but they do not always fit exactly in the gap.  So over time you may end up with some large files that are spread across various parts of a hard drive (become fragmented).  This means the computer has to work harder to find and read all the parts of the file and this slows performance.

 

Note: This is not necessary (in fact it may be harmful) if you have a solid state drive and Windows 7.  Windows 7 is optimised for use on a SSD and defragging them can reduce their lifespan unnecessarily reading and writing to the drive).

 

 

Clean up start-up programs and services

Windows comes with a  built in utility called msconfig that can help you to configure what items occur during startup.

Common culprits are Microsoft Office, PDF viewers and old programs that you don’t use any more.

 

You can see the list by:

Windows XP: Go to Start -> Run and typing ‘msconfig’ and press ‘OK’.

Windows 7: Click on the start menu and in the search box type ‘msconfig’ and press ‘Enter’

Note: You can also bring up the ‘run’ dialog using the “Windows + R” hotkey.

 

 

Uninstall unused programs

Old programs that you don’t use any more are simply taking up space that can be used for other things.  Sometimes they may even cause issues with installing new programs.

Remove them by going to

Windows XP: Start -> Control Pannel -> Add Remove Programs and Features

Windows 7: Start -> Control Panel -> Programs -> Uninstall a program.

Go through this list and remove any programs that you don’t recognise or that you no longer use.

 

Find the space hogs:

There are some great programs such as WinDirStat (Windows directory statistics) https://windirstat.info/ and TreeSize – https://www.jam-software.de/customers/downloadTrial.php which can scan your hard drive and show you the large files and folders that are taking up space on your computer.

A lot of time I’ll find large files that are better moved to a backup or archive hard drive or just not needed any more and can be deleted.  It’s important to make sure you understand what you are deleting though as sometimes important system files (like the swap file, the Winsxs folder and hibernation files) can get quite large but are still required by Windows to operate correctly.

Re-install Windows

Drastic measures time!  When the computer gets really bogged down and especially if you are having serious issues with Windows, it may be worth while investigating if it is worth re-installing windows.  Unless you’ve done this before and know what is involved, I would recommend getting a computer technician to advise you if this is necessary and whether or not it will help.  At the very least BACK UP YOUR FILES before you do anything else.

I like to rebuild my Windows installations about once every 1-2 years even if nothing is wrong just to refresh the system and clear out all the crud and accumulated settings/drivers/temporary files and miscellaneous files that can accumulate in Windows over larger periods of time.  I’ve found Windows 7 to be more stable and less likely to a need a re-install than previous versions of Windows but others experience has differed.