Community Newsletter: Q&A: How do I get my PC back in shape?

Spring cleaning computer

In reply to: How do I get my PC back in shape? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

First off, what you need to do when doing spring cleaning on your computer, is to set a System Restore Point. That way, if something should go wrong, you can boot into Safe Mode and restore the computer to (almost) exactly the same way it was before you started.
System Restore is found in Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools(Running Windows in Norwegian, so forgive my translation)

Just start it, tell it to set a restore point, name it, you're done.

Then comes the spring cleaning.

First off, go to Add/Remove Programs. Remove any programs you no longer use. If the program needs to reboot the computer to be completely removed, do this each and every time. (Yes, it is a bit of a hassle, but isn't it better to have a hassle once than every time you start your computer?)
Also, delete any icons on your Desktop that isn't used. A full Desktop also slows down your computer somewhat.

When you have done this, open up My Computer and navigate to the Windows directory. Use the menu Tools->Folder Options->(the tab) View/Show. Find the option "Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)" and uncheck it. A warning box will appear, answer Yes. You won't do harm to your system, it's just to be able to do this. Then locate the option "Hidden Files and Folders" and check the option to view them all.
Now, here comes the clean-up: Any semi-transparent folder starting with the symbol $ are yours to throw in the bin. This is uninstallation files for all the Windows Updates. They aren't really needed if you don't have serious problems after one of the updates.
After this is done, check the box "Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)" again, and change the option for "Hidden Files and Folders" back. This way, you have to make an effort to find them and delete them, and you're not able to do it by accident.

Now, Disk Cleaner. It can be found in Accessories->System Tools.
Select your internal harddrive (if you have more than one harddrive and haven't done cleaning in a while, perform on other harddrives when you're done with the first), it starts checking the amount of space you can free. Once this is done, check all options. Run it.

You are getting there. Now, take a look at what's in your Startup folder. Anything there you haven't used in a while? Delete it from the Startup folder. (Don't delete firewalls, Spyware and adware shields or antivirus programs should they be there) This makes the boot of Windows take a little less time as it doesn't have to load all of these into memory.
Also, try searching this site for a startup manager. This is a program that lets you tweak what programs are allowed to auto-run with Windows Startup. Some programs are embedded in the registry to run at boot, and these needs training or a dedicated program to sort out. Startup managers generally make this a simple "Program running at boot now: Allow/Block?"-decision. Next time you boot, the changes will take effect.

OK, registry time. It's not recommended to touch this without training or a program dedicated to tweak it. For almost all steps of this spring cleaning I recommend Auslogics Boostspeed. There is a simple choice of "Find out how to optimize your computer"
The program then runs tests on your entire computer and give you a list of what can be done to clean it/make it faster. It takes all the options of Windows, and some more of its own, and puts it in one easy-to-find place.

It has a registry cleaner built in. This checks for invalid registry entries (entries not cleaned out when uninstalling programs) and deletes them. Once that is done, you can defrag (put the pieces of the registry in sequential order on your drive) it.
All registry cleaners can delete invalid entries, but not all defrags them.

Cleaning and defragging the registry is what makes the most difference in speed for my computer.

If you choose Auslogics Boostspeed, you will have to pay for all the features, but believe me, it's worth it. Even without all the features, I recommend trying it for your spring cleaning.

Now, all other things taken care of, it's time to defrag the harddrive itself, as it has gotten a lot of fragmented files by now. Windows has a Diskdefragmentation tool in Accessories->System Tools. Choose the drive and hit Defragment button. This is an automated process, so you don't have to sit by the computer while it's doing its job. However, it will take some time, depending on your hardware, ie processor speed, RAM and size of harddrive.

When all this is done, you should have quite a clean and fast machine. But don't expect it to be as fast as it was when new. You are not doing a "Clean Install", you are tweaking the current installation.

One last item to do if you want to: Go to Accessories->System Tools->Security Center and locate "Administer securitysettings for: Automatic Updates". Check the box that says "Alert me, but don't download and install automatic." You might get a warning when pressing OK, but if you want to do this, answer "Yes".
Why do you want to do this? When you get an alert for new updates, you can choose the option of Advanced. You will then get the choice of which updates to install. I use it because I don't need the updates for Outlook Express since I don't use it, and I haven't run it once in the past five years. If there are updates for programs you don't use, you don't need the updates. But if you don't know what the update is for, leave it checked and install it.

Registry cleaning is recommended once a month. So is Diskdefragmentation. You may at first just hit Analyze to see if it's needed. You will get a message telling you if it is.
Disk Cleaning is recommended once a week.
I also recommend setting a System Restore point each time you install anything, or at least once a week. (You can also set System Restore to monitor your drive(s). That way, when you install something, it sets a System Restore Point automatically)
You can use Task Scheduler in Accessories->System Tools to run several tasks that needs to be done on a regular basis.

Should you not have any spyware/adware/malware shield/program, I recommend getting one. Personally I use Spyware Terminator (free). Other useful programs in this category are Ad-Aware SE Personal, and Spybot Search and Destroy. These two don't have real-time protection, so you will have to manually run them at least once a week. This might also give you a speed-boost on your computer. At least you're safer.

Spring cleaning is complete. It may have taken you some time, but that time spent now is time you will save when not waiting for Windows or programs to start.