Is your PC running slowly? Keeping your PC free of clutter can help performance and can also maximize valuable disk space. Here are a few simple tips for maintaining the performance of your PC.
Run the Windows Live OneCare clean up scan
The clean up scanner automatically checks your hard disk for any unnecessary files and gives you the option to delete them. You can run the clean up scan if you're only interested in performing a disk cleanup—or you can run the comprehensive full service scan to check for other PC issues as well.
Clear your Internet browser cache
The clean up scanner handles most common types of temporary files, but your Internet browser automatically caches, or stores, another type of temporary file whenever you surf the Internet. Browsers such as Internet Explorer save copies of the Web pages you visit in order to load these pages faster the next time you visit those sites. Outside of speeding up browsing, however, your browser does not need this cache of temporary files in order to operate properly. Since many Web sites have large graphics, clearing out your browser's cache can save valuable hard disk space.
To clear your cache in Internet Explorer:
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What does it mean?
hotfix A single cumulative package composed of one or more files used to address a
problem in a product.
update (noun) A broadly released fix for a specific problem addressing a noncritical,
non-security-related bug.
1.Click the Tools menu, then click Internet Options.
2.Select the General tab, then click Delete Files… in the Temporary Internet files section.
3.In the Delete Files dialog box that appears, select Delete all offline content, then click OK.
If it's the first time you've ever cleared your cache, or it's been a long while since you've dumped the cache and the file accumulation is large, deleting these files could take several minutes. Once the cache is cleared, click OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.
Remove unused programs
Just because you aren't using a program doesn't mean it isn't consuming resources and affecting your PC's performance. Removing unused programs from your hard disk is an easy way to maintain your system and maximize your available hard disk space.
To remove programs you don't need anymore:
1.Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2.In Category View, click Add or Remove Programs, then click Remove a program.
3.Scroll through the list and examine each program. Windows XP lists how often you use a program and what day you last started it. Note: Don't remove anything labeled "Update" or "Hotfix." These things improve the security of your computer.
4.Click a program you no longer need, click Change/Remove, and then follow the prompts to uninstall it. (In some cases, a program may be removed without prompting you further.)
You may have to restart your computer after removing a program. After your computer restarts, repeat this procedure to remove more programs.
You can remove optional Windows components from your PC to free up space. Many components come standard with Windows, but you may not use them frequently. You can reinstall these components from your Windows CD if you need them later.
To add or remove a Windows component:
1.Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2.In Category View, click Add or Remove Programs, then click Add a program.
3.On the left side of the menu, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4.Follow the instructions in the Windows Components Wizard.
Windows XP provides the option to restore your PC to a previous state by automatically saving restore information. System Restore continuously monitors your PC for changes, such as file changes, application changes, or installations. System Restore takes a "snapshot" of your PC at a given point in time and then stores each of these snapshots so that you can roll back any changes to a period before you experienced problems.
As you can imagine, these snapshots of your whole system take up memory space. You can delete older snapshots that you're sure you won't need in order to clean up your hard disk.
To delete System Restore snapshots except for the most recent one:
1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
2.Wait while Disk Cleanup calculates free disk space.
3.Click the More Options tab, and then, in the System Restore area, click Clean up….
