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get Ccleaner and learn to use it here: http://www.ccleaner.com/downlo ad and AdAware here: http://www.lavasoft.com/. In general, let these programs remove EVERYTHING they find. Nothing they take out is critical ot the function of your system, and I've never had them misdiagnose something in the thousands of scans I've run.

Defragmentation is another useful step in the cleanup process. Step one is to get PageDefrag and let it tune up your system files. You can find it and its instructions here: http://technet.microsoft.com/e n-us/sysinternals/bb897426.asp x.

Defragmenting your whole drive is a very time consuming process. I personally don't defrag because it usually only makes a marginal difference in my system's performance. If things are that bad, I usually back up and reinstall Windows.

If you are a fan of defrag, or want to do it because a friend recommended it, try O&O Defrag Free, it's much more thorough than the one built in to Windows. Get it here, install it, and let it run!

Once you're done with those general cleanup issues, head over to to Trend Micro's Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.c om/) to do a free, online virus scan or use Symantec's Security Check (http://security.symantec.com/ sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&ve nid=sym).

After all this, your computer should be much happier - dust free, lean, mean, and ready to perform! Check my other articles for more tips on things like Adware and trojan removal and ways to upgrade your computer's performance.

Learn more about this author, Lee Mathews.
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