by Matthew Garrett

Created on: April 14, 2009

People often complain to me about how their computer is running sluggish, and ask me how I keep my computer running to the highest level of performance it can. As I have helped people through the years, I have obtained quite a few useful tidbits on cleaning up a Windows PC. So, here are my top 5 ways to keep your computer running top notch!

[As with any computing advice, caution should be taken, and I am not responsible for whatever damage may occur (though unlikely)]

1. Delete/Archive old unused documents.

If you're anything like me, you don't like letting go of old files. That's why CDs, Flash Drives, and similar external storage devices are extremely useful for file-collecting-maniacs such as myself. I suggest once a month, (or week if you use your computer very often) going through your documents folders and searching out all your old files (Old videos, pictures, perhaps that report from your son or daughter that they wrote back in 05...) and archiving them. For archiving, I'd suggest downloading 7zip for windows. Take all the old files you don't need / want, and move them to a new folder with the date as the title of that folder. Install 7zip. After it's done installing, you can right click the folder and add it to an archive. (For ease, use the zip format.) This may take anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 1/2 hours, depending on how much you are putting in it. Zip it, delete the old folder (BUT DON'T DELETE THE .ZIP! Common mistake for most.) Right click it and select Properties. If that zip is anywhere from 450-700 megabytes (MB), put it on a CD and label it for the date that you named the folder. Set up a regular system for archiving, and you'll find your computer has a lot of extra space to utilize.

2. Remove old programs.

After using a single computer for a long time, it tends to gather quite a bit of extra programs you don't use. From the start menu, select Control Panel, and find the Add/Remove Programs icon. Open that up, and sort them by frequency of use. You'll see you have a lot of programs you don't use very often! Keep in mind that any free programs (Adobe Acrobat Reader, Audacity, AIM, YIM, MSN) can be redownloaded online for no charge, so feel free to get rid of those, and get them later if need be! After all that, you should have a good gigabyte or more cleared up. If you don't, don't feel bad! It just means your computer is already cleaned out a bit.

3. Do a Disk Cleanup

Windows offers a nice disk cleanup utility that can be found under Start ->

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