We all want our computers to run faster, better and stronger. But with the Internet, downloading software, sharing music and work projects, it seems users are asking more and more from their computers every day. There are various ways to cut down the clutter and speed up your computer.

Manage Start-up Programs and Disk Cleanup

Click your start button and click "Control Panel." Here you will find many options to free up space on your computer and help it run better. Go to the "Systems and Maintenance" section. Next click on "Performance Information and Tools" and in the left task bar click "Manage start up programs." You have started Windows Defender, which will start an automatic scan of harmful or unwanted software items such as spyware. The scanning and purging process will take several minutes. Set up your Windows Defender for a daily scan and clean up. Go back to the "Systems and Maintenance" section and click the "Open Disk Clean up" options. Hit the "file from all users on this computer' and click "Continue." The computer will run through all its files that can be cleaned up. These files include applets from Internet downloads, hibernation, recycle and unwanted thumbnails. Disk Cleanup will tell you how much space you can free up if you delete the unwanted files. Click "OK" to permanently delete the unwanted files.

Uninstall and Defrag

Users tend to collect a lot of unused programs, whether bought or free, and too many will slow your computer down. If there are recent programs or software you want to get rid of, return to the "Control Panel" and click "Uninstall a Program." There will be a list, in alphabetical order, of all downloaded software programs you have installed. Select a program, click "Uninstall" and press continue, it will then ask you if you want to completely remove the program, click "Yes" and the program will be removed. To defragment a hard drive, go to the "Control Panel" and under "Administrative Tools" you will see and click "Defragment your hardware." Defragmenting consolidates fragmented files on your hard drive, this will help the general performance of your computer. You can schedule a daily scan or de-frag the system at any time. Windows warns you that the process can take from a few minutes to a few hours.

Source:

Windows Disk Clean up

Windows Uninstall Programs

What is Defragmenting?

More Information:

More Uninstall Tips

Running a Disk Clean up