Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Giving Your PC a Tune-Up

Over time, you'll notice that your PC has slowed down. Windows takes a little longer to start up, programs that used to snap into action now seem to crawl, scrolling becomes choppy, and your PC locks up more frequently. You might begin to think that you need a new processor, more RAM, a larger hard disk drive, or even a whole new PC.

Before you take such drastic action, work through this tutorial to give your PC a tune-up. By clearing useless files from your disk drive, reorganizing files, and reclaiming some of your PC's memory, you can boost your PC's performance and save a lot of money at the same time.

Eliminating Useless Files

Your hard disk probably contains temporary files and backup files that your programs create without telling you. These files can quickly clutter your hard drive, consuming space you need for new programs or new data files you create. You can easily delete most of these files yourself.

The easiest way to clear useless files from your hard drive in Windows is to let the Windows Disk Cleanup utility manage the details:

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. If your PC has more than one hard drive, Windows prompts you to select the drive you want to clean.
2. If prompted to select a drive, click the arrow to the right of the Drives box, click the desired drive, and click OK. The utility scans your PC's hard drive for useless files and displays a list of file types you probably won't ever need.
3. Check the box next to each file type you want Disk Cleanup to sweep off your PC's hard drive, and uncheck the box next to any items you want to keep.
4. Click OK to commence the proceedings. The Cleanup utility removes the files you selected in Step 3.

Temporary files, those files that end in .TMP, are files that your programs create but often forget to delete. You can safely delete them to make more room on your PC.

For a more thorough and aggressive cleaning, perform Steps 1 and 2 and then click the Clean up system files button. Windows displays a Disk Cleanup dialog box, but this one has a More Options tab. Click the More Options tab, and then click the Clean up button under Programs and Features or System Restore and Shadow Copies to clear additional items from the disk. Confirm you're sure you want to delete by clicking Delete.

You can clear temporary Internet files off your hard drive without having to perform a full disk cleanup. In Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options. Under Browsing history, click Delete; use the resulting options to choose the items you want to delete, or click the Delete All button to delete everything.

Disk Cleanup does not remove copies of old digital photos you never look at, video clips you never watch, or music clips you never listen to. These are the items that really gobble up hard drive space in a hurry. Track down the folders where these files are stored and delete them or move them to CDs or DVDs.

While you're at it, open your e-mail program and delete any e-mail messages you no longer need, including copies of messages you sent. When you delete e-mail messages, some e-mail programs stick the deleted messages in a separate folder (usually called Deleted Items). Be sure to delete the messages from that folder, too.

NOTE: Disk Cleanup can dump your Recycle Bin and open up a lot of disk space. If you already did this, that's fine, but know that you can dump the Recycle Bin at any time. Just be sure it doesn't contain something you might need. Open the Recycle Bin by double-clicking its icon on the desktop, and scroll down the list of deleted files to be sure you don't need anything in the Bin. If you find a file you might need, drag it onto the Windows desktop for safekeeping, or rightclick the file and select Restore to restore the file to its original location. Then click the Empty the Recycle Bin button.