Clean-up

• 1). Remove unused or not working programs by navigating to "Start," selecting "Control Panel" and double-clicking "Add or Remove Programs."
  
  Scroll the list of programs in the pop-up window by clicking on the down arrow at the bottom of the scroll bar. Locate the program you wish to uninstall and click "Uninstall." Click "Yes" to uninstall the program.
  
  
• 2). Remove old, backup, txt and unused files using Disk Cleanup by navigating to the "Start" menu, pointing the cursor to "All Programs," "Accessories," "System Tools" and clicking "Disk Cleanup."
  
  Run the Disk Cleanup for each drive on your computer. It will scan the drive and give you a list of files that can be deleted. Scroll through the list and deselect any files you don't want to delete by unchecking the box beside the file. Click "OK" for Disk Cleanup to remove the files.
  
  
• 3). Defragment your hard drive. Think of it as your desk covered in paper that needs sorting to find what you need faster. To defragment, navigate to the "Start" menu, point to "All Programs," "Accessories" and clicking "Disk Defragmenter."
  
  A window will open up showing a list of the disk drives on your computer. Select the one you want to check and click on the "Analyze" button. It will scan and tell you whether you need to defragment the drive. If you're prompted to defragment the drive, click the "Defragment" button. Do the same for any other disk drives you have on your computer.
  
  

Maintenance

• 1). Check for errors on your hard drive that can slow your system down. Open Windows Explorer by double-clicking the desktop icon or by pressing the "Windows logo" button and "E" simultaneously. The Windows Explorer window is displayed.
  
  In the left pane, right-click on the drive you want to check. From the "Properties" menu, click on the "Tools" tab and click "Now" under Error Checking. Select "Make Repairs," click "Check disk for errors" and click "Start." You can close Windows Explorer and the Check Disk application will search for errors and fix them.
  
  
• 2). Scanning your computer for viruses and spyware on your system may not find every infection. Infected computers sometimes have infections in the protection software. Check your protection software's protection by using an online scanner.
  
  Run a scan of your system once a month using an online scanner such as McAfee Housecall, F-Secure Online Scanner or Symantec Security Check. The application will scan your system for viruses.
  
  
• 3). Remove unused icons from the "Start" menu and Desktop. Right-click on the Desktop icons that you want to delete and selecting "Delete." To remove unused icons from the "Start" menu, click the "Start" button to open the "Start" menu and right-click on that application that you want to remove and select "Unpin from Start menu."
  
  

Performance Tweaks

• 1). Stop "Windows Indexing Service," an application that continually scans your computer for new files to index. The application isn't needed and hogs memory resources. To stop "Windows Indexing Service," navigate to the "Start" menu and select "Run" Type "services.msc" in the text box and click "OK." In the right pane of the Services window, scroll down to "Indexing Service" and double-click on "Indexing Service." Select "Manual" from the "Start type" drop-down list. Stop the service now by clicking on the "Stop" button. The Indexing Service will no longer start and run each time you start Windows.
  
  
• 2). Adjust splash screen effects to speed up your system. Your screen will look the same, but use less memory. Navigate to the "Start" menu, right-click "My Computer," select "Properties." Select the "Advanced" tab. In the "Performance" field, click "Settings." The Performance Options dialog is displayed. From the "Visual Effects" tab, click "Adjust for best performance." Scroll down the menu to find and uncheck "Use drop shadows" and "Use visual styles." Click "Apply" and close open windows from this process.
  
  
• 3). Remove applications that you don't need to automatically run on Windows Startup. Doing so will reduce memory resources. To remove applications from Windows Startup, navigate to the "Start" menu, select "Programs" and "Start up." Right-click the application you want to stop automatically starting with Windows. Click "Delete" from the context menu. Repeat for other applications that you wish to stop. This will not stop them from working. When you open the program for use, it'll work the same.
  
  
• 4). Completely shut down your computer every day. Applications and resources that are used remain in memory. Shutting down your computer clears your memory, which improves your system performance.