Computer House Cleaning

Wouldn't it be nice if your computer could perform as fast as it did when you first got it? there are few ways to achieve this, some are more intrusive than others, and some are easier to implement than other. In this post I'll share with you the things I do when I feel that my computer is getting a little sluggish and need a little push.

There is slow, and there is slow

First, we have to learn to distinguish between a computer that became slower over time, and perceived slowness of a computer. So what the hack is "perceived slowness", a computer is either slow or it's not...well, mostly true but not always. As technology progress and computer become stronger and faster, application and program writers create applications that require and consume more computer resources, for example: Microsoft Word consumes many more computer resources than it did 10 years ago. So if you bought your computer 3 years ago and you are working with new software that was created (or upgraded) recently, your programs may run slower.

What makes computers slow over time?

On computers with Windows operating systems (the vast majority of personal computers) the main cause for slowness is simply junk, junk in the registry, junk in the OS (operating system) directories, junk anywhere.

• Registry junk are orphan and broken registry entries that are left over when programs are installed and un-installed from a Windows PC.
• OS directories junk are leftover files in temp directories, application directories, OS common directories, etc. These are generally created by application (like your Internet Browser for example) and are left over when the application is un-installed and/or when the files are no longer needed.

Cut the crap, make my computer faster

Let's get one thing out of the way, the most sure way to get your computer performing the way it did the day your bought it is to format your hard drive, and re-install your OS. This is the most intrusive way since you will need to backup your data to an external source, format the hard drive, re-install the OS, and re-install all your programs...fortunately there are some alternatives.

As a rule of thumb, I reboot after each step (and so should you), and if I really feel like being a stickler I'll reboot and repeat the prior step before moving to the next one.

Note:

If you are going to use any of the tools mentioned in this post, I recommend using the portable version of each tool (I do). Portable version means you do not have to install anything on your computer, you simply save the program files into a directory and run it from there. If you'll like more details about the advantages of program portability see My Rig, and Computing life in portable mode.

Step 1 - Run a malware system check

Cleaning a computer from viruses and other harmful crap is a big subject, and I can (and will in future posts) write a lot on it. But for this purpose, maintenance cleanup, I usually run a couple of tools to make sure that my computer is fairly clean. I use the free passive virus scanner ClamWin to scan my computer for viruses. And I use the free Spybot Search & Destroy to scan my machine for other malware like: ad-ware, trojan house, worms, root kits, and harmful junk.

Step 2 - Un-install unwanted programs

Go trough the programs on your computer and un-install the ones you don't use or need anymore. You can use the "Add or Remove Programs" from the Control Panel on your Windows computer, but there are better and free alternatives out there. I use a program called Revo Uninstaller, it very easy to use and it cleans up all the program and all the left-overs like registry entries, application files and directories, temp files and directories, etc. I found that Revo Uninstaller does a much better job than the native Windows program removal tool and I am using it for the last few years.

Step 3 - Clean temp and application directories

Programs sometimes store a lot of unnecessary information on a computer. Browsers for example, store every page you visit in a temp directory (there are some ways to avoid this but most people don't). Windows OS also store different types of information in different OS tables and directory. By cleaning up this clutter a computer will become lighter and faster.

Windows offers a  "Disc cleanup" tool under Start >> Program Files >> Accessories >> System Tools, but as always, there are better tools out there. I use two tools for this cleanup, one is CCleaner and the other is BleachBit, both free and both are equally good, I use them both to compliment one another.

Step 4 - Clean the registry

Cleaning the registry reduce the size of the registry and prevent Windows from reading registry entries for items that no longer exist on your computer. A good registry cleaner will rid the registry from a lot of junk that is left over time. I use  a free tool called CCleaner, it scans the registry for orphan, left-over, and broken entries and delete them. I run this twice in a row to make sure that all the "bad" registry entries are taken care of.

Step 5 - Stop unnecessary processes from running at windoes startup

Some programs place an entry in the Windows startup file which allows a program (or a part of a program) to start as the computer boots up. This effects the computer boot speed, and since some of these programs do not really need to be running all the time, it also make the computer slower. The free CCleaner has a startup cleaner section (start CCleaner, click on Tools on the left menu, than Startup) that let's you disable or delete entries from the windows startup file.

Step 6 - Defragment your drives

Fragmentation on Windows OS happens when files are stored on the computer hard drive in a none sequential way. Which means that a file that is 4 blocks big, may be spread on block 1, 4, 6, and 8 instead of being on consecutive blocks like 2, 3, 4, and 5. File fragmentation makes windows work harder to construct a file when it is needed. As in prior steps, windows has a defragmentation tool called "Disc Defragmenter" (Start >> Program Files >> accessories >> System Tools), and as before, there are better tools for defragmenting a drive. I use a free defragment tool called Defraggler, it has few defragment modes like: quick defragmentation, space defragmentation, etc.

That's it (or as my 16 month old doghter say: da-shi)

If you followed the above steps and cleaned your computer, you will see an improvement in speed. It is hard to say how much faster a computer will become after a cleanup, in my case it is anywhere from 20% - 40% faster. But since every computer is different you may see different results.

Feel free to comment and let me know if it worked for your computer and how much faster it became.