Cure the Slows

Slowdowns can be caused by viruses, malware, and just plain software crap – program detritus.  Here are the three areas to address when you're ready to speed up.

1. Make sure your machine is not infected. When your machine is protected, updated, and immunized, nine times out of ten it is just a matter of housekeeping. If you are well-protected, updated and recently scanned, read on. If not, find the anti-virus post and make sure you are not infected or contaminated and clean up first.

2. Clean it up. Now assess the situation. Click on My Computer then right-click on your main hard drive and select Properties. See how much space you have free and how much is in use. Run the Disk Cleanup by pressing the button to the right of the graphic representing your drive. Make a check mark in the boxes for Temporary files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Internet files. Note how much space your computer thinks you could gain by cleaning up the joint and clean it up.

For a deeper cleaning, jump on the web and download and install Ccleaner by Piriform. It's a free program (but again, please donate) and is a most excellent general clean-up program and registry cleaner for Windows. Run this program and clean out these temporary files.

Run Ccleaner a couple of times a month, or directly after a virus or spyware scan or any big cleanup of files or programs.

3. De-fragment your hard drive. Use the Windows > Accessories> Systems Tools>DeFrag or go to Piriform and download Defraggler (does an excellent job). You must have at least 15% free space for the Windows de-fragger to work properly. Clean out old files, duplicates, and temporary files to gain space