With continuous use, PCs can start slowing down a bit, but with proper care you can gain back the performance you expect from your PC. The main reason for the decrease in PC performance is all the data that fills up the Operating System and the hard drive overtime, and because the Windows Registry become more and more bloated. It’s not about how much hard drive space is used, but how much the OS has to look into, and load, when performing the most basic tasks. The PC has to go through more programs and files to search for the file/program/information you desire. Some decrease in performance is inevitable, as you have to add some data and apps – you’re using it after all!
However, this doesn’t mean that all the data present on your hard drive is useful at any point in time. There are many temporary files, duplicate files or unused programs that are of no real use to you. You need to find out which these programs are and get rid of them, this will surely free up some space and also improve performance depending on how much junk you had.
By following these simple steps you should be able to clean all the junk from your PC and receive optimum performance.
Step #1: Run Windows disk Cleanup
This is definitely a good start, it’s a built-in feature of Windows and very simple to use. The program will identify data in a drive that it thinks should be deleted such as Recycle bin, temp files and download files, etc. You can then check the data and delete it if you don’t need any of it.
In Windows 7, you access this feature by clicking on the Start Menu. At the bottom you will see the option of All Programs, Click on it.
In All Programs click on Accessories and then click on System Tools located at the end.
From System Tools, click on “Disk Cleanup”. Once the program starts you can choose the Drive which you would like to clean and the tool will analyze it and show all the unnecessary data which you should delete.
Just choose the data which you would like to delete by marking it, and clicking on “OK” at the end. A window will pop up saying “Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?”, click on “Delete files” and all chosen files will be deleted.
Step #2: Delete Duplicate Files
There can also be duplicate files on your PC that are same as Original files with no extra use. There is no harm in deleting these files, but if you do delete them, you might be able to gain some good amount of space. Typical examples are duplicate downloads or temporary files that may clutter your drive. It could also be photos that you dumped at different locations without paying attention.
You should know whether or not the duplicates are not actually useful before deleting them. Some apps carry local libraries that cannot be shared, and some users like to keep multiple copies as a history revision…
To delete these duplicate files you will first have to identify them and for this purpose you will need a third-party tool. There are thousands of tools in the market that you can use to delete duplicate files for free, you just need to find the right one that fits your needs.
In this tutorial, we are going to use Duplicate File Finder by ASHISOFT, it’s an old free tool with quite a good reputation. The reason why we choose this program is because of its simplicity and fast speed. This makes it perfect for beginners, who want to get the job done perfectly without much hassle. However, if you don’t mind learning and are open to some extra features then there are alternatives too, such as Easy Duplicate Finder or Auslogics Duplicate File Finder, that are free as well.
Duplicate File Finder
Just download the program and launch it, in the interface, click on Add Path to select the folder which you would like to scan (you can also choose a whole Drive).
Once you have chosen the desired folder(s), click on Start Search, it will take few seconds or minutes depending on the scanning file.
All the duplicate files will be presented in front of you and you can just uncheck the files which you don’t want to delete. Then click on Delete Duplicates and two options will appear “Send to Recycle Bin” or “Delete Duplicates”. Choose one of the options and in the next window click on “OK” and the duplicate files will be deleted.
There is also a Pro version, which provide some extra features such as Filters, Exclusions and Folder protection but you will have to pay for it.
Step #4: Clean Browser Data
All the data collected while you are browsing is stored on your PC’s hard drive, such as Temporary files, Cache or download files, etc. However, there is a good chance you will not be using this data in the future and they will just keep taking space.
To delete this data properly without much hassle you can download a third-party tool such as the free CCleaner by Piriform. It is one of the best tools you can find for clearing unwanted data. It has a strong reputation and it will not only delete Browser data, but also other unwanted data that is of no use.
Download CCleaner and run the program, on the main page you can select which areas of Windows and Applications you would like to scan and delete.
After choosing the areas, you can click on Analyze to find out how much unwanted data is there and also uncheck any data which you don’t want to delete. You can also just click Run Cleaner if you don’t want to waste time on Analyzing the data, but the data will be deleted without giving you the ability to uncheck any data which you don’t want to delete.
It should be noted that if you have any Third-Party browser open, such as Google Chrome or FireFox, CCleaner will not be able finish analysis or delete data completely. Before cleaning data using CCleaner, make sure all browsers are closed or click on “Yes” in the prompt window of CCleaner when you scan with a browser open.
Step #5: Delete unused programs
This is probably the most important step: You should also delete any program that you don’t use anymore. There is no automatic process for this as you are the one who decides which programs you want to use and which you want to delete.
To delete unused programs click on Start Menu and then click on Control Panel.
In Control Panel, click on Uninstall a program under the heading “Programs”.
There you will find all the programs that are installed on your PC along with how much space they are taking. Just choose the program which you would like to delete and Double Click on it and they will be uninstalled (Although some programs may require you to go through a simple uninstallation process).
Step #6: Remove programs from the Startup
Now, this process doesn’t involve any deletion of data and it will boost the speed of your boot up time. Some programs start automatically when you boot your PC, so you won’t have to open them again. However, you will not be using these programs every time you boot up, which is why you need to remove them from startup.
To remove programs from the Startup press Windows+R key and “Run” program will show up. Type “msconfig” in the search field and click on “OK” (you can also type “msconfig” in “Search” in the Start Menu and press Enter).
A System Configuration window will open where you can just click on “Startup” and uncheck all programs which you don’t want to launch while starting up the PC. After making all the selection, hit “OK” and all unchecked programs will not launch when the PC starts.
Step #7: Hard Drive Defragmentation
Hard drive Defragmentation will not delete any data or provide any extra space, it will only improve performance of the PC. Defragmentation is basically a process of arranging the data in one place or making it compact, so it will become easier for Windows to access them, thus, leading to improvement in performance.
To Defrag your hard drive, click on All Programs in Start Menu.
Then click on Accessories and in Accessories, click on “System Tools”.
From “System Tools” just click on “Disk Defragmenter” and the program will launch.
Inside the program, you can choose the drive which you would like to Defrag and Click on “Defragment Disk” to defrag it. You can also set a specific schedule for this process, so the selected disks will be defragged according to the selected schedule automatically.
To set a Schedule click on “Configure Schedule” and set a schedule. Make sure that “Run on a Schedule (Recommended)” is checked, and click on “OK”. Now, the process will defrag select drives according to the schedule you set.
However, if you have SSD (Solid State drive) instead of Hard Drive then you should Never use the defragmentation process on it. SSDs don’t have any moving parts and they use limited number of write cycles to write data. They already have direct access to all the data, so when you defrag it, there is no improvement in performance. Although, you are using the write cycles which are limited. So defragging a SSD will only lead to wearing it out.
If you have any questions related to cleaning the PC or have any suggestions to improve performance, do share in the comments below.
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