4. Cleaning Up Your Computer
A lot of data is temporarily stored or cached on your computer. Every now and then, it is a good idea to remove this unnecessary data.
You can use Disk Cleanup to delete superfluous files from your hard drive. Optimize Drives (in Windows 8.1) or Disk Defragmenter (in Windows 7) enhance the
performance of your computer by collecting files and remnants of files that have spread out all over your computer. These tools will remove superfluous files and re-arrange others in an optimal order so that Windows can find them more quickly. The computer will then work more efficiently.
The speed of your computer is determined by its components. Programs always require a certain minimum level of performance from these components in order to work properly. In Windows you can view the components that make up your
computer and see how they perform. If desired, you can use this information to upgrade your computer by purchasing better components.
Besides the tools that come with Windows, you can also use other utility software to clean up your computer. For instance, the free CCleaner program will help you quickly and safely clean up your computer.
When you turn on your computer, a number of programs will start up automatically along with Windows. Some of these programs are important, such as an antivirus program. But sometimes they are less essential. By managing these startup programs with CCleaner, you can make your computer startup a little faster and work more efficiently.
In this chapter you will learn how to: • clean up the hard drive;
• uninstall programs; • work with Check Disk; • defrag or optimize a drive; • view and use system info; • clean up with CCleaner;
4.1 Cleaning Up Your Hard Drive
As you use your computer, your hard drive slowly collects temporary files. For a large part, this happens automatically, for example, while you are surfing the Internet. After a while it is a good idea to do a thorough spring-cleaning and remove these
temporary files. If your computer becomes too full, this is really essential. You can view the amount of space you have left in Windows Explorer by clicking This PC (in Windows 8.1) or Computer (in Windows 7):
Open the This PC or the Computer window in Windows Explorer 10
Some of the Explorer views do not display the available disk space on the hard drive(s). If you do not see the available disk space, you need to change the view. In Windows 8.1:
Click the tab
Click Click
By each drive, you can see how much disk space is still available, for example
: In Windows 7:
By , click
Click
Tip
10% free space
The rule of thumb is to have at least 10% of free disk space available of the total storage capacity, but preferably more. From experience, we know that a computer slows down when the hard drive fills up, and this can lead to all sorts of problems. This is often caused by the multitude of programs that use the hard drive as a
temporary storage space for data. If there is not enough free space, these programs start to ‘choke’, as it were, and will cause hiccups. If there is too little free space on the C drive, a warning message will appear in the taskbar.
There is a tool you can use to clean up the hard drive. This is how you open it: Click the hard drive,
for example
Right-click the hard disk
Click
The Properties of Local Disk (C:) or Local Disk (C:) window will be opened. The drive may have a different name on your own computer.
In this screenshot you can see the distribution of used and free space:
You will see the Disk Cleanup tool: If your computer has multiple hard drives, you will see this window:
Select the hard drive you want to clean up Click
The program will calculate how much space it will be able to free:
In this window you can choose which files to delete: For example, you can just
empty the Recycle Bin: If necessary, drag the
scroll box downwards until you see
Check the box by
Here you can view each selected item (in blue) and see what will be deleted:
Click
Tip
Default settings for Disk Cleanup
If you are using the Disk Cleanup tool, you can usually delete all the checked items without experiencing any problems.
You will be asked to confirm this action:
Click
The tool cleans the drive and removes the unnecessary files:
Close all the windows 1
