Performance issues? Try some of these, especially 2, 3, 5 and 6.
As with all of our suggestions, you apply these at your own risk.
As always, before doing anything major, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!
From time to time it is a good idea to clean up your machine, but that does not mean going through and haphazardly deleting files or folders!
Begin by looking in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs. Look through the list and if you find applications, games, etc., you no longer use, select that item and then click the Remove/Uninstall button. Be sure to remove only what you no longer use. If you find items listed you are unsure of, search the Internet for that item and see what it is. Your option, but unless you specifically use them, we recommend uninstalling all Internet Explorer toolbars.
Start menu select Run, type %temp% then press Enter.
That opens the
Windows temporary files folder. Go to the folder's Tools Menu >
Folder Options > View Tab and near the bottom of the list (without
scrolling) you will see the Hidden files option. Change the
option to show hidden files and folders. Note: Windows Vista
or Windows 7, the show Hidden option is found under Organize >
Folder Options > View tab.
Next CTRL A to select all files
(or Select All from the Edit menu).
Hold the Shift key then press the Delete key.
Note: The process may stop with an
open file error in which case you will need to hold the CTRL key, unselect that
particular file then press Shift Delete again. You may have to repeat that a few
times. If necessary, or if you want to get rid of everything, run this cleanup in the
Safe Mode
to avoid
the open file errors.
Next, from the Start menu select Run and in the
run box type cleanmgr then press Enter. When the cleanup
manager opens, place a check mark in every option except compress
old files (that option may actually slow the computer performance).
Note: Windows Vista/7 offer the ability to cleanup all files on the
computer, select that option.
Optionally you can remove all System Restore points except the most
recent one: In the Cleanup Manager click the More Options tab,
click the System Restore button, follow the prompts to remove all
System Restore points except the most recent one. Note: This does exactly what it implies, so if
you ever want to restore before that date, you will not be able to!
Get rid of unwanted Internet Add-ons. See our Sep and Oct newsletters for more.
When done with the above, it is a good idea to
check the disk for
errors. Be
aware, this check disk process will take a while...
Start menu > Run
chkdsk /r then press Enter (note there's a
space between chkdsk and the slash)
To run this under Vista/7:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > then right
click the Command prompt and run that as an Administrator...
The disk check utility has two options, select
both options. Answer Yes to scheduling the check upon next
reboot, then
reboot the computer.
NOTES:
If bad clusters are found, it could be an indication the drive is failing.
If the utility reports the disk is "raw" it will not complete the task and reinstalling Windows would likely be necessary to improve performance.
Sometimes the process does not complete at all and it
may necessary to reissue the command a second time.
Defrag the disk Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools, or right click the "C: Local Drive" from My Computer, select Properties and then Tools. This too will take some time...
Check the protected files. Run this if
you are having odd problems with Windows:
Start > Run sfc /scannow
then press Enter. Have your Windows XP CD handy as you may be
prompted for it.
To run this under Vista/7: Start > All
Programs > Accessories > then right click the
Command prompt and run that as an Administrator...
Note: Some manufacturers System
Restore CD's like HP/Compaq, Sony and others will
not work as they are part of a restore kit, they are not the
needed Windows XP OS.
More clean up ideas from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx