Clean-Up On The Window Aisle: Part Two

The time has come. You’re tired of your slow Windows XP computer. Rather than buy a new one, it may be possible to simply clean up the operating system and files, to make it faster. When I visit a client for the first time, I give them a CD with all sorts of freeware programs on it, some of which are designed to make their computers run faster and cleaner. They are all  programs I use and can vouch for their effectiveness and safety.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, this applies to you too, but the procedure may be a little different on several of the steps.

These procedures are designed for Windows XP systems. It may take a couple of hours, but will be well worth it. No kidding. Grab your mouse and let’s get started.

As we discussed last time, start with anti-virus and anti-malware to clean any bad stuff off your system.

Download the following program: Ccleaner at http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/ and run it. It will clean the files off your computer that are slowing it down. It’s freeware and is on my CD.

Go to Start > My Computer. Right click on the C: drive, select Properties, then in the box that comes up uncheck the following box: “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Click on Apply, select C:, subfolders and files. You may get an error message that a file could not be set. Just click “Yes To All” and it will start the process, which could take several minutes, depending on how many files are on your drive. This stops the computer from indexing the disk continuously.

Download the following program: Abexo Registry Cleaner at http://abexo-free-registry-cleaner.en.softonic.com/ and run it. Allow the program to back up your registry, then run the cleaner. This will clean out unused registry entries that slow your computer down. NOTE: You might want to uncheck Fonts and Files from the cleaner if possible so it doesn’t remove any of  that type of file. Abexo is also freeware and is a part of my CD.

If you’re comfortable doing so, open MSCONFIG and check what programs load at startup. You could be overloading the system with unused and unnecessary programs loading when your computer starts. If you’re not comfortable doing that, or have no idea what I just said, have someone that knows what they’re doing check it for you.

Finally, run a defragmentation. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Run it. This is very important for speed.

If you are at all uncomfortable doing the above, get a consultant to do it for you. The results will amaze you.

Coming next: Facebook. Is it safe? Why are people so excited about this website? Is it safe for my family?

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