Steps to cleaning your computer

from (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx)

The Basics

Step 1: Back Up Your Hard Drive

Back up your computer files before you run any system tools or do any troubleshooting. This is not an over-cautious warning, it's just good computing practice. Some of the steps recommended in this guide can cause pre-existing but hidden problems to surface, which may stop your computer from starting. Backing up your computer files can be as simple as copy and paste, or you can run Windows XP and Vista's Backup and Restore tool, which will assist you in the backup process.

To open the Backup or Restore Wizard
Click Start, point to All Programs
Point to Accessories, then point to System Tools
Click Backup.

A Backup/Restore wizard will pop up and guide you through the rest

Before making any changes, time your computer to see how long it takes to restart. That way you know which of the changes helps the most and you could perform these

Step 2: Clear Out Forgotten/Unused Programs

Now that you have your computer backed up, the first step in tuning up your computer's performance is to remove any unnecessary programs. I install new programs all the time. Sometimes I'm thrilled with the new program and I continue to use it. Other times, it doesn't do what I hoped, and the program sits on my computer consuming resources and slowing down its performance.

Follow these steps to remove unneeded programs:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2. Click Add or Remove Programs.

3. Scroll through the list and examine each program. Windows XP lists how often you use a program and what day you last started it. You shouldn't remove anything labeled as an Update or Hotfix, however, because they improve the security of your computer.

4. Click each program you no longer need, click the Remove button, and then follow the prompts to uninstall it.

You may have to restart your computer after removing a program. After your computer restarts, repeat the steps above to remove more programs.

Free Up Wasted Space

Removing unused programs is a great way to free up disk space, which will speed up your computer. Another way to find wasted disk space is to use the Disk Cleanup tool by following these steps:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Click Disc Cleanup

2. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.

3. Select the desired check boxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space.

4. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed in My Computer. You can save yourself some time by automating the disk cleanup process.

Defragment Your Computer

I hate newspaper articles that start on the front page but continue somewhere in the middle of the newspaper. I could get through the article much faster if it was printed on consecutive pages like a magazine article. Files on your computer can either be fragmented like a newspaper, or unfragmented like a magazine. Over time, more and more files become fragmented. When a file is fragmented, it takes longer for the computer to read it because it has to skip to different sections of the hard disk—just like it takes me a few seconds to find a page in the middle of a newspaper.

You need administrator privileges to defragment a drive or volume. Although fragmentation is complicated, it's easy to defragment your computer by following these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.

2. Click your first hard disk, and then click Defragment. Disk Defragmenter will work for at least several minutes, though it may take several hours.

3. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed.

Scan for and remove malicious programs
It is important that you use up-to-date security software to detect and remove malicious programs. Virus programs can slow down your PC and cause unwanted behaviour, even damage to your data. Since most computers today are using broadband, we're always connected online and this makes our computer more susceptible to a spyware infection. Spyware tracks your movements on the Web for advertising purposes, but can affect your PC's performance as well.

Free spyware removal program (Hitman Pro http://www.hitmanpro.nl/hitmanpro/content/view/3/9/lang,en/ )

Additional Options (for the more advanced users)

Disconnect Unused Network Connections

If you've ever had a network with more than one computer, you probably found it useful to share files between the computers by mapping a network drive. Network drives allow one computer to read and write files to another computer's hard disk as if it were directly connected. I use network drives all the time, and for me, they were the most significant source of slowness.

The problem with network drives is that Windows XP will attempt to connect to the network drives when Windows starts. If the remote computers don't respond immediately, Windows will wait patiently. Additionally, some programs will attempt to connect to the network drives when you browse for files and folders. If you've ever tried to open a file and had to wait several seconds (or minutes!), it's probably because the program was trying to establish a network connection—even if the file you are opening is on your local computer.

I am not as patient as Windows, and I'd rather not wait for unused network connections to respond. To reduce this problem, disconnect any unused drives by following these steps:

1. Open My Computer.

2. On the Tools menu, click Disconnect Network Drive.

3. Select the network drives that you no longer need, and then click OK.

After I disconnected the network drives on my computer, my computer was able to restart in 1 minute, 45 seconds—about 40% faster!

Remove Autostart Programs

The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs.

Windows XP comes with the System Configuration tool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:

1. Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.

2. On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.

3. Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.

4. Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool from Sysinternals. Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically.


The Startup Applications List may provide instructions for removing the startup program. If available, you should follow those instructions instead of deleting the link by using Autoruns.