Computers and Technology

One of the most underused applications in Windows XP is Disk Cleanup. This is a wonderful tool to clean up computer files and cut down on computer slowdown. Many spend wasted time trying their best to locate and delete individual files that they believe are causing computer slowdown. Regardless of how you perform this action, you are performing a vital task of cleaning up an excess of unnecessary computer files. This excess can cause major performance slowdown. Disk Cleanup gives you full file access and automatically determines which files are ready for deletion. This takes out a lot of the guess work and saves you loads of maintenance time..

Let's take a look at what files can cause computer slowdown and how to use Disk Cleanup. To access Disk Cleanup follow the instructions below:

In Windows XP

1. Click "Start"

2. Move the cursor over or click "All Programs"

3. Move the cursor over or click "Accessories"

4. Move the cursor over to or click "System Tools"

5. Click "Disk Cleanup".

This action will bring you to the Disk Cleanup window. The application will automatically start determining how much free space will be available if you choose to perform a clean up. You will have the option of choosing what files you would like deleted. There are 3 areas that are highly recommended for deletion. These are temporary internet files, downloaded program files, and recycle bin files. These 3 areas will more than likely hold the majority information to be deleted and cause computer slowdown. Here is a brief description of each.

Windows Temporary Internet files--this folder is also known as the Web Cache. It contains your temporary internet files .The cache is the primary folder that holds your previously viewed web pages, images, downloads. Excess cache files can cause computer slowdown, interfere with RAM usage, and cause errors.

The Recycle Bin--this is also a part of the Windows system that holds files that are marked for deletion. This can hold anything you have deleted within a given period of time. Once the recycle bin is emptied, the files can no longer be recovered by conventional methods.

Downloaded Program Files--these files can be installers, java applets and Active X controls. Depending on the amount of applications you have downloaded this folder size can vary from small to rather large.

These three sections comprised that largest part of your internet history and previously deleted files. You should clean up computer files in these areas by clicking the desired check box and clicking the "OK" button. If you don't want to erase all these files at once, choose the "View File" option and clean up computer files individually. Remember don't limit clean up to these three areas, use caution but explore what other files can be removed to cut down on computer slowdown.

The "More Options" tab located at the top of the Disk Cleanup window gives further clean up options. This allows us to clean up computer files in three more vital areas. However, if you want to clean up computer files in these areas, proceed with caution. One of the areas is Windows Components. These files are applications and accessories that you rarely use or older versions of some updated applications. Another area is System Restore. This Disk Cleanup options allows you to remove previous restore points. It is recommend that you set your system restore point to a desired date before cleaning up old restore points. However it is important to cleanup computer files in this area to free up disk space and eliminate computer slowdown. The final area is your installed programs. Disk Cleanup allows you to side step going into the control panel to add/remove programs.

Although, Disk Cleanup offers a lot of management options for excess files in vital areas. It doesn't give you complete control over your internet history. It removes you web cache. However, it may not delete all your cookies or parts of your web browser history. Cookies are small files that are installed into your browser history. So, they rarely can cause computer slowdown. Nevertheless, it is recommended to clear cookie history files because in some case a cookie can be a precursor to spyware. If you would like delete your cookie history files, you can easily do this by clearing your cookie history folder. Depending on your choice of browser, the instructions may vary. Check out Delete Cookies in 4 Step for instructions.

Another major area you should clean is your registry. This causes a lot of computer slowdown due to excess files. Its a must to clean the registry in order to have efficient and smooth computer performance. You registry holds all the information from installations, updates, and upgrades. This can grow to an enormous size if you use a daily update feature for software such as antivirus programs. You can easily edit your registry by typing "regedit" into the Windows Run Command Line. This will allow you to delete individual registry lines. However, this action is highly dangerous if you are not precise. If you make a mistake, you may seriously damage your PC and increase computer slowdown. So, proceed with caution or get a registry cleaner tool. Now that your removed unnecessary files, try to free up more resources to increase PC speed. The tutorial 4 Ways to Increase PC Speed provides more easy to follow techniques to stop computer slowdown and improve overall performance.