REFRESH WINDOWS
When to do it: Sluggish performance; slow startup Time taken: 10-20 minutes (if done regularly)
If Windows is on the wane and your software a little sluggish, the answer could be much simpler than biting the bullet and reinstalling Windows. Even if you do end up having to progress through our restore, reset and reinstall tips, following this refresh advice will help keep Windows in good shape.
There’s no shortage of programs to help you refresh Windows. The majority are free, so it’s a case of finding the one that works best for you. Be warned that, almost without exception, free system tools will either look to foist potentially unwanted programs (also known as PUPS) on you or relentlessly push upgrades to their premium (that is, paid-for) versions – sometimes both. It’s the price of free software – you just need to keep an eye out for them.
Always uninstall
Uninstalling programs you no longer use frees up valuable space on your hard drive and also gives your performance a boost. Many programs insist on running in the background. Although individually they’re unlikely to place too much of a strain on your system resources, if you’ve amassed a large collection of programs over time (which isn’t hard) the combined effect can be noticeable.
Windows lets you uninstall programs via its ‘Add or Remove Programs’ tool, but this isn’t always as thorough as you’d hope. Some programs leave their muddy footprints all over your computer, including in the Windows registry, which can lead to problems later down the line.
If you want to be sure you’ve vanquished a program, it’s worth using one of the free uninstaller tools. Wise Program Uninstaller ( www.snipca. com/26667) is our current favourite, scooping top spot in our group test in Issue 504 (last June). It performs a deep scan after every uninstallation process, ensuring no trace is left behind. This is definitely worth having in your locker when refreshing Windows.
Give Windows a clean
To give Windows a decent overall tidy up and identify potential problems, we recommend using the free version of Ccleaner ( www.snipca.com/26366), not least because it’s so easy to use. Simply load the program, click Run Cleaner and Ccleaner will scurry around your PC, clearing out junk and unnecessary temporary files.
Ccleaner includes a tool dedicated to sorting out problems with the Windows registry. In the Registry tab, click the ‘Scan for Issues’ button, then, once the scan is complete, click the blue ‘Fix selected Issues’ (see screenshot below left). When prompted, it’s worth taking up the offer of creating a backup of the registry before any changes are made.
Speed your startup
Waiting an age for Windows to load is a pain, especially if all you want to do is grab a file, for example. But with a few simple tweaks, you can give your boot speeds a boost. Windows Task Manager will show you which programs insist on launching when your PC boots (slowing your computer). Press Ctrl+shift+escape to launch Task Manager, then click the Startup tab.
While you can disable these manually within Task Manager, it’s best to first find out which are causing the biggest startup delays. Bootracer ( www.snipca.com/26358) is a great free tool that reports how long each startup program takes to load. Click the Startup Control button, tick the Enable Startup Control box, then click the ‘Restart your PC…’ button to begin the speed test. When Windows reloads, you’ll be able to see which startup items took the longest to load and remove any you don’t need. For example, you’ll see in our screenshot above that Java Update took a lethargic 4.2 seconds to launch.