PERFORM A QUICK CLEAN-UP
Before you start targeting specific areas of your computer, begin with a much-needed clear-out of key areas of your system. Here’s how…
Step one to speeding up your PC is giving it a clear-out. If your last spring clean wasn’t long ago, you might be tempted to skip this, but you’ll be surprised by how quickly detritus can accumulate, so these tips are still worth following.
First, we need to ensure there’s sufficient free space on your system drive—aim to leave at least 5GB (preferably much more) spare. Open File Explorer, right-click your drive, and choose “Properties.” Click “Disk Clean-up,” wait for the scan, then click “Clean up system files” to find more files to clear out. You may need to scroll through and check further items to clean up; select each one to read more about it, as some— such as ESD files—are best left in place.
If you want to push things further—or you’re still lacking free space—follow the “Clear Out Using CCleaner” boxout opposite. You can download and install CCleaner from www.piriform.com.
Clear Out Unused Apps
It doesn’t matter how diligent you are, at some point you’ll start to accumulate redundant programs on your PC, each one demanding its share of space and system resources. You can manage these from the Programs and Features Control Panel (Windows 7 or 8.1), “Settings > Search and apps > App sizes” (Windows 8.1— Store apps only), and “Settings > Apps” (Windows 10—desktop and Store apps).
That’s all well and good, but programs leave bits of themselves behind—leftover
files and Registry entries. If you don’t plan to reinstall the app again, these can be safely deleted with the help of a thirdparty program, such as Revo Uninstaller Portable ( www.revouninstaller.com— click “Downloads,” followed by “Free Portable”). Note that Revo Uninstaller only works with desktop programs. You can clear out both desktop programs and Windows Store apps (including those pre-installed with Windows) using IObit Uninstaller 6 Free ( www.iobit.com/en/advanceduninstaller. php) instead. Make sure that you skip the pop-up offer when you come to download it, and we also recommend installing Unchecky ( www.unchecky.com) first—this will ensure that you don’t inadvertently agree to installing the complete IObit Advanced SystemCare suite, as well as helping to keep other unwanted software off your system.
Both CCleaner and IOBit Uninstaller 6 Free work in the same way: Take a System Restore point if offered, then let the program’s own uninstaller get on and do its job. Don’t reboot if prompted; instead, run the scan to view and delete both leftover files and Registry entries. For more details, see the “Registry Cleaning” boxout on the opposite page.
While you’re going through your installed apps—particularly if you’re running a lowpowered machine—consider ditching any resource-hungry programs for their lightweight equivalents. Microsoft Office, for instance, too much for your tablet or low-end laptop? Remove it and then install WPS Office 2016 ( www.kingsoftstore.com) or LibreOffice ( www.libreoffice.org) instead. Also, try switching to portable apps, where possible, to prevent clutter from accumulating on your PC’s main storage drive—save these to a separate partition or drive instead, and they’ll also survive Windows reinstallation, with all your settings intact, too.
Finish Your Clean-Up
Most of our lives are spent on the Internet, so if your web browser is starting to creak at the seams, consider taking steps to give it a clean-up and refresh. First, perform an audit of all the browser add-ons you’ve installed—the procedure for reviewing what’s installed varies from browser to browser: Chrome users should type “chrome://extensions/” into the Address Bar, for example, while Firefox users can use “about:addons.”
Disable or remove any add-ons or extensions that you no longer need—if you have a lot of items and multiple browsers to process, you’ll find that both CCleaner (“Tools > Browser Plugins”) and IObit Uninstaller (“Toolbars & Plugins”) make it easy to manage everything from one convenient spot.
Another area to focus on is fonts. If you have a lot of fonts installed on a low-memory PC, they affect performance. Manage them using AMP Font Viewer ( www.ampsoft.net/ utilities/FontViewer.php), which makes it possible to uninstall those you don’t use regularly, loading individual or groups of fonts back into memory for temporary use when the need arises.
There’s one major area we’ve yet to look at, and that’s the start-up process. Turn the page for a complete guide to both monitoring the boot process and optimizing it to speed up how quickly your PC starts up. We’ll also explain how to optimize system resources further.