PC Slow? Try Disk Clean-up

Do you have a Windows XP or Vista desktop or laptop thats too slow? Try Disk Clean-up!

The Disk Clean-up utility can be found in All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. This utility removes unwanted files that were taking up space on your hard disk. The utility asks you to select which drive you want it to clean up. Clean up all drives one by one.

It will take some time to analyse your disk - so take a break and play solitaire or mine sweeper :).

In the next screen, the utility asks you to select which categories do you want it to clean up. Make sure you select Temporary Internet files, the Recycle Bin etc. In short, keep every thing selected. The only things you may want to NOT remove are the Office Setup files. They contain files required by MS Office when it needs to reconfigure itself. You can remove it if you have the original setup disks readily or if you need disk space badly. Else, its better to leave them on disk.

Also, you may not want to "Compress Old files" unless you are short of disk space. Selecting compression saves disk space at the cost of processing power, so the trade-off is yours to choose.

Remember to clean up all the drives in your system's hard disk.