Periodically, I get an urge to tidy up my computer. Usually, this fit of cleanliness transpires because my computer is behaving oddly or slowly for some reason. I have anti-everything protection on my system, which helps keep big scary problems to a minimum. On my computer, slowdowns are usually just from natural acts of computing, like adding or deleting a lot of files or having a lot of extra junk loitering on my system.
The key to cleaning up your computer is to remember what each utility does for you, and then running them in the right order. To get neat, follow these steps:
1. Delete any downloaded stuff or junk files you aren’t using. Uninstall software you don’t want by choosing Start|Settings|Control Panel|Add or Remove Programs. You also can archive data you don’t access very often by burning it to CD. If your hard disk gets too full, it can slow down. Yes, we all have huge hard disks these days, but if you like to download movies, music, or huge image files, your disk can still fill up before you know it.
2. Clean up Internet Explorer junk. Choose Tools|Internet Options. In the General tab, click the buttons to Delete Cookies, Delete Files and Clear the History. If you don’t want these things to hog as much space, you can change the space allotted for Temporary Internet Files. Click the Settings button in the General tab and click and drag the slider to reduce the amount of disk space it takes up.
3. Run Disk Cleanup. It’s generally found by choosing Start|Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Disk Cleanup. You need to select the drive you want to clean up. Then select what you want to remove. (Personally, I generally have it ditch files like the ones in the Recycle Bin, but I don’t tell it to compress files.)
4. Finally, once everything you don’t want is gone, run Disk Defragmenter by choosing Start|Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Disk Defragmenter.
The reason you want to run Disk Defragmenter last is because it basically puts files back together. When you create a file or install a program, the file may actually end up in more than one place on your hard disk in separate pieces. When you delete files, spaces are opened up on the disk and pieces of new files may be stored there. The files become fragmented, and the affect on the disk drive itself is called fragmentation. Not surprisingly, it’s more difficult and slower for the hard disk to find and put together pieces of files than it is to read the file from just one spot on the disk. The process of putting the files back together in one continuous block is called defragmentation. On a large fragmented hard disk, defragmentation can take a long time, and it’s best to run it when you aren’t doing anything else, so you might want to run it overnight.
Anyway, the bottom line is that for best efficiency, you don’t want to defragment your hard disk and then clean it up. Dump the stuff you don’t want first, then defragment the drive.