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How to Maintain your Computer? Make your Computer Runs like New

The next time your change the oil in your car, think of your personal computer. You flush the oil in your car to get rid of the gunk and sediments that have slowly been deposited over time. Your computer tends to have a lot of deposits that come from a variety of sources.

Each time a file is modified it may be moved or become fragmented (spread across different areas of the hard disk instead of remaining one intact whole). “Temporary” files are created that remain in the system, potentially forever. Keys and entries are added to the Windows Registry that are never removed. It all adds up to one slow computer, but there are several things you can do to fine tune your PC into top performance.

The quickest and easiest thing to do is defrag your hard drive. All Windows systems come equipped with Defrag.exe, a powerful little tool that rearranges the files on your hard drive for optimal performance. To “defrag” your drive, open up Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer) and right click on the drive you want to defragment (usually the C: drive). Click on Properties at the bottom of the drop down menu and then click the Tools tab at the top. Click the middle button that says “Defragment Now…” to run defrag.exe.Click the Defragment button and your off and running. Close all programs before doing this and don’t plan to do any work on your compute for a while. Running defrag could take up to a few hours or even overnight.

You should also open the Start Menu and click “Run…” Enter “msconfig” (do not use the quotes) and click OK to run the System Configuration Utility. Click the Startup tab and you will see a list of all the services and programs that load automatically every time you start Windows. Keep your antivirus program and any programs you use regularly, but if you see programs you don’t use, simply uncheck the box. When you restart Windows, you will be asked if you want to run the utility again, so you can undo any changes if you made a mistake.

It’s also important to clean the Windows Registry. This is not something you want to try one your own, since one mistake could prevent your computer from booting or functioning properly. Several software companies offer programs to do this for you, each with its own strengths and capabilities.

Website that reviews and compares registry cleaning software is Answer Registry Reviews. The site offers relevant articles on the Windows Registry and compares various registry cleaning software products. The website even offers links to directly download and purchase products such as RegCure, Registry Mechanic and Registry Easy (among others) online. If your Windows system is running slowly or you suspect a virus, Answer Registry Reviews should be the first stop for information on what might be causing the problem and to download a product that would meet your needs to correct it.