5 ways to speed up your PC

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files such as error reports.
• Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
• Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
2. When Disk Cleanup has calculated how much space you can free, in the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
   
   Disk Cleanup dialog box
   
3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
   • For more options, such as cleaning up System Restore and Shadow copy files, under Description, click Clean up system files, then click the More Options tab.
4. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
   
   
2. In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
   
   Choose the files that you want to delete.
   
3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
4. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

• You add a large number of files.
• Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
• You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
   
   Click Analyze disk to start the Disk Defragmenter.
   
2. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button. After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives.
   Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.
3. To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment disk button. In the Current status area, under the Progress column, you can monitor the process as it happens. After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.
4. To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.
5. To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.
6. You can also schedule the Disk Defragmenter to run automatically, and your computer might be set up this way by default. Under Schedule, it reads Scheduled defragmentation is turned on, then displays the time of day and frequency of defragmentation. If you want to turn off automatic defragmentation or change the time or frequency, click the Configure schedule (or Turn on Schedule, if it is not currently configured to run automatically). Then change the settings, then click OK.
7. To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
   
   Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.
   
2. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button. After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives.
   Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.
3. To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button. Note: In Windows Vista, there is no graphical user interface to demonstrate the progress—but your hard drive is still being defragmented.
   After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.
4. To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.
5. To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.
6. To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

1. Close all open files.
2. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
3. In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
4. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
5. Click the Check Now button.
6. In the Check Disk dialog box (called Error-checking in Windows 7), select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
   
   
7. If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

5 ways to speed up your PC