Charles Gallant

People ask me to help them with their computer all the time, so I thought I’d write up a little tutorial. In general, this is for PC users. The best way to keep your computer clean & fast is to learn more about it, but until then here are some thoughts. Use these tips at your own risk.

1. Remove Unused Programs from “Add / Remove Programs”
Your computer probably has stuff on it that you never use. Get rid of these things. When you’re not sure if you should remove something from your system, my philosophy is to do it anyway. Chances are, you can download it again, or find another program that does the same thing. In the control panel, choose “Add / Remove Programs.” The most important things to remove are:
- Internet Search Utilities (hotbar, searchbar, etc.)
- Media Players (WildTangent Media player, real, etc.)
- Trial Software that you don’t use (AOL etc)
- Anything associated with an ISP (If it’s not necessary for you to maintain your connection)
- Media management utilities (Kodak photo studio, etc.)

Removing these things will probably make your computer faster.

2. Remove System Tray Programs
Some installed applications aren’t listed in “Add / Remove Programs.” The most important ones to remove are those that are constantly running, and wasting system resources. In the lower right corner of your screen (next to the clock), go through each icon (which represents a running program), and make sure you know why it’s there. If you don’t need it to be running all the time, open that programs preferences (sometimes called “settings”, or “options”, or anything like that), and make sure that it doesn’t start up every time Windows starts. Many programs make themselves difficult to disable, so you might have to search around to find out how to do this.

3. Get rid of “Startup” programs
For the same reasons that are listed above, remove all the unnecessary items in your “C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Start Menu\Programs\Startup” folder. If you haven’t already, restart your computer.

4. Download & Run Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware tools
Get AntiVir, Ad-Aware SE, and Microsoft Windows Defender. These tools are free. I recommend staying away from Norton & McAffe, as they use up a ton of system resources, and are pretty costly. Run scans whenever you can.

5. Use software that isn’t full of junk
Use Firefox instead of IE, use Pidgin instead of AIM, and avoid crappy music downloading apps like Limewire or Kazaa.

6. Use Windows Update
Windows update is important, although it requires you to use IE in order to access. If it isn’t in the start menu, visit Windows update by going to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.