CCleaner

Decide on the files you want to clean up instead of randomly deleting folders to save time. Go to "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories" and "Windows Explorer." This lists all your personal folders like My Music, My Pictures and other files stored under My Documents.

Organize the files based on date, type or file name and assess each file before deleting so you do not lose an important file. Create a separate folder for files to be deleted and start moving the files from different directories into one location.

Save important documents that are not regularly used into a CD or memory stick. Test the CD to make sure the files have been saved before cleaning up the originals from the computer.

Delete unwanted files by right clicking on the folder in which all the files are saved and then hit "Delete." Remove these files permanently from the system by cleaning up the Recycle Bin following the same operation.

Go to "Start," "Control Panel" and then "Add or Remove Programs" in order to remove program files. Pick the programs that you want to clean up from the hard drive and hit the "Remove" or "Uninstall" button. Follow the prompt.

Review stored files frequently. Unused files can clutter the computer storage space on servers and drives. This will cause the computer to perform slower and lose data.

Create special folders. Items such as appointments, email, notes and tasks can be moved from the server and stored in customized folders for personal use.

Add or remove unwanted computer files programs. Go to the control panel at the start menu. Click on the add/remove files icon. A screen listing all installed programs will appear. Unchecked items that are no longer in use. Place a check mark for items to be deleted.

Remove shortcut desktop computer files no longer in use or used infrequently. Go to the control panel. Find shortcut files to delete. Right click on shortcut to highlight and click on delete.

Delete temporary files. Temporary files are web pages, cookies and other pages reviewed by user. These files are automatically stored by the computer. This information is stored in the computer memory for easy access. Click on control panel. Go to and click on internet options. Review internet properties screen and delete unwanted files.

Update archive history information. Clear up storage space, by setting the days to clear history. Click on control panel. Go to and click on "Internet Options." Review the Internet Properties screen. Go to "History" and select a number.

The easiest way to start is to run a Disk Clean on your computer. To run Disk Clean:

Click on Start, Run, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.

A prompt will appear asking you what drive you want to clean, and just let it clean the C: drive first... Not everyone has more than a C: drive, but if you click on the down arrow, it will tell you what drives are available to clean. Then, Click on OK.

After the calculating of space and files is done, a box will appear with many options for you to check or uncheck. I usually check ALL of the boxes. These files are usually junk files, temporary files, etc., that do not hurt your computer if they are deleted. If you want to keep, for example, the Office setup files, just make sure it is unchecked.

After checking the boxes you want to clean, click on OK. The files will be removed.

NOTE: If you want to run this on another drive, start this procedure over and select the next drive on the drop-down list.

The next thing you can do is to remove files from the C:\windows\temp directory (if you have one). So, in Windows Explorer, click on the Windows folder, and then look for the /temp folder. Click on the /temp folder, and see if there are any files in there. If so, you can delete them. If there are alot of files, left click once on the first file, then scroll to the bottom file, hold down the Shift key, and left click on the bottom file. That will highlight ALL of the files so you can delete them (instead of deleting each one separately). Once the files are highlighted, press the Delete key.

The next thing to try is to run Ad-Aware. Ad-Aware is a free program that will scan your computer for files that do not belong on your computer. I will attach the link to Ad-Aware below. Download Ad-Aware, run the program, and follow the screen. It is very easy to use, but if you have trouble, email me and I will set up another HOW on how to run it.

Another way to clean is to search for .tmp files. Click on Start, search, select All Files or Folders. In the "All or part of a file" box, type in this string of text: *.tmp and then click Search. Any files found can be deleted. (Remember, you can select all of the files by using the left click on top file, and Shift left click on the bottom file).

After this, a reboot would probably be a great idea. Then, on to the next step.....

Look at the bottom-right hand side of your screen. Are there 5 icons (pictures) there? Are there 25 icons there? The more icons that are shown the slower your computer will become. The icons are programs that are loaded when Windows starts up. They are probably not all required and can be removed to speed things up. To remove them, right click on each one and select "disable" or "Properties" and see if you can tell it to not start on Windows startup. Most programs let you select whether you want them to load or not. This will help with the speed. If you need more help, let me know.

The last thing I would try is a Defrag. This is where the computer moves files around on your computer so they can be accessed faster. To defrag, click on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. To see if you need to defrag the hard drive, click on the Analyze button. This will tell you what you need to do. If you need to defrag, click on the Defragment button and wait. It will tell you when you are done, and then a reboot would be a good idea.

If these tips don't help with speed and hard drive space, then it might be time for a new computer or a tech to look at it. Good Luck!!

Delete comments, notes and other unneeded items. Click the "Documents" link in the Adobe Acrobat menu bar, then click "Examine Document" in the drop-down menu to open the Examine Document window. Check the box next to any items you want to remove, then click the "Remove all checked items" button.

Add headers or footers such as page numbers or copyright and confidentiality statements. Click the "Documents" link in the menu bar, mouse over "Header & Footer" in the drop-down menu, then click "Add" in the context menu. This opens the Add Header and Footer window and displays the available options.

Reduce the PDF's file size. Click the "Documents" link in the menu bar, then click "Reduce File Size" in the drop-down menu. This opens the Reduce File Size window so that you can select your preferred settings.

Define the way the PDF document will appear when it is first opened. Click the "File" link in the menu bar, then click "Properties" in the drop-down menu. This opens the Document Properties window.

Click the "Initial View" tab in the Document Properties window. Choose the layout, magnification, navigation bar and other settings for your document's initial view. Click the "OK" button to complete the cleanup process.

Click "Start" in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Open the "All Programs" list.

Scroll down the program list and find "Accessories" folder. Click on it to open.

Locate the "System Tools" folder and open it.

Click on "Disk Defragmenter" to start the program.

Click on the "Defragment Now " button in Windows Vista and select the disk you wish to defragment. Click "OK" to start. In Windows XP, click on the disk and on the "Defragment" button.

Click the Windows "Start" button and click "All Programs." Scroll up and click "Accessories."

Select "System Tools"and click "Disk Cleanup." The Disk Cleanup wizard will open and begin analyzing the computer system.

Place a check on all the options you want to clean in the "Files to Delete" window when the analysis is complete and click "OK" to remove temporary, unused and unnecessary files from your computer system. Move to the next step to use a free tool for a deeper system clean.

Download and install CCleaner for free (See Resources) or another disk-cleaning software.

Launch your program after it has installed, click the "Cleaner" button on the left panel and click the "Run Cleaner" button. CCleaner or other disk-cleaning software will removed unused files and temporary files that use system resources with no benefit.

Go to the "Start Menu" and proceed to "All Programs."

Scroll down through the list of files and folders until you see "Startup." Open this folder up. A list of your startup files will appear.

Right click on the name of the file you want to stop from starting up automatically and select "Delete." This will not delete or uninstall the file, but it will simply remove it from appearing on the start menu when you start your computer.

Double-click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop. Double-click the "C" drive in this Explorer window. In the root directory, double-click the "Windows" folder.

Click the "Tool" option on the explorer main menu. Select "Folder Options" from this menu.

Click the "View" tab. Check the box that is labeled "Show hidden files and folders." Press the "Ok" button to save the changes. The NtUninstall directories are shown.

Take note of the directories you want to install. Before deleting them from the computer, the reference to them needs to be deleted from the registry. The NtUninstall directory is named using the following format:
$NtUninstall[Key]
The "[Key]" string is the label used in the registry.

Click the Windows "Start" button and select "Run." Type "regedit" in the textbox and hit the "Enter" key.

Navigate to the "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" registry folder. Delete the subkey with the corresponding NtUninstall key noted from step 4.

Navigate to the other registry directory containing references to the NtUninstall directories. Delete the subkey from SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache.

Close the registry and delete the NtUninstall files from the directory. It's recommended that you only delete the files that are old and no longer needed for restoration of the computer settings.

Log in to the Windows XP/Vista administrator account.

Launch Configsafe program.

Click the "Delete" button on the ConfigSafe toolbar.

Select a snapshot from the drop-down listbox and click "OK" to delete it.

Repeat Step 4 for all other snapshots you wish to delete.

Go to the "Start Menu" and click on the "Control Panel." Scroll through the list of programs and click on the files that you do not want. Click the "Uninstall" button on the top tool bar to completely remove the file from your computer.

Go to the "Start Menu" and select "Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup." Choose which hard drive you want to clean, such as the "C" or "D" drive. This will clean up temporary Internet files, empty the recycling bin and much more.

Right click on a file that you do not want and select "Delete." Click "Yes" when you are asked if you want to move the file to the recycling bin. Right click on the recycling bin and select "Empty Recycling Bin."

Go to the Lavasoft website and download the free version of the Ad-Aware program. Upon installation, click the "Scan System" option on the menu to scan your computer for unwanted spyware and tracking files. Click "Perform Actions Now" to delete all detected files.

Back up any files that you want saved. This can be done in a number of ways. Probably the easiest way is to first insert a USB flash drive into the USB port on your Mac. Then click and drag the files you want to back up to the folder of your flash drive.

Go into the Applications folder and highlight all the programs you want to delete. Press the "Apple(Cmd)" button + Delete. This will send all highlighted items to the trash.

Go to your Trash Can and empty its contents. This will get rid of your files.

Open Safari and go to the preferences. Delete all cookies and temporary files.

Open the Applications folder and go to the program called Keychain Access. This program will allow you to delete all the passwords you have saved. Make sure not to delete the computer log in, if there is one.

Double click the hard disk icon, open up the Users folder, and open the folder with your name. Go through all the folders and manually delete the contents that you no longer want.

Go to your computer's start menu and use the search function. Type in the name of the cloned file in full, including the three digit extension (examples of extensions are .exe, .bat or .doc) and press "Enter." Be sure to select "Search all available locations," including the hard drive, removable storage media and other areas of the computer. The search process will take anywhere from seconds to more than a minute, after which time a list of all the cloned files will appear on screen.

Right click on each file and select "Delete," or highlight all of the files and press the delete key on the keyboard to send the files to the recycle bin. After sending the files to the recycle bin, right-click on the bin and select the command to "empty recycle bin" to permanently delete the files, opening the space up on your hard drive for other items.

Use commercially available duplicate-file removal software to perform the same task if you find that the search function is failing to locate all of the file clones. One example of such a program can be found in Resources. These programs are specially tailored to locate files that contain identical media and remove them. This is a more efficient method for individuals who do not mind spending a little money in pursuit of a tidy computer.

Open your browser and locate the "Tools" menu in the top toolbar. Left-click the "Tools" menu.

Scroll down the "Tools" menu and click Internet Options. The "Internet Options" box will open to the "General" tab.

On the "General" tab, click the "Delete Files" button located under the "Browsing History" section to delete all the files stored in your cache.

Click "OK" to clear cache, then click "OK" again to confirm.