Clean your hard disk by removing unnecessary files to speed up Windows

Improving your computer’s performance can just be a matter of giving it a spring clean. Leave the feather duster in the cupboard though, as this housework only requires some deft mousework.Click ‘Start > Computer’ and right-click on the hard drive where your Windows files reside (in most cases you’ll find them in the C: drive). Next, click the ‘Properties’ option to display a small window featuring a blue and purple pie chart. Notice the button next to this labelled ‘Disk Cleanup’ – clicking this will reveal various file categories you can cleanse. 

Generally any item on the list can be ticked for deletion, but give your Recycle Bin a quick once-over to make sure there’s nothing important lurking inside that might be purged accidentally. Leaving the ‘Thumbnails’ box unchecked is also wise, as this saves your computer the trouble of regenerating image thumbnails when you next view your photo albums. Click ‘OK’ and Windows will commence the cleanup, free some computer hard drive space and make your computer run a little faster now it’s shed some of those extra virtual pounds.

To achieve a deeper clean, click the ’Disk Cleanup’ button next the pie chart again, but switch to the More Options tab. The upper ‘Clean up’ button opens the ‘Uninstall or change a program’ window where you can scour your computer for unnecessary software. Abandoned games, disused printer software and unnecessary web browser toolbars are all worth uninstalling. Back on the Disk cleanup window, the lower ‘Clean up’ button will delete Windows System Restore points apart from the most recent, potentially releasing gigabytes of storage space.