How can I clean up and speed up my Windows PC for free?

1. 55

   Brett.Tesolposted 13 years ago

   How can I clean up and speed up my Windows PC for free?
   
   I'm looking for free software that can fully clean Windows to being like a new system again. Or, a collection of free software that can be combined to do the same job ...

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2. 68

   puddingicecreamposted 13 years ago

   If you want to thoroughly clean and speed up your PC, I actually recommend reformatting your hard drive so it'll be as good as new rather than downloading more stuff to do the job.

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3. 63

   Joe Brickyposted 13 years ago

   You don't need software to clean up your pc.  You just need to go to the control panel and uninstall anything you don't absolutely need.
   
   You should also run "msconfig" and take all the extra crap out of startup and services that you don't absolutely need.
   
   If you want a couple of free Anti-virus/spyware blocking programs I would suggest:
   
   avg.com/free
   Spybot Search & Destroy from downloads.com
   
   Run one of those prior to cleaning up your pc to remove any malware/spyware/viruses. 
   
   If you are not sure what to get rid of, just do a search on the items you think you may not need.  Google/Yahoo are very good at telling you what it is/does. 
   
   Lastly when you go to the services tab on the system utility, check the box that says "hide all microsoft services."  What's left is the optional stuff.  On the startup tab, you can usually get rid of everything.  If something is broken, put it back.  That will seriously speed up your computer. 
   
   Using task manager to see what is running is also a good way to decide what is slowing down your computer.
   
   AVG's pc tuneup 2011 isn't free, but it is reasonable and does a pretty good job.  You might want to spring for a few bucks if you don't want to do the extra work.  Good luck.

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4. 60

   WebsiteRockstarsposted 13 years ago

   The only way to get Windows fully cleaned is to reinstall it completely.  Otherwise, I have found that CCleaner does a good job at cleaning things up and solving some speed issues.  It is free and easy to use.

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5. 48

   telifiposted 13 years ago

   A good registry cleaner software will have the ability to remove invalid entries. Some applications will only clean out the 'empty' registry entries. This is a problem because the majority of registry errors, pop-up messages, and overall computer instability is actually caused by invalid entries.
   
   A registry entry basically contains the location of some important files that are on your computer. These files are used by certain applications in order to function. If your registry cleaner only removes the empty files but leaves all of the invalid files, then over time this will cause a problem and your cleanings will no longer have a positive effect on your PC's performance.
   
   You can try this software, okpckit, this tool is really useful.

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