System: Extra Services

Cluttered "Windows slows down programs and can cause errors in the computer. What do you need to clean?

1. ANALYZING WINDOWS Before putting things in order, you need to get an idea of ​​the scale of the chaos happening on your PC. To do this, press the "Win + R" keys and enter the "perfmon / report" command. Windows will start performance monitoring and provide a list of system health metrics. At the very beginning, errors will be highlighted in red - for example, non-functioning devices or too long responses from system services. If there are many such markings, tackle these problems first by solving them with our cleaning tips. Green entries indicate that Windows is normal, but often there is still plenty of room for perfect cleanliness.

2. WE CLEAR AUTO LOADING Too much programs in the startup folder slows down Windows startup. To view the processes running in the background, you need to turn to external analysis utilities such as Autoruns. This program checks the system and displays running applications, loaded drivers and running services. You will find the information you need to optimize autoloading on the "Logon" tab. Unlike the native Windows function "msconfig", Autoruns provides a description of the program and, if possible, the name of its developer. This allows you to decide whether to disable it or leave it alone when you encounter an unfamiliar service.

3. WE UNDERSTAND SERVICES The smooth interaction of various components - for example, network connections - is provided in Windows by background services. Use the combination "Win + R", enter the command "msconfig" and go to the "Services" tab. Here, check the box in front of the "Don't show Microsoft services" entry to view only additional application services. When you eventually find the program entries for the utilities you actually use, decide if they need to run automatically. For example, iTunes installs Bonjour to share your music library. If you don't need it, you can turn it off. The same goes for SkypeUpdater. Click on the "Start" button, open the "Run" dialog and type "services.msc". Is the list of service records still overwhelming? Not only does Windows offer many services - it is also very common for programs to integrate into the system through services. To manually disable it, right-click on the service and select Properties. In the window that appears, click on the "Stop" button - the service will be immediately disabled. Now change the Startup Type to Disabled. However, you should not devote too much time to Microsoft services, as, indeed, and autoloading, since the not very significant benefit from these actions is hardly worth the effort.

4. CLEANING OUT THE "GARBAGE" USING CCLEANER Windows accumulates a lot of data that has become unnecessary. Although their braking effect in the G7 and G8 is no longer as great as in the days of Windows 95, from time to time they should be removed at least in order to clear space that is always lacking on solid-state drives. Our choice fell on the CCleaner utility, since it not only removes temporary files and cache in Windows, but also purposefully engages in memory “eaters” among installed programs. The latest (fourth) version even removes the cache of the Photoshop installation process. To do this, on the left side of the Cleanup screen, simply select the Windows items and programs you want to clean up. Now click on the "Analysis" button. CCleaner will check your selected sections for digital junk and generate a visual list of results. Clicking on the "Clean" button will start the process. If cleaning with CCleaner made you want more, you can continue with CCEnhancer. This utility adds additional cleaning capabilities to CCleaner 500 for other programs. In addition, once a year, you should review installed applications and remove unnecessary ones. This can be done either through the Windows Control Panel, or using a special program - for example, Revo Uninstaller.

5. SORTING WINDOWS 8 APPLICATIONS Applications for the "eight" tiled interface, existing along with classic programs, create an additional opportunity to litter the PC. In this case, the rule also applies: once a year find the time and view the installed applications. The "Win" key will take you to the Windows 8 start screen. There you will surely find applications that you will definitely not use anymore. In this case, delete them. It is very simple to do this: select the application on the main screen with the right mouse click, and then click on the "Uninstall" button in the panel at the bottom of the screen.

6. CLEARING THE WORKSPACE Admirers of the Desktop interface like to densely clog their screen with various shortcuts. To a certain extent, this is convenient, but at one point you can stop navigating. The icons you no longer need should be deleted. If they refer to installed programs that you no longer use, then erase the entire software through the Control Panel. The rule of thumb for the remaining desktop icons is order first. Commercial software Fences (stardock.com, about 350 rubles) will provide more visibility to your desktop. Like the drawer system, Fences neatly sorts all programs, files, folders and shortcuts into categories and organizes your jumble of icons.

NOTE Free Fences is distributed only in version 1.01, but the latest version 2.10 will already require costs.

8. GETTING RID OF OLD DRIVERS Corrupted and outdated drivers can cause performance issues in Windows. In this regard, it is worth taking a look at Device Manager. See the exclamation marks here? Update the appropriate drivers via the context menu. Free software such as SlimDrivers (driverupdate.net) will also perform this check for free and automatically.

2. WE CARE FOR THE FILE SYSTEM Windows built-in health check does not affect the file system. A suitable utility must be run through the command line as an administrator. In the "seven" this line is called by the keys "Win + R" and by entering the command "cmd". While confirming with the "OK" button, hold down the "Ctrl" and "Shift" keys. In Windows 8, use Win + X and select Command Prompt (Admin). Now enter "chkdsk" at the command prompt. The detected errors can be eliminated using the "chkdsk / f" command.

3. CLEANING THE HARD DISK Regular defragmentation not only brings the broken files together, but also adds speed to your work. Windows versions from XP to 8 have their own defragmenter. However, in XP it must either be started manually or configured to run regularly using the Task Scheduler. In Windows 7, the defragmenter starts automatically when the PC is idle or at 1 am, when the PC is usually turned off. You can also use a third-party program - for example, Defraggler.

ATTENTION! Defragmentation only makes sense on regular hard drives. It won't be useful on solid state drives. Fans of built-in Windows tools can use the little-known "Disk Cleanup" function for cleaning. It can be called directly from the Start menu through the search bar with the query "cleanmgr" and get rid of unnecessary files.

5. ERASE WINDOWS.OLD Those who have upgraded Windows (for example, upgraded to version 8) will find the Windows.old folder on the C: drive. It contains the files of the previous version, occupying, depending on the size of the installation, from 5 to 15 GB. If you no longer need files from your old Windows, simply erase the Windows.old folder. To do this, call the "Disk Cleanup" service through the search bar for the keyword "cleanmgr", select "Clean up system files" and check the box in front of the entry "Previous Windows installations". Click OK and then Delete Files to completely erase the entire Windows.old folder from your computer.

Internet: tricky surf trails

The browser and web services also accumulate data that, among other things, can compromise you. How do I clear them? Here are some pertinent tips.

1. CLEANING IE Internet Explorer 10 users can, of course, use external utilities such as CCleaner to erase unnecessary web browser data. However, now we will talk about their own funds. In Internet Explorer 10, click on "Options" and then on "Internet Options". On the General tab, under Browser History, select the check box next to the entry "Delete browser history on exit." Internet Explorer will now delete temporary files such as history, cookies, passwords, and form information on shutdown.

3. ORDERING DROPBOX Dropbox is a great online storage solution, but after a while it often becomes like a dump of files. Vigorous cleaning required. We recommend the WinDirStat utility. When using it, you do not need to log into Dropbox through the website - the program simply scans the Dropbox folder integrated into Windows Explorer. WinDirStat is able to report the space allocated for individual folders, and very clearly display the volumes occupied by certain types of files, coloring them in different colors. So you will instantly calculate the "eaters" of memory and can purposefully get rid of them.

4. RUNNING UP FACEBOOK Even on Facebook, a huge number of applications accumulates over the course of a year, which you used only once, and then forgot about them.

We recommend that you review the programs and uninstall unnecessary ones on facebook.com/appcenter/my. Sorting by "Recently Used" will help. In addition, Facebook stores every search query. This log is deleted on your profile through the Activity Log. To do this, on the left in the menu, select "Search", and then click on the top line "Clear search history".

5. CLEANING GOOGLE To view your saved searches, go to any Google service of your choice - for example, Gmail. If you are already logged in, then in the upper right corner of the browser window next to your profile picture, find a small arrow, click on it and select "Privacy" from the drop-down menu. Here, in the "Google" section, go to the "Personal Account" entry. In the "Web Search History" category, you will see the corresponding "Remove entries from Web Search History" link. Click on it, and Google will compile a list of all your saved Internet requests, which can be easily deleted with one click on the "Delete entries" button.

Content

The PC for the last 10 years has not been a luxury, but a vital necessity. More and more services, services go to work via the Internet and a person has to master this device. Over time, a certain number of files accumulate on a computer, which are no longer used by the system or a person, but take up space and complicate the work of the PC. To avoid various freezes and loads, you need to regularly clean your system.

Why do you need to clean your computer from "garbage"

Modern PCs are equipped with huge hard drives, but even they at some point become full and you have to start deleting unnecessary files. Cleaning the computer from garbage is a mandatory procedure for both home and work computers, because they interfere with the normal operation of the machine, slow down the search on the hard drive. The main difficulty of the deletion process is not to erase important system records, but only garbage.

Most of the unnecessary documents appear when installing programs, games, the PC starts to load the system more slowly, open windows. Some software even automatically installs additional utilities into the system if an inexperienced user forgot to uncheck the boxes during installation. All this leads to a deterioration in the performance of the computer. In case of critical fullness of the hard disk, a special window will begin to appear, which indicates the need to free up disk space. There are the following positive aspects of regular cleaning of unnecessary files:

  • the work of the PC will be much faster;
  • you have more space for important documents and files;
  • programs open, the system will boot faster;
  • there is less risk that a critical error will occur that will close the application or game at the wrong time.

Cleaning methods

To clean up your system, you don't have to search for each file manually and delete it through the trash can. There are special tools that automate the process and require minimal user intervention. Cleaning the computer from unnecessary files can be carried out using the system function, it is located in the properties of the hard disk itself. The second way is to install special software that was developed specifically for these purposes, for example, Ccleaner, Uninstall Expert.

How to clean your computer from unnecessary files on your own

Most of the "garbage" is collected due to a person's unwillingness to get rid of files that he no longer needs. Someone downloaded the series, watched it and left it lying on the disk. Any user who knows how to move from folder to folder and remembers what he downloaded or installed recently can manually clean the computer from garbage. Most importantly, do not delete anything from the Windows or Program Files folder on the system drive. To clean them of unnecessary files, it is better to use special utilities.

Remove "trash" on the desktop

Over time, a huge number of shortcuts and documents accumulate on the screen, which are no longer needed and only create chaos. This will not directly affect the operation of the system, but it will make it easier for you to find the applications you need. Just select unneeded files and drag them to the trash can. If you accidentally put something you need there, then you can restore this document. When all the excess is sent to the trash, do not forget to empty it. Right-click on it and select cleanup.

Torrents and unnecessary videos

The second place in terms of the amount of memory on a PC is taken by video files (the first is modern games). Most users, after watching a series or movie, forget to delete them. Depending on the quality of the picture, such a file can take from 700 megabytes to 30 gigabytes. To clean your computer from movies and eliminate the lack of space, you need:

  • go to the folder with the file;
  • select it with the left mouse button;
  • hold down the Shift key and press Del;
  • the movie will be permanently deleted.

Services that distribute movies for free use the torrenting system, i.e. download speed depends on the number of people who have already downloaded it and left it for distribution. A very convenient system that saves you from breaking the connection while downloading, allows you to pause this process. Over time, you have accumulated a large number of these torrent files that you can delete. You can find them by the prominent green icon with the Torrent logo. You can safely "demolish" them.

Extra bookmarks in the browser

All modern programs for surfing the Internet support the function of saving interesting pages. They are called "bookmarks" and can be located in special folders in the browser itself or directly on the quick access panel. If you do not clean unnecessary links, the program may start to "dull" and load windows for a long time. To clean up, you need:

  • hover the mouse pointer over an unnecessary bookmark;
  • right-click;
  • select "delete bookmark".

Unused programs

It will be extremely difficult for a person to check all folders for unnecessary files and clean them. For this, special utilities have been created that themselves scan the contents of the hard drive and determine the oldest, little-used files that can be cleaned. There is a "Disk Cleanup" utility built into Windows, but you can use more advanced applications, for example, Ccleaner, Revo uninstaller. The program will collect all obsolete files, registry entries and offer you to delete them. You can do everything automatically or manually.

Finding duplicates and deleting them

The operating system and some programs sometimes create copies of files for certain operations, but then do not delete them. This data will clog your PC, can negatively affect the operation of the OS, so it should be cleaned. The Ccleaner application is well suited for these purposes. Download and install the program, run from a shortcut on your desktop. The procedure is performed as follows:

  1. In the left menu of the interface, you need to select the "Service" item.
  2. Next, in the adjacent list, select "Search for duplicates".
  3. You should specify the search criteria for unnecessary files. If you do not know them, then it is recommended to simply enable all 4 checkboxes.
  4. Be sure to check the box next to the "System" line so that the program does not accidentally delete important data from Windows.
  5. If a folder contains important files, then it can be added in the "Exceptions" tab.
  6. Then click on "Search", the results will be displayed in alphabetical order.
  7. Highlight the files you want to destroy and click "Delete Selected".

One of the disks was chosen to install the operating system on. It is called system, the more trash, garbage or suddenly a virus on it, the worse your Windows will work. Regular cleaning will ensure the stable operation of the system, speed it up, so you should "clean" regularly, as a rule, this is the volume called "C". It should always have a reserve of memory, if suddenly some programs create temporary documents for their work. The optimal amount at the moment is considered to be at least 20 GB of free space.


Deleting residual files on a computer with TEMP extension

The system to speed up the loading of programs, files, pages in the browser (Chrome, Opera, Yandex) creates temporary documents, remembers some data. Over time, they can accumulate a lot, and they will take up disk space. You can clean them yourself in the Windows folder, then Temp and just use the Shift + Del combination to destroy everything without regret. Another option is the Ccleaner program. She will do everything for you automatically, you need:

  1. Download and install the utility.
  2. In the left menu, select the "Analysis" item and run it.
  3. The application will collect all the data by itself, analyze the contents of the folders, you just need to check them (suddenly something important accidentally fell into the list).
  4. Confirm cleaning of unnecessary documents.

Disk cleanup using standard windows tools

The developers of the operating system knew that garbage would accumulate on the computer over time, so they created a native function to delete unnecessary files. To clean the disk you need to do the following:

  1. Go to "My Computer" or open Explorer ".
  2. Right-click on the disk you need.
  3. In the context menu, click on "Properties".
  4. In this window, at the bottom right, there will be a "disk cleanup" section.
  5. A window will appear in which you can select additional deletion options.
  6. Click "Ok" and Windows itself will delete the files. It can destroy temporary documents, data from the Internet, the cache of the Chrome browser, Mozilla, and, if necessary, system documents.

How to delete temporary files after system update

For Windows, add-ons are regularly released that are installed over existing files. For this, backups are created in a special folder, which then become useless and only clog up the disk. You can use the PatchCleaner utility to properly clean these files. It helps to detect unused unnecessary documents called orphaned.

The application sends a request to the system and receives an answer which of the data is being used, compares it with the data from the Installer folder and identifies inactive elements. Before using it, it is recommended to create a restore point so that in case of a work error, you can return all deleted documents. You just need to launch the application, then click the "Delete" button and all unnecessary system update files will be destroyed.

Removing garbage from the windows registry

Important parameters of Windows are stored in the registry; it is responsible for the adequate operation of many programs. It is difficult to clean it yourself, not every user will be able to determine which of these records is unnecessary and which is important. For these purposes, it is better to use the Ccleaner program. She will be able to deeply analyze the data and identify files-duplicate registry entries, broken pieces and simply outdated. It is recommended to create an OS restore point before cleaning. You need:

  1. Run Ccleaner and click on the "Registry" section.
  2. Then click the "Troubleshoot" button.
  3. Next, a list of damaged or unnecessary documents will appear.
  4. Click the Fix Selected button. The system will prompt you to make a backup copy of the registry and it is recommended to follow this procedure. In the event of a malfunctioning Windows, it will be possible to restore the lost registry entries.

How to clear Startup from unnecessary programs

The newly installed operating system will boot quickly, without any problems. Over time, the user installs additional software, which starts downloading automatically along with the OS, slowing it down. You don't really need all of these utilities, so you can disable them and run them manually as needed. You can clean autorun yourself or using special utilities. If you chose the first option, then you need to follow these steps:

  1. Press the key combination win + R.
  2. A command line will open, in which you need to write "msconfig" (without quotes).
  3. In the top menu, select the "Startup" tab.
  4. The list will be long and some of the names are not clear to you, but some can be turned off intuitively, for example, agent programs from different services, players for playing videos, music, etc.

For users of Windows version 8 and higher, the developers have simplified this task. When the Ctrl + alt + del key combination opens a menu in which you need to select "task manager". In the top menu, a tab called "Startup" is immediately available, where you can disable all unnecessary applications. You can also see a list of these applications and disable them through the Ccleaner utility. Click on the "Service" section and in the additional list go to "Startup". There, too, you can clean all unnecessary applications.


Scanning your computer with an anti-virus program

Malware poses a serious threat to any computer. Viruses are not easy to clean, so special antivirus software must be used. They can get onto the computer by installing suspicious utilities, along with hacked games, or through a browser. The most annoying are the "worms" that settle in your browser and open extra tabs for you, add various advertisements to the pages, ads of an obscene or shocking nature.

You will not be able to manually clean your computer from viruses, so you should choose one of the products that will do this efficiently, without damaging the system. Among the paid options, Kaspersky Anti-Virus is very popular, and Malwarebyte for cleaning the browser and registry. These two utilities will automatically scan your computer and offer you to clean all potentially dangerous documents. No additional action is required from you.

Before using a flash drive, cd-disk or dvd-disk (if someone else is using them), it is recommended to check the data with an antivirus. This will protect your computer from malware penetration through these media. If you don't feel like paying for Kaspersky, then you can find a free alternative. How to clean your computer of unnecessary files without investing money and neutralize viruses:

  • Dr.Web;
  • 360 Total Security;
  • Avast Antivirus (Free);
  • AviraFree Antivirus;
  • AVG Antivirus.

Video

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Procedures for cleaning up software debris should be carried out on a regular basis. Unnecessary files accumulating over time can cause brakes and glitches in the system and even lead to the need to reinstall it. Further in the article - proven utilities and effective methods on how to clean your computer of garbage and speed up its work.

Types of garbage in the computer

First you need to understand what kind of trash is and how it affects the operation of your computer. There are many reasons for the appearance of unnecessary files and folders on the hard disk, however, the main reasons for their appearance are the result of improper operation of applications and a consequence of incorrect uninstallation of programs.

Where does the "garbage" come from:

  • Utilities and applications always create temporary files and sometimes just a huge amount. Ideally, when you close a program or uninstall it, all these files should be erased from the hard disk, but in practice this does not always happen. The result is an accumulation of system junk.
  • Many programs automatically create backups saving edited documents. This is necessary for data recovery in the event of an abnormal termination of the application, for example, when the computer is turned off due to a power outage. But the described mode also entails the accumulation of file junk.
  • Your favorite browser generates even more software garbage... Firstly, these are temp files, which are necessary for fast Internet surfing, and secondly, saved data from visited sites, passwords, contacts, etc. on your hard drive.
  • A huge amount of trash builds up over time in the register operating system. Sometimes the storage is simply full of obsolete data. However, you need to clean the registry wisely, using special utilities, since manual editing with a high degree of probability threatens the death of the system.
However, even with the correct and careful removal of temporary files, traces in the OS remain and the last method of getting rid of brakes and glitches can only be a complete reinstallation.

Disable effects and animations

Disabling these functions will significantly increase the speed of Windows and slightly unload the system memory:

If disabling effects and animations does not work, you can reset the settings to their defaults.

Removing unnecessary programs from startup

Removing unnecessary programs from startup will not only speed up computer startup, but also reduce the RAM load, which is important for fast and stable operation of the operating system:

It should be said that some disabled processes at startup are self-healing in a new session (after restarting the computer). You can get rid of them only with the help of specialized software, such as, for example, CCleaner.

Cleaning the browser and deleting the cache

Any browser, as already mentioned, leaves a huge amount of garbage in the system. How to get rid of the latter, consider the example of Google Chrome:

You should clean your browser on a regular basis, as running even a blank start page leaves traces on the system.

Disk cleanup with system tools

The periodic creation of restore points, downloaded program files, delivery optimization data, trash can, and so on "litter" the OS. This requires user intervention from time to time.

To remove unnecessary files, you can use the system cleaning tool:

When finished cleaning, Windows will inform you about the volume of deleted files.

Disk Defragmenter

Periodic defragmentation (especially of the system partition) is necessary for the normal operation of the hard disk for a long time. You can also perform the procedure using the built-in system tool:

In the latest versions of Windows, the standard defragmenter is configured by default to optimize on a schedule, and in this case, no user intervention is required. The above instructions will be relevant for computers where this option is disabled.

Removing old and unnecessary programs

Unused, unnecessary programs not only take up space on your hard drive, but also "clutter" the system. Uninstalling such applications using Windows can be done as follows:

Uninstalling some applications may require restarting your computer.

Cleaning with third-party software

The above methods allow the user to get rid of software junk in the system and speed up Windows quite effectively, but not always. This can be done better with the help of specialized third-party software.

CCleaner

This application has been a leader among all sorts of "cleaners" and optimizers for many years. The program is free, does not contain ads and imposes almost nothing upon installation (the latest versions suggest installing Google Chrome, which can be canceled by unchecking the box).

Remove junk and speed up your PC with CCleaner as follows:

CCleaner is a powerful tool with many settings and options, a more detailed description of which is available on the developer's official website.

Advanced SystemCare Free

Advanced SystemCare Free is an easy-to-use yet powerful tool for cleaning and optimizing your Windows operating system. The developers have automated the process as much as possible for the convenience of users.

Cleaning and speeding up your computer with Advanced SystemCare Free is easy:

In practice, the Advanced SystemCare Free program is quite heavy and cumbersome, eating up PC resources, but very understandable with detailed explanations of each step.

Wise Care 365

Wise Care 365 Optimizer is another application for cleaning and speeding up your operating system. In terms of its capabilities, it again resembles CCleaner. The program works as follows:

In the Free version of the program, not all options are available to the user. To expand the functionality, you will have to buy the application.

Dr.Web CureIt!

The methods discussed above are quite effective in cleaning garbage objects and speeding up Windows, but do not affect various types of viruses. The latter, in turn, if present on a computer, can significantly affect performance, devouring resources and damaging system files.

Today there are a large number of utilities to help the user cope with viruses in the PC. Dr.Web CureIt! is one of the best such scanner programs.


Step by step instructions:

Upon completion of the scan, the program will provide an overview of suspicious and dangerous files (if any), as well as a request to perform their disinfection and removal. Agree to the recommended actions.

In the most advanced cases, cleaning the PC from garbage and speeding up the system may not give any result. In this situation, there is only one thing left - selective copying of the necessary information to another medium and a complete reinstallation of Windows.

Hello, friends. In this tutorial I will show you how to clean your computer from junk and unnecessary files. After all, it's no secret that all the rubbish that is on our computers does not bring any benefit to our system, and in some cases, on the contrary, it can cause the computer to slow down and various glitches.

Let me show you how you can clean your computer from junk and unnecessary files in a few simple steps.

Cleaning the Registry and deleting unnecessary files

Using the free CCLEANER program, we can remove a huge amount of junk. Download the latest version from the official website: https://piriform.com.

Install CCleaner and run it. Go to the Registry tab, make sure all the checkboxes under Integrity of the registry installed and after that click Search for problems.

After a few seconds, all unnecessary entries will be found. To clean them, click Fix and in the window that opens Fix marked.

Now open the first tab - Cleanup. Here you can see which checkboxes are in the section Windows and Applications... I usually leave everything by default and press Analyze.

Upon completion, we see a list of all files ( trash) that you can delete. Their size is also indicated (almost 1 gigabyte). Click Cleanup to delete the whole thing.

System Disk Cleanup: TEMP Folders, Disk Cleanup

On the way to the next step, we need clear TEMP folders, in which temporary files are stored, and perform "Disk Cleanup", which allows you to clean your computer of unnecessary files using standard system tools. Some functions have already been performed by the CCLEANER program, but I assure you a manual check will not be superfluous!

Open the Computer section, then the system drive (C :) and the following folders: Windows - TEMP.

The contents of the TEMP folder can be completely deleted. This is where temporary files are stored and are of no use whatsoever. If errors appear, for example, " These files are used", then we just click" Skip all. "Usually it is impossible to delete the minimum number of files!

There is another temporary folder in Windows and the easiest way to get to it is in the following way. Click Start and enter% TEMP% in the search bar. The Temp folder appears in the found.

In Windows 8 and 10, search can be launched with a keyboard shortcut WIN + Q.

You need to open the found folder and clear the contents!

After clearing TEMP folders, do not forget to "clean up disk" using standard system tools. To do this, right-click on the system disk and select "Properties".

On the General tab, there is a Disk Cleanup button. We press it to analyze unnecessary files.

After a couple of minutes, the program will offer to delete a certain number of files. We set all the checkboxes and click "OK".

If you have recently updated the system, then in this window you will see an additional button "".

Click it to delete the temporary files that were downloaded to update Windows.

Important! If you have little space on the system partition, then I advise you to read my lesson:. There I told 10 cool tricks for cleaning the system disk

Scanning your computer for viruses: Dr.Web CureIt

One of the important steps in cleaning your computer from unnecessary files- this is of course the same. To do this, you will not need a utility from Doctor Web! Download the latest version from the official website.

Start Dr.Web CureIt ( does not require installation) and after accepting the agreement, click "Continue" and "Start verification".

The system will be scanned for malware in about 15 minutes. If viruses are found, the program will offer to neutralize them.

Removing old and unnecessary files is not enough to clean your computer from junk. Do not forget about autoloading, which can also be clogged with various rubbish!

We return to the previously installed CCleaner program and go to the "" section. Here we will see all the programs that run together with the computer. I advise you to select unnecessary software and click the "Turn off" button.

I refer to unnecessary software as all programs that are not used immediately after turning on the computer. They can be started manually when needed.

Removing unnecessary programs. 2 ways

If you decide clean your computer from rubbish, then many programs can become unnecessary if you just think about how often we use them? Some users install everything on their system without hesitation. It's time to analyze the software and clean your computer of unnecessary programs.

This can be done, for example, using standard system tools by going to Start - Control Panel - Uninstall a program.

After launching Revo Uninstaller, you will also see a list of all programs and clicking on any of them calls the "Uninstall" function.

But here, immediately after uninstalling the program, we are offered to search for the remaining traces. Select "Moderate Search" and click "Next".

The remaining items in the registry will be found first. Select what is indicated in bold and press "Delete".

And in the next step, the program will find the remaining files and folders. They also need to be selected and click "Delete".

Removing duplicates

From time to time, the same files may appear on your hard drive. Today you downloaded the movie, and six months later you forgot about it and downloaded it again, you download music, then you lose it, you download photos from your phone to your computer several times. All this leads to the accumulation of duplicates on the computer.

It is very difficult to manually search for the same files, so let's use a special program.

We return to the already familiar CCleaner program and open the Service section, the Search for duplicates tab. There are many different parameters here that you can customize to suit your needs. For example, I am not configuring anything, I just press "Find".

After a few minutes, the search for duplicate files will be completed. After carefully studying, I see that I have a couple of identical videos on my computer that you can safely delete.

I am not going into details here, because the program found a lot of files and it takes a lot of time to analyze it to remove all the junk. But I think the essence of this function is clear!

Up to this point, we figured out how to clean the computer from garbage in Windows itself, using standard and third-party programs. But don't forget that the computer and laptop also need to be cleaned from the inside.

Do not forget to look inside the system unit at least once a year and clean it from dust, as well as apply new thermal paste to the processor. Monitoring the temperature of components will also not be superfluous. On this topic, I advise you to read my tutorial:. Using the knowledge gained, you will know if your device is overheating or not!

Now you know how to clean your computer from unnecessary files, junk and programs. That's all, thanks for your attention, I wish you good luck!

The task of cleaning a computer and even more so a laptop from unnecessary programs and files is always relevant for any user. If you can use special utilities - uninstallers to remove the "tails" of various software, then to get rid of unnecessary system objects, you need to point out the reason for the increase in the size of each directory.

All sorts of optimizers can compromise the integrity of Windows. We will list you the actions that will free up space and are guaranteed not to cause the operating system to malfunction.

Cleaning up temporary files with a system cleaner

Windows developers have provided an excellent tool for removing unnecessary files - an integrated cleanup manager. To start it, press the combination "Win" + "R", enter the value of cleanmgr and click "OK". After that, the application will analyze the system and display a list of data available for deletion, as well as the planned amount of freed space. By the way, this manager will cope even with the update to Windows 10 being loaded in the background. And this is as much as three Gigabytes.

Emptying the Trash

A banal tool, but very effective - the removal of trash from the "Trash". We met users with Gigabytes of unnecessary data placed there long ago. Do not forget to check the contents of the container and empty it with the "Empty Trash" command.

Disable hibernation

Convenient mode for a quick start of the computer. It is especially active on laptops. When using it, the entire contents of the RAM are written to the local disk in the hiberfil.sys file. Most likely, you will not be able to delete it simply by pressing the "Delete" key. The solution is to disable the mode via the command line.
To do this, press the already familiar combination "Win" + "R", copy or enter the text "powercfg -h off" in it and click "OK". You can turn this mode back on by simply changing "off" to "on" in the text.

Clearing user files

We recommend checking and deleting unused user accounts. They are located in the "Control Panel", item "User Accounts". The operating system guest account should also be disabled here.

After restarting your computer, you can "clean up" the rest of the folders. By default, they are located on the system media in the root Users folder.

Removing temporary objects from the browser cache

Support files for programs are located in the Temp folders located in the following locations:

  • C: \ Users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Local \ Temp
  • C: \ Users \ All Users \ Temp
  • C: \ Users \ Default \ AppData \ Local \ Temp
  • C: \ Windows \ Temp
  • C: \ Users \ All Users \ Temp
  • C: \ Documents and Settings \ Default User \ Local Settings \ History
  • C: \ Windows \ Temp
  • C: \ Documents and Settings \ (user_account_folder) \ Local Settings \ History
  • C: \ Documents and Settings \ (user_account_folder) \ Local Settings \ Temp

Internet browsers like to "store" various information that they need to more quickly launch certain functions or a simplified authorization algorithm. If these two factors are not critical for you, you can safely delete the cache files.

Let's list the locations for popular reviewers:

Opera
C: \ users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Local \ Opera \ Opera \ cache \

Mozilla Firefox
C: \ Users \ () \ AppData \ Local \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Profiles

Google Chrome
C: \ Users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Local \ Google \ Chrome \ User Data \ Default \ Cache and C: \ Users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Local \ Bromium \ User Data \ Default \ Cache

Internet Explorer
C: \ Users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Temporary Internet Files \

Of course, you can do all these manipulations through the menu of the web browser itself, but the forced cleaning tool is the most reliable.

Local copies of recently opened office documents can also be deleted. They are located at
C: \ Users \ (user_account_folder) \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \

It is possible that not all directories will be available for cleaning. The reason for this is that some software is accessing the folder at this moment. If the situation does not change immediately after starting the operating system, try deleting data in safe mode. To do this, when loading the operating system, press the "F8" key and select "Safe Mode" from the list provided.

Clearing game saves

Recently, games to save user data are increasingly using not their own directory, but a separate folder in the "Documents". It is very easy to find these objects - we go along the path "Computer" - "Documents" and find the name of the directories in which the name of the games that are deleted or unnecessary to you is found. We check that they do not contain data useful to you and remove the garbage. We do not touch the catalogs of current games, of course.

Please note that if you have previously installed various multimedia software or graphic editors, then you should also check the folders with the name of unused programs - these applications also like to leave trash in documents.

Reducing the paging file size

If the availability of free space is critical to you, try to enforce limiting the size of the local file that is used in case of insufficient RAM. You can limit its size in the "Control Panel", the "System" section, the "Advanced Settings" tab. After that, in the "Performance" item, select the "Additional" attachment. However, we recommend that you do not make the file size less than 500 MB, especially on machines with little RAM. There is a risk of running into "brakes" when working.