Cleaning Up a Computer

You don't have too many files, your files are not optimized....here's an instruction in maintenance....

http://www.wikihow.com/Speed-up-a-Windows-XP-Computer

leave the DLL alone or your XP will crash

SPUNINST is most likely Service Pack UNINSTal. probably best to leave it alone.

Unless you are running out of hard disk space (you didn't say), deleteing files won't help speed up the computer. The problem isn't too many files, it's too many programs running "memory resident". Most programs, and ALL Microshaft programs, like to have at least a minimum memory resident portion. In 99% of these programs, that saves you maybe 2 milliseconds. Unfortunately, all those programs add-up to the point where they slow down your computer.

Goto: Control panel > Administrative tools > Services. Change the services that load automatically to manual. DO NOT CHANGE THEM TO DISABLE!!! Changing them to manual will still enable them to run when called for, without taking up resources when not needed.

I had a problem earlier this year with my computer running very slow. The hard disk was down to less than 2 GB out of a drive with nearly 100 GB. It was running slow - I eventually found out - due to so many junk internet files that had accumulated over the years, filling up the HD.

After hours of looking I finally found a folder labelled 'Temporary Internet Files' that had over 60GB of crap on it. It took the computer 3 days (!) to delete all those useless files. When it was done I ran some utilities to de-frag the disk, which took another day. Then after that the computer ran much faster and cleaner.

As others have mentioned, be careful what you delete. Those dll are dynamic library files and your computer NEEDS them to operate. If you're not sure, don't delete.

It's a good idea to move your documents (data, word files, pictures, excel files, etc.) onto flash drives, then (temporarily) delete then from your HD. You'd be amazed how much disk space pictures and other graphics files take up. Then as you need certain files, move them bad onto your pc from the flash drives.

You may want to go into the Internet Options, go to Settings under Browsing History and change the setting for deleting temporary files to a low number of days. I usually keep mine set at 5 or lower.

Caution: always wear proper hearing protection!

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

CCleaner Optimization and Cleaning

CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download.

Cleans all areas of your Computer

Internet Explorer
Temporary files, history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.

Firefox
Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Google Chrome
Temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history.

Opera
Temporary files, history, cookies.

Safari
Temporary files, history, cookies, form history.

Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.

Registry Cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old registry entries.

I agree- CC Cleaner works great, it's free, and they keep it updated. A good tool to have. If you want to pay money for one, RegCure Pro is good.

I tried the ccleaner and it seemd to make things slower. When I click on internet explorer from my desktop screen, it takes a full minute before IE come up.

You probably cleaned up all the IE cache and web sites you visit. It should settle after you use it for a while. Did you use the registry clean part too?

run advanced systemcare. ASC Its not just a cleaner.

cnc jim

Get onto www.majorgeeks.com (book mark this site verrrry useful!)look for Wise Care 365, down load it and run.

In freeware mode it will allow you to cull out clogged temp directories, sluggish registries and generally pep up your pc/laptop.

I've used it to great effect on my PC's and laptops running xp and 7.

While your on majorgeeks you can also download superantispyware, that'll help with your general maintenance and look for junkware removal tool by thisisu which is another great little maintenance tool

good tip, thanks

Don't manually clean anything Ronsetto, use CCleaner. It knows what you need and what you don't need.

CCleaner is very good free utility, I recommend advanced system care, again free Has automatic option, and a good defrag. Neither of these will decide for you which files you have created that you do not want. I think asc has a cloned files finder, which I find useful. Steven goulds cleanup! Is also very thorough. Cnc jim

Many good answers. I use Advanced System Care freeware. It has a variety of tools in addition to the cleanup utility. I liked it so much that I bought the pro version for 3 of my systems. On sale it was only $12.95 US for 3 computers. Though honestly, I see very little difference between the free version and the paid version in actual performance increases. As always, be cautious and proceed with just a few basic cleanup procedures and not run everything in the tool box until you are familiar with the effects. Any of these automatic cleanup programs can get too aggressive and cause problems. Here's a link for you to peruse:

http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.php

what i have studied with windows xp is that

1) keep enough free space on system drive t.m. the drive that has a WINDOWS directory on it

2) move My Documents and Internet Caches off that drive also keep Program Files and swap file on that drive

3) clear system cache regularly
[BATCH]

@REM the content of ClearCache.bat follows
@echo off
%SystemDrive%
cd\
cd windows\temp
del *.* /q
echo.
echo windows\temp DONE!
cd\
cd Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Local Settings\Temp
del *.* /q
echo.
echo Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Local Settings\Temp DONE!
pause

[/BATCH]

defragment the WINDOWS drive regularly

These are all decent answers. I also use Task Manager to see what is running on the computer. If you look under Processes and click the CPU heading you will sort the processes by their % on time. sometimes this can give you a clue as to what is using your cpu time. I found my virus software was using an enormous amount of time here, checking files and generally spinning its wheels. the other tabs are interesting too, you can see if your computer is secretly transmitting or recieving lots of data by clicking the Network tab. As a disclaimer, be sure you know what you are planning to stop or delete; either action on an essential software can make your system unresponsive ( but usually only until a reboot ). If you decide to delete a file, save it to an usb stick or somewhere so you can replace it if you made a boo boo. If you restart and use F8 to go to SAFE MODE, a lot of the extra trash running under normal will not be running. You can then go to Task Manager to list off the really essential stuff you need to run. This may also disable your antivirus so dont do a lot of surfing in SAFE mode. Safe mode can also let you do things that normal mode will block, in terms of file changes. As always, be careful.

Good luck !!

THis has reminded me, on two of my machines, windows automatic updates was soaking up all the processing power, it seemed to be stuck in a loop of some sort. Switched it off and away we went again.

cnc

I turn mine totally off every night. One of the benefits is that the computer can then do some of the internal things it wants to do. Also, I am not then exposed to overnight Internet spam and malware. Yes, I cannot then get middle of the night automatic updates, but they come later.

Go to Cnet.com and download process explorer. It gives you a visual of what's running, how much processor power is being used and memory used. It lists the programs running in the front and back.

It's a wonderful program and it will help you see what's really happening on your computer. Call it a task manager on steroids! Just be careful stopping programs, unless you know that you don't want it.

One final piece of advice, do not delete .dll files.

Good luck.

1. have a backup 2. have an XP Install disk handy (no worries) 3. install Malwarebytes - free follow prompts then run a quick scan 4. install System-One Care - free and run it right out of the box 5. in the admin acct on the start menu, programs, Accessories, Command line then type sfc /scannow then press enter, follow directions, this may take some time DO NOT INTERRUPT 6. Reboot 7. Press cntrl & "A" keys simultaneously, then press cntrl and "D" keys simultaneously, right click in the highlighted area and select delete; of course you want to halfway there reboot then