Much of this baggage is created by the operating system itself as it works and you will be unaware that it is happening. But much of this dead weight is created by you when you browse the internet, download files, send and receive emails, create and delete files and uninstall or remove programmes. In other words by simply using the computer you cause it to slow down.

There are many things that you can do to lighten the load on your computer and thereby make it faster. There are steps that you can take to improve the general health of your computer and to make it much more responsive to your commands. And finally, there are maintenance procedures that you can follow that will keep your computer in the best possible health.

Do not feel that you must plough through all of the following procedures in one session. In fact it makes sense to complete each section and then reboot your computer for normal use for a short period to make sure that all is well before moving on.

We are going to proceed on the assumption that your that your computer starts normally and does not have any inherent hardware faults or conflicts and that you can connect to the internet.

Safety First.

Before you can even think about making changes to your computer, you must make sure that you have a disaster recovery strategy and that you have backed up your important data files and personal files.

Windows provides us with an excellent tool called System Restore that helps us recover from serious problems when they occur.

What system restore does is to effectively take a photograph of your system and everything in it at a given point in time. So when things go wrong you can use system restore to recover the computer to the last image taken (restore point) before you ran into trouble. The clever bit is that data files i.e. emails, word documents and spreadsheets and personal files i.e. photographs and music files are not affected by the reversion to an earlier time and you do not lose any work - brilliant!

Your system creates restore points automatically and these are known as System Checkpoints. It is a good to create a new manual restore point immediately before installing any new software or making alterations to system settings, as this is when things can often go wrong.

To create a restore point

• Go to start
• All programs
• Accessories
• System Tools
• System Restore
• Click on Create a Restore Point
• Give the restore point a name in the description box
• Click Create Restore Point

To recover a restore point

• Go to Start
• All Programs
• Accessories
• System Tools
• System Restore
• Restore my computer to an earlier time is already selected
• Click next

In the calendar on the left certain dates are in bold type. These dates contain system restore points created automatically by the system or manually by you. Go back to a date that pre-dates the event that you are trying to undo. The detail of the restore point will be displayed. Select the correct restore point and click next and next again. The restore point will be recovered and the computer will restart fully restored to the selected date.

If the restoration does not achieve the desired result, you can reverse the process by repeating the recovery steps again, only this time you will be presented with the option to 'Undo my last restoration' which if selected does just that.

You may want to go even further back in time. If you do this, undo your first restoration before going further back. If you simply keep going back without undoing each restoration attempt first, you will end up with a very unstable computer. Generally speaking the further back you go, the more problems you are likely to have.

System Restore Turned Off?

This can happen by accident, design or through a virus infection. To switch on:

• Click on Start and place mouse pointer on My Computer
• Right Click then Left click properties in the menu
• In the system properties window select System Restore
• Un-tick 'Turn off system restore on all drives'
• Restart your computer

Backing up your data files and personal folders

System restore is good but it cannot recover from all situations and your data may still be at risk when making alterations to your computer system. It is therefore recommended that you back up your important data to external media if possible.

You can copy your data files to writeable CD/DVD disks, USB flash sticks, secondary internal hard drives, external drives or to remote secure servers over the internet. You can copy the data manually or you can use software to automate the procedure for you.

Acronis True Image 11 Home is a really easy to use piece of software that makes backing up to any local media a breeze. If you would prefer to automatically back up to a remote secure server over the internet then a good option is the Bullguard Internet Security Suite. Not only is this an excellent Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam and Firewall solution, but it also provides 5GB of secure online storage and an automated Backup feature that will allow you to back up to local media as well if you wish.

Recovering Deleted Files

When cutting and deleting files it is quite easy to delete something in error. It is comforting to have a programme like Easy File Undelete in the armoury so that you can recover deleted files even if they have been deleted from the recycle bin. Compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista

Now that you have taken precautionary measures, you can start the system cleanup.

System Cleanup

A typical system might contain between 250 - 500,000 system, programme and data files, even a brand new computer without any data files! This means that every time you search for something or run an anti-virus or Spyware scan your computer has to sift through a huge number of files to retrieve or run the required file - and the more files there are the slower the response.

The obvious first step therefore is to safely remove as many programmes and files from the system as possible and to take steps to keep them to a minimum in the future.

Removing unused / unnecessary programs - Be ruthless, there is no point in keeping programmes that you do not use or which are known to slow systems down.

Click on Start / All programs and select programme to be removed. If an uninstall icon is available here use it. If not, click Start / Control Panel / Add Remove Programs / Select programme to be removed and click remove.

Remember if you uninstall a program that you later wish to reinstall, you will require the installation disk or download location and licence number.

Warning: If during the removal process you are told that a particular file is a 'Shared file' and you are asked if you wish to remove it or not, the answer should always be NO.

Shared files are files that may be used by more than one programme, if you remove the file other programmes may stop working properly and if it is a Windows System file, the computer may not restart on the next reboot.

As much as we want to remove excess files, it is better to play safe.

Pay particular attention to Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware and Firewall
programs. You should have only one program protecting against each of these threats, duplication can lead to ineffective protection. Bullguard is the ideal programme in that it covers you for Virus, Spyware, Spam, Firewall and Backup and one licence can be used on up to 3 family machines.

Think carefully about utilities that monitor your system and show you lovely graphics about processor usage and disk space remaining etc. These programs use up valuable resources and serve no real purpose.

Toolbars and Shopping companions for your Internet Browser that are provided as a free download may provide you with lot's of bells and whistles but in return you give permission for that utility to gather information about your shopping habits on the Internet, sending details to the likes of Google and Yahoo. This really slows you down and the best advise is to remove them.

Instant messaging services such as such as Windows Messenger or Yahoo Messenger use up valuable resources, if you do not use them switch them off. If you do use them switch off auto start up and start it from the All Programs list only when you need it.

Yahoo Messenger

• In Messenger click on messenger name
• Click preferences
• Click general tab
• Uncheck auto start Yahoo Messenger

Windows Messenger

• In Messenger click on tools
• Click options
• Click preferences
• Remove ticks in the boxes next to Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts and allow Windows Messenger to run in the background

Remove any program or downloaded service that provides you with real time information such as RSS readers, ticker tapes, clocks, weather reports etc. If you really need this information stop it running on start up and start it manually when required.

Removing programmes from Start Up:

• Click on Start
• Click on All Programs
• Click on Start Up
• Delete the shortcut to any programme that you do not want to start automatically on start up. By deleting these shortcuts you are not removing the programme itself, only the shortcut.

The Start Up folder will not contain shortcuts to all of the programmes that are running at start up, to view the full list you need to run the System Configuration Utility:

• Click on Start
• Click Run
• Type MSCONFIG and press enter
• Select the start up tab. From this list you can select those programs that you want to stop running on start up, simply remove the tick from the appropriate box. You can always reverse this later if you want to.

There is an excellent programme that automates this and many other procedures that are explained in this paper, just one click a week and it's all done - see Windows Care Professional

Sometimes you may find that not only does a programme not provide you with an uninstaller in the programmes menu, but it does not appear in the Add / Remove programmes utility. For such times you need a great piece of software called Advanced Uninstaller Pro

Remove Old and Unused documents and records - Delete as many files as you can or copy them onto a removable medium fore safe keeping.

Clear out Mail boxes - Wherever possible empty mail folders particularly deleted and sent folders that rapidly fill up if allowed to.

Tidy up your Desktop - Delete any unused shortcut icons and remove or relocate unnecessary files and folders from the desktop. If you use a background picture, consider removing it as this consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow down the loading time of your computer.

Run Disk Clean Up - A Windows utility that allows you to run nine essential clean up routines from a central control panel.

Delete downloaded programme files: Every time you download a program files are created in order to complete the installation. These files are never used again and can be removed.

Temporary Internet files: Every time you visit a web site a record of each image that you click on is stored in the Temporary Internet files folder. This folder fills up very quickly indeed and really slows your computer down if not emptied regularly.

Offline Web Pages: When you select 'View Pages Offline' a record of pages that you visit is stored. Again these build up very quickly and take up a lot of space.

Microsoft Error Reporting Files: When you see a Microsoft error message, a record of the data is stored

Office Set Up files: Temporary files created during Microsoft Software installation

Recycle Bin: Depository for all deleted files. All of the files and folders that you have been deleting are stored here until you empty the bin. Once you empty the bin the items are permanently deleted - Unless you own a programme like Easy File Undelete

Temporary Files: Temporary files that are created by programmes during installation or use

Web Client / Publisher Temp Files : Temporary files that are created when publishing / downloading web site files

Compress Old Files: Old files that are not deleted are compressed to reduce space taken

To run disk cleanup: Click on Start / All programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup. You may run these utilities individually or collectively, just tick the relevant selection boxes. Again you can automate all of this by using  Windows Care Professional

By clicking on the More Options tab you can remove Windows components that you do not normally use. Bear in mind that if you wish to re-instate any of these components you will require your Windows installation disk.

• Windows Components - Click on Clean Up to run the wizard. Components that are ticked are currently installed. Click on Details for information about each component. Remove ticks from those components that you do not use. If in doubt leave well alone!
• Installed Programmes - Runs Add Remove Programs (as done previously)
• System Restore - You can remove all but the most recent System Restore Points. This is generally a safe procedure provided that you are happy with the way your computer is running. When you have finished tuning your computer, create a new restore point and then remove previous restore points.

System Disinfect

Now that you have removed as much as you can, it is time to check that what is left does not contain virus, spyware or malware.

You should have installed on your system a programme to protect against these threats. Run an update to ensure that your programme includes all of the latest definitions and then run a full system scan on your computer.

If you have more than one programme covering the same threat they can sometimes work against each other and leave you exposed. You should have one programme for each threat or one programme that covers them all. Bullguard is an excellent programme that gives protection against all of these and more.

If you are using programs that have expired or have not been renewed, they are next to useless as they are not updating and you are being exposed to new variant threats. It is essential that you maintain and update a good Anti Virus / Spyware / Malware programme and functioning Firewall.

System Tune Up

Now that you have cut out the dead weight and made sure that your computer is not infected, it is time to tune the system up.

Disabling Indexing Services - Indexing services use up large amounts of memory and can make your system hard drive very noisy. This service scans your files and produces indexes so that system searches can be executed more quickly. As these indexes have to be updated, the service is almost always working in the background scanning your hard drive and renewing the index. If you do not frequently use system searches and if you are happy to wait a little longer for the results when you do - disable this service:

Go to Start / Control Panel / Add/Remove programs / click Add/Remove Windows Components / Uncheck the indexing service / click next

Speed Up Folder Browsing - Every time you open My Computer to browse folders there is a slight delay. This is because Windows automatically searches for Network files and printers every time you open Windows Explorer. To fix this:

Open My Computer / Click on Tools / Folder Options / View Tab / Uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers check box / click Apply / OK/ Reboot your computer

Optimise Display Settings - A lot of resources are used in making Windows look good. Turn off a few of the artistic frills to speed things up.

Go to Start / Control Panel / System / Advanced Tab / In the Performance tab click Settings / Un-tick all but the following:

• Show shadows under menus
• Show shadows under mouse pointer
• Show translucent section rectangle
• Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
• Use visual styles on windows and buttons

Clean Up System Registry - Every Time you ass or remove a program or service dozens of entries are added or removed from the System Registry. Over time residual elements, duplicated entries, redundant or lost DLL's are left in the registry and slow things down.

To safely remove these files you must use a Registry Cleaning programme such as Windows Care Professional

De-fragment your Hard Disk- Over time the information stored on your hard disk gets spread out across the disk rather than being neatly grouped for rapid access. The Windows disk defragmenter solves this by repositioning data on the drive and removing the spaces that separate the data thereby speeding up drive read times.

To run Disk Defragmenter : Go to Start / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Click on Disk Defragmenter.

Be prepared, this process can take a long time (hours). A great little programme called Diskeeper 2008 Home will greatly improve the efficiency of your hard disk and will make long defrag sessions a thing of the past.

ADVANCED PROCEDURES

There are a number of procedures that involve turning off selected Windows Services which can add further improvements in speed. However these adjustments are more experimental in nature and are not covered in this article.