Not because “clean” is a nice word but because it has a positive impact on our computer. Cleaning varies from a simple deletion of unnecessary files to a deep clean and even wiping entire drive (be careful, this is something different than formatting.)
In this article we will go through every step with our recommended applications. When needed, we will choose our programs from free downloads. But, be warned in advance and have all your important files backed up before following our advice.
We all accumulate files on our computer even if we do no more than surfing. When you visit a web page, your web browser downloads the images, the flash animations, and javascript to our computer. Those files accumulate in time and there are two important downsides: they slow up your computer and the starting up of your web browser plus they reveal your Internet browsing history. If you are the only user of your computer, the second one seems not to matter to you but the information contained in your browser tracks is an invaluable item for many malware/spyware.
Plus, the Windows registry gets larger with every program installed and/or uninstalled. Everything that you can think of gets recorded in the registry, even the addresses that you type in your browser's address bar to the placement of the icons on your desktop. Day by day the registry is filled by invalid shortcuts and invalid program entries (the junk).
The solution to the above problems are easy with a cleaning utility. I would recommend Piriform's CCleaner for this purpose. It is free and a small download with 3 megabytes and has a very small footprint. It can delete all your browser history, no matter if you're using Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera. The nicer part is that it can also scan your registry and remove missing file extensions, ActiveX controls, Class and Program Ids, shared dlls etc.. On my wife's Windows box, we have been safely using this program for more than one year. It really helps to keep the computer in shape.
