Regular PC maintenance is often neglected, leading to lost hard drive space and a bloated operating system that runs increasingly slower. To avoid a dreaded Windows re-installation, you should perform a thorough cleanup at least once a year. In part 1 of this article A Spring Cleaning Checklist For Your PC Part 1: Hardware Cleaning A Spring Cleaning Checklist For Your PC Part 1: Hardware Cleaning With the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, houses across the globe get a nice cleaning to rid them of dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the past year. Dust and junk also... Read More , I took you through a physical cleaning checklist for your computer. For part 2 I have created a spring cleaning checklist for the digital environment, to remove obsolete files and regain storage space.

Clear Space

Ordinary everyday use of a computer will leave its traces. Deleted files are preserved in the Recycle Bin, temporary installation and Internet files accumulate, and many other obsolete files clutter up your hard drive. There is an easy way to clear all of these space hoggers in one go:

• Click [Windows] + [R] to open the Run dialog box.
• Type Cleanmgr.exe to launch the cleaning tool.
• Select the drive you wish to clean.
• Wait for the application to complete its calculations.
• Select files you wish to clear and actions you wish to take.
• Click OK to confirm and let it do its job.

This step can be automated to run in regular intervals: How To Automatically Keep Windows 7 Clean Of Obsolete Files How to Automatically Keep Windows 7 Clean of Obsolete Files How to Automatically Keep Windows 7 Clean of Obsolete Files Windows has a way of collecting virtual dust, a circumstance that has not changed considerably in Windows 7. These obsolete files take up space and contribute to hard drive fragmentation. While neither of this is... Read More

The Windows Clean Manager only clears temporary internet files stored by Internet Explorer. If you are using other browsers, have a look at CCEnhancer or Browser Cleaner, which we reviewed here:

• Help CCleaner Remove All Your Excess Files With CCEnhancer Help CCleaner Remove All Your Excess Files With CCEnhancer Help CCleaner Remove All Your Excess Files With CCEnhancer Add 450 extra programs to the already extensive CCleaner. An unofficial program makes Piriform's famous system maintenance tool even more useful, by vastly increasing the amount of software it supports. CCEnhancer makes CCleaner even better... Read More
• Delete Temporary Files Quickly & Discreetly With Browser Cleaner Delete Temporary Files Quickly & Discreetly With Browser Cleaner [Windows] Delete Temporary Files Quickly & Discreetly With Browser Cleaner [Windows] Life with multiple browsers, numerous applications and a constant use of IM and file sharing programs leaves our computers cluttered with temporary files, histories etc. There are many tools out there that solve this problem.The... Read More

Also have a look at this article – 5 Ways To Clean Up Your Computer With An Automated Script 5 Ways To Clean Up Your Computer With An Automated Script [Windows] 5 Ways To Clean Up Your Computer With An Automated Script [Windows] Computer maintenance isn't exactly something that most people remember to do. For the general user that isn't exactly tech savvy, when a computer doesn't work, they either call for help or simply buy a new... Read More

Unclutter

Over the course of a year, the average user installs countless apps and tools and ends up using only a fraction of them. Removing unused software or even crapware that came pre-installed with your computer can potentially free up several gigabytes of valuable hard drive real estate.

• Go to Start, type remove programs in the search field and select Add or remove programs from the results list.
• In the respective control panel window go through the list of installed software and highlight a program you want to uninstall.
• Click Uninstall or Uninstall/Change in the menu right above the list.

Unfortunately, you can only uninstall one program at a time. Hence, you have to steps two and three for every program you want to remove. Moreover, the default Windows uninstaller is known to be conservative when removing programs. Third party applications often are more thorough and a last resort when Windows returns and error when trying to remove software. Try Revo Uninstaller or IObit Uninstaller.

In the following articles you will find more information on additional tools to remove installed software and pre-installed crapware from your PC:

• Why You Have Too Much Crap On Your Computer & What To Do About It [Opinion] Why You Have Too Much Crap on Your Computer & What to Do About It [Opinion] Why You Have Too Much Crap on Your Computer & What to Do About It [Opinion] I am here today to give you a message you don’t often hear on tech blogs - you have too much. Too much software, too many unneeded applications, too much digital clutter. Even if you... Read More
• How To Uninstall Applications Efficiently And Remove Obsolete Files How To Uninstall Applications Efficiently And Remove Obsolete Files How To Uninstall Applications Efficiently And Remove Obsolete Files Read More
• How To Force Uninstall Unwanted Windows Programs Using IObit Uninstaller How To Force Uninstall Unwanted Windows Programs Using IObit Uninstaller How To Force Uninstall Unwanted Windows Programs Using IObit Uninstaller Read More
• Revo Uninstaller Will Hunt Down Your Bloatware Revo Uninstaller Will Hunt Down Your Bloatware Revo Uninstaller Will Hunt Down Your Bloatware Read More
• Clean Uninstall Unwanted Programs On Windows With ZSoft Uninstaller Clean Uninstall Unwanted Programs On Windows With ZSoft Uninstaller Clean Uninstall Unwanted Programs On Windows With ZSoft Uninstaller What do you do with installed software that you don't need? You uninstall them, and move on to the next candidates. But the problem is, uninstallation under Windows often equals litter, small and non-functional files... Read More

Sort & Unclutter Private Files

Part of your spring cleaning effort should also be to sort through your private files, remove duplicates, organize your files and folders, and most importantly prepare a backup. Here are some articles you may find useful for this endeavour:

• 5 Ways To Find Duplicate Image Files On Windows PC 5 Ways to Find Duplicate Image Files on Windows PC 5 Ways to Find Duplicate Image Files on Windows PC Duplicate image files are unnecessary and a waste of space. These tools will help you find and eradicate the image duplicates that are wasting space on your data drives. Read More
• How To Merge Duplicate Files & Folders With WinMerge How To Merge Duplicate Files & Folders With WinMerge How To Merge Duplicate Files & Folders With WinMerge Read More
• Find Duplicate & Similar Images On Your Hard Drive With SimilarImages Find Duplicate & Similar Images On Your Hard Drive With SimilarImages [Windows] Find Duplicate & Similar Images On Your Hard Drive With SimilarImages [Windows] The main reason why you would want to delete similar images is to save some space on your hard drive. Going through your image folder deleting extra images is too time consuming. Besides, many of... Read More
• Back Up Your Entire Hard Drive With Redo Backup & Recovery Back Up Your Entire Hard Drive With Redo Backup & Recovery Back Up Your Entire Hard Drive With Redo Backup & Recovery Easily make a copy of your entire hard drive . Don't just back up your data: back up all of your software, your settings and everything else by cloning your entire hard drive. Redo Backup... Read More
• Stuff Happens: The Backup & Restore Guide The Windows Backup and Restore Guide The Windows Backup and Restore Guide Disasters happen. Unless you're willing to lose your data, you need a good Windows backup routine. We'll show you how to prepare backups and restore them. Read More

Defrag

Once you have cleared all obsolete files and organized your private files, it’s time to defragment your hard drive to help it run more efficiently. Regardless of what file system you are using, defragging has benefits. To use the default Windows defrag utilitiy…

• Go to >Start >Programs >Accessories >System Tools >Disk Defragmenter.
• In the Disk Defragmenter window select the disk you wish to defrag.
• You can click Analyze disk to preview how badly fragmented your data are.
• Click Defragment disk to start the defragmenting process.

Defragmentation can be scheduled using the respective button in the top right.

A great third party application to defrag your computer is Defraggler, which we have reviewed here: Better Defragmentation Software For Windows Defraggler: Better Defragmentation Software For Windows Defraggler: Better Defragmentation Software For Windows Alternative defragmentation tools have been mentioned for years and years now, as most people deem the default defragmenter that comes with Windows to be insufficient. There are plenty of different solutions that try to out-do... Read More

Some of the tools and techniques mentioned above are also covered in the following articles and in my Windows on Speed guide:

• How To Remove Unwanted Crapware From Your Brand New Windows 7 System How To Remove Unwanted Crapware From Your Brand New Windows 7 System How To Remove Unwanted Crapware From Your Brand New Windows 7 System Read More
• Speeding Up Windows 7: Everything You Need to Know Speeding Up Windows 7: Everything You Need to Know Speeding Up Windows 7: Everything You Need to Know Read More
• How To Clean Up Your Computer Back To Its Original State (Without Reinstalling Windows) How To Clean Up Your Computer Back To Its Original State (Without Reinstalling Windows) How To Clean Up Your Computer Back To Its Original State (Without Reinstalling Windows) Read More
• Top 8 Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Top Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Top Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Your computer's performance will degrade over time. Don't let it become too slow to bear! These programs can help you keep your Windows system running nice and speedy. Read More
• Top 5 Free Computer Maintenance Tools You Should Know About Top 5 Free Computer Maintenance Tools You Should Know About Top 5 Free Computer Maintenance Tools You Should Know About Treat your computer right and it will stay fast and responsive for many years. But neglect proper maintenance and your system will suffer. So where do you begin? With the five apps we recommend here. Read More
• Top 8 Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Top Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Top Programs That Can Make Your Computer Run Faster Your computer's performance will degrade over time. Don't let it become too slow to bear! These programs can help you keep your Windows system running nice and speedy. Read More
• Windows on Speed: Ultimate PC Acceleration Manual

How do you go about system maintenance? Is it worth the hassle or do you simply re-install Windows once a year?

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