Speed up your PC

1. Remove spyware, and help protect your computer from viruses
From the websites you visit to user names and passwords, spyware can put you and your confidential information at risk. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance.
Download Microsoft Security Essentials for free to help guard your system in the future from viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious software.


2. Free up disk space
The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.
Use Disk Cleanup to:
Remove temporary Internet files.
Delete downloaded program files, such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets.
Empty the Recycle Bin.
Remove Windows temporary files, such as error reports.
Delete optional Windows components that you don't use.
Delete installed programs that you no longer use.
Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.


3. Speed up access to data
Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk as a file is opened (to piece it back together). The response time can be significantly longer.


Disk Defragmenter (sometimes shortened to Defrag by users) is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end to end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.


4. Detect and repair disk errors
As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.


5.Run the Error Checking utility:
Close all open files.

• Click Start, and then click Computer.
• In the Computer window (My Computer in Windows XP), right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
• In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
• Click the Check Now button.
• In the Check Disk dialog box (called Error-checking in Windows 7), select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.