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Tuning-up Windows XP Computer
by Don Cundiff
The purpose of this procedure is to get your computer running again in peak
performance just like the day you purchased it. Many of the steps listed below
will free up wasted hard disk space, increase protection of personal information
from outside intrusions, and clean and reorganize the system registry where
everything you do on the computer is recorded.
If the registry remains cluttered with obsolete or invalid entries, your PC
will gradually become more and more bogged down and start running slower and
slower. This procedure is designed for use on the average stand-alone or small
network desktop computers that are not server based.
Prior to starting the tune-up procedure, gather the following information. At
the end, gather the same information and compare the results.
- Amount of Free Disk Space
- Current CPU Utilization
- Number of Startup Jobs
- Disk Fragmentation %
- Number of Active Processes
- Number of Started Services
- Current Memory Usage
The following steps can be performed by using either Windows XP procedures or
some other custom maintenance utility. There are several highly recommended
products that can be purchased to help speed up your computer and bring it back
to running in peak performance.
For a list of software retailers and tune-up procedure forms, visit the
Computer Software page at
Home-Computer-Maintenance.com
Windows XP keeps track of many things you do on the computer, like the web
sites you visit, the pictures you view using image viewers and movies you watch
using Media player. Likewise, many of the applications that you use keep a list
of the most recent activities that you have done with it. These first two steps
guide you to freeing up wasted disk space and getting rid of past activity records.
1. Clear Windows History Files
- Empty Prefetch folder
- Delete empty folders in Windows Temp folder
- Delete Outlook Express 'Deleted Emails'
- Erase folder streams in Windows registry
- Empty Print Spool folder
- Delete recently opened document history records
- Erase run history
- Clear past Icon History of system tray
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