Over the years, months and weeks our PC is running, it is collecting what can be called gunk. This is all the data, files and programs you no longer need, including left over debris from uninstalled applications. It is fairly easy to clean out and get working at an almost tip top speed once more by following our 5 quick tips.

1: Check your emails...
You may notice that email clients will keep copies of all the messages you send, draft and delete. Although this is helpful at first they can very quickly build up and become useless wasting precious space. Sometimes you might send larger emails containing large files which are usually elsewhere on the computer anyway. In your emails you can usually arrange them to show you the largest file sizes first. By doing this you can delete the ones which are currently taking up the most space without having to really trawl through them all.

Although it’s a good idea to simply keep track of all your emails and delete batches of older ones before they take up too much space, outlook also provides you with the option to delete sent emails after a set time of being stored.

2: Have a sort through your media files...
The biggest culprit for taking up precious hard drive space are media files, photos, films and music files. The first and easiest method of keeping all these files under control is to keep organised. The easiest thing to do is make use of windows readymade files, ‘my pictures’ and ‘my music’. By keeping all your files organised it is much easier to back up these files. From these folders you can copy the files to an external storage device. Once your folders get too full you can clear out all the files you no longer wish to have and then save any you want to keep but which are not vital to a different external hard drive. Keeping only the most vital files local on your computer. Accessing any moved files is easy by plugging the hard drive back is so these can be reached again at any time in the future.

3: Look out for spyware and adware...
Sometimes ‘free’ utilities will install programs that transmit your details to advertising companies about your web browsing habits. These then lead to more relevant advertisements popping up. These programs install with little or no warning and can easily clog up your machine without you even knowing. You can prevent this by avoiding downloading spyware to begin with. When installing free programs be sure to check the licensing agreement to see if it comes with spyware. Another way to check is to type the program name and ‘spyware’ into google to check if the program is associated with any. If there is it is up to you whether you choose to take risk.

To get rid of these you will need to buy software specifically designed to do it. There are some free software’s such as free Spybot search and Destroy. These are all easy to use and when run regularly will keep your computer spyware free.

4: Try using Windows disk clean-up and defragmentation...
Windows disk clean-up will find and remove cached and temporary files from your computer. It is easy enough to find and fairly quick to do. Simply click Start - Programs – Accessories – system tools and disk clean-up. It will guide you through the simple process and begin removing these unwanted files. Once you have completed the dick clean-up you now need to defragment your hard drive. You should find this software in the same place as the dick clean-up. Your computer will store files in scattered chunks on your hard drive, this means that when you try to open a file it may have to search around collecting up all the pieces. By defragmenting your disk, the software will locate all these parts and place them back together in a more organised fashion. This means that your computer will be quicker at finding and opening your files.

5: Clear out your registry...
When you install and uninstall applications, keys are abandoned which once left to build up can slow down your system. Most people are too scared to clean out their registry since they know how crucial this part of the computer is. If only one small change is carried out incorrectly the system can become unbootable. So the safest way to deal with these keys is to use a registry cleaners, designed specifically for this job. They will delete only the keys it knows are safe to be removed and will back up your registry before beginning any clean ups.

By carrying out each of these simple tasks regularly you can help your computer last longer and work more efficiently. So get to it!