Maintain Windows 11/10 PC in good running condition
Here are a few tasks you will have to perform periodically, in order to Tune-up Windows and maintain your system in good running condition:
1] Clear PC Junk
Set a time to clean up your PC junk files. Depending on your computer usage, you could decide to do it every week or every month. On this day, use your built-in Disk Cleanup Tool and clear up your junk files. Junk files are files that remain on your computer after a task has been performed. Sometimes, Windows or some program needs to create temporary files while doing some task and then forgets to delete the temporary files it created. As time goes by, your computer is full of junk files in the form of temporary files, log files, downloaded files, and unwanted Windows registry entries. While the Disk Cleanup Tool does a good job, some of you may prefer to use a third-party free junk file cleaner like CCleaner. Then there is the question of Registry entries. Quite a few say, do not clean the registry, but then are many who do. I do! So before you decide, you may want to know – Are Registry Cleaners good or bad. Generally speaking, Microsoft does not support the use of Registry Cleaners in Windows. Although Windows Rot may be a thing of the past, it is a fact, that Windows OS leaves several orphaned entries in the Registry – especially when you uninstall programs, and that is where a good safe free Registry Cleaner like CCleaner can be of help. Using a Registry Cleaner or a Disk Cleaner, will not make your Windows PC run faster. It is just a matter of good housekeeping you should follow. Read: How to check Computer Health in Windows 11/10
2] Uninstall unwanted Programs
From time to time, open your Control Panel and then the Uninstall Programs applet. Check all the installed software there. Did you install all of them or do you have something new there? If you have doubts about some of them, search for them by name on the Internet. Some of them could well be Potentially Unwanted Programs that may have got into your computer without your knowledge. Uninstall unwanted programs! If you need to install and try out a new program, create a system restore point first, then install the program. See if you want to keep it. If not, uninstall it and then go back to the created system restore point. Practical if you can do it within, say a day. This way, you won’t have residual junk from the program remain on your system.
TIP: You can use Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics to detect Windows Boot Performance problems.
3] Control Startup Programs
You should also check up on the programs which set themselves to start every time Windows starts or boots. You must restrict the number of start-ups. Why have programs starting up when you don’t really use them. Even those you need can be started manually by clicking on the program’s icon. I personally prefer not to have ANY startups – except my antivirus software running. So decide for yourself which ones you really need to start up every time your Windows boots. You may use msconfig in Windows or Task Manager to manage startup programs. You can also delay Startup Programs or control the order in which they load when Windows starts. Read: Things that can damage your Computer and shorten its life.
4] Remove Crapware
If you have bought a new Windows computer you really will have to exorcise it of all the Crapware that sadly gets installed on OEM machines, thanks to their manufacturers – all for some quick bucks. Most users usually accept them as a part of Windows OS, cursing the operating system for being so irritating and slow. New users who buy such a computer are usually inundated with plenty of pop-ups every time they switch it on. Quite expecting their experience to be a pleasant one, they are left with a bad taste in the mouth when they find their new Windows PC machine running slow, freezing, or crashing frequently. So take the help of some free crapware removal tools to remove crapware, the first thing you buy is a new machine. Read: How to make your old PC perform like new again.
5] Run Defragmenter
One needed to manually defragment the Disk, in order to get some improvement in performance. But now, you need not. Firstly, Disk read-write speeds are really good, and stacking files together can at most make a marginal difference plus, CPUs are more powerful now. Windows 10 includes an improved Disk Defragmentation Tool that does all this The Disk Defragmenter Tool runs as a low-priority task in the background without affecting the performance of the computer. It runs only when the machine is idle! It uses the Task Scheduler to automatically keep the hard disk defragmented. But the defrag tool only defragments files smaller than 64 MB, for according to Microsoft’s benchmarks, fragments of this size, which already consist of at least 16000 contiguous clusters, have a negligible impact on performance. So some of you, especially gamers, may want to consider using a third-party free Defragmentation Software. Read: Do you need to defrag SSD?
6] Run ChkDsk occasionally
It is a good practice to check your hard disk drive for errors using a tool built into Windows called CHKDSK or Check Disk. In Windows 10, Microsoft has redesigned the chkdsk utility. The disk is periodically checked for file system errors, bad sectors, lost clusters, etc, during Automatic Maintenance and you now no longer need to really go and run it if you are running Windows 11/10.
7] Keep OS and software updated
Lastly, keep your Windows operating system, your antivirus software, browser, and your other installed software, always updated to their latest versions. You should also wipe your device externally and keep it clean and dust-free. Do all this, and you could have a smooth, optimized Windows computer on your hands that will remain as good as new, even after years of use. Let us know what you do to keep your PC running smoothly.
