The importance of cleaning up your computer’s hard drive is often overlooked by computer users, if for no other reason than they really don’t know how to do it.  Quite honestly, a “clean” hard drive can be likened to a clean house – if it’s in order, you can find things easier and therefore you’re generally more efficient when you’re performing day-to-day tasks indoors.  Likewise, a clean hard drive results in better PC performance and more efficiency.

Now, before you head to the garage to grab the screwdriver and the kitchen for the soapy water, we’re going to share with you how you can properly clean up your computer’s hard drive.

Cleaning up temporary files

On many PCs, temporary files take up an immense amount of space; especially if such files haven’t been cleaned in a while (or ever!).  Unfortunately, Windows does not have a built-in, easy-to-use temporary file cleaning program, but there are plenty available to choose from.

A popular program that others use to clean up their temporary files is the program located at CCleaner.com – not only will it clean most web browsers’ history, cache and temporary internet files, it clears your Windows recycle bin and recent documents as well.

Defragmentation

A defragmented hard drive is like a hopelessly cluttered home where you are looking for your misplaced keys.  Your computer’s files, even through general use, will become “fragmented” whereby bits and pieces of certain files are stored at different locations on your hard drive.  When you run a defragmentation tool, you are essentially tidying-up your hard drive and organizing your files in the way that they are meant to be stored.

If you’re familiar with the hobby of scrapbooking, you can think of a whole file as a scrapbook and the individual sleeves as fragments of that book. When you’re scrapbooking, you’ll often times have a sleeve on the table, on the couch and maybe even at a friend’s house – in order to access the entire book, you have to locate and retrieve each sleeve – which can be time-consuming and can slow down your access to the book considerably.   This is what happens when files become fragmented on your computer.

In any case – defragmenting your computer’s hard drive is simple and straight-forward:

1. Double click on My Computer
2. Right click on Local Disk (usually C:)
3. Choose Properties >> Tools >> Defragment Now >> Start

It’s likely that the defragmentation process will take a while initially, but it’s highly recommended that you run this utility on a regular basis to keep your files organized and your hard drive running efficiently.

These two steps alone will help you remove temporary files that take up hard drive space as well as cleaning up fragmented files that degrade your computer’s performance.  Just remember, though, your hard drive is something that soap and water will not clean!

Many Windows computer users head to their favorite search engines every day to figure out a way to clean up their computers.  Truthfully, “cleaning up your computer” is rather ambiguous as there can be many different meanings to the phrase.  This phrase can be interpreted as:

1. How can I clean my web browser cache or history
2. How can I clean my temporary internet files
3. How can I clean my registry
4. How can I remove temp files

Amongst a few other meanings.  Because we know that cleaning a computer requires more than just one application, we’ve put together this resource list of computer cleaning tools.  Some of these tools are free and some of them require a little bit of money, but what they all have in common is that they will help you to keep your computer clean.

Malicious software remover – This free software is offered by Microsoft and purports to remove and clean up traces of specific programs such as Blaster, Sasser and MyDoom. Works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000 and Server 2003.

Crap Cleaner – Freeware Windows cleaning program that removes temporary internet files and internet history for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera.  It also deletes temporary files, cleans your recycle bin and recent documents. This software helps to restore hard drive space and remove files that may compromise your privacy.

RegCure registry cleaner – This program is not free, but it does offer a comprehensive cleaning of your Windows registry which can speed up your computer and help to prevent future errors.

AVG Antivirus – this free spyware/adware/virus removal software offers excellent benefits at the right price (free!).  Regarded as one of the most comprehensive virus removal utilities for Windows computers, this is a must-have tool for PC users who want to be sure that their computer is free and clear of a multitude of nasty programs.

Now, this may be a short list of computer cleanup programs, but this list really does address all facets of cleaning up your computer.  In addition to this, these four programs can help to improve your PCs speed, help you to maintain your privacy and will help to continually protect you from malicious programs; not a bad deal for mostly free software.