When do you realize that your PC’s performance is not optimal? You know the answers, but I’ll tell you anyway - when it is so slow that a snail would seem like Carl Lewis in comparison, or when it makes a habit of crashing or hanging. That is the time to optimize your PC performance, and you can do so by following certain basic steps:

Clean your windows registry every day

It is surprising how many people overlook this vital task to optimize PC performance. The problem is compounded because Microsoft does not include a windows registry clean-up tool in any of the Windows versions, so many users are not even aware that they must clean windows registry regularly.

Windows registry is a vast internal database of Windows settings, and every time you install a program, changes are made to the registry. Virtually all Windows programs, including Windows itself, store a huge mass of information on the database, which means they control the behavior of your entire system. So when you make changes to the system, they may not always reflect correctly in the registry, thereby slowing down your PC. As these changes accumulate, windows registry becomes bloated and possibly corrupt.

The registry can be edited manually using a Windows program called Regedit, but this is not recommended unless you are an expert. For mere mortals, programs such as RegCure (direct download link) are more advisable, because they scan your registry, look for entries that are invalid and list them. Such programs also run automatically in the background every time you start up.

Empty recycle bin!

We’re dead serious about this, because too many users simply forget that deleting a file is not the same as removing it from the PC. All these deleted items pile up in the Recycle Bin, eating up hard drive space and negatively impacting PC performance. Therefore, empty your Recycle Bin at least once a week to release hard drive space and optimize PC performance.

Remove unused programs

Installing programs is fun, but it isn’t fun when these same programs clog your hard drive, because you’re too lazy (or forgetful) to remove programs that you no longer use. Since most programs have an uninstall option, removing them is easy as pie, thanks to the Programs entry on the Start menu. If the uninstall options is absent, you can still manually remove a program by selecting Control Panel from the Start menu, and double-clicking Add/Remove Programs, which gives you the Change/Remove option for every program. Once you have removed the program, clean Windows Registry, because some programs leave uninstalled residues in the there.

Clean up your disk

Once again, this is a basic and easy-to-perform task that plenty of users ignore. Thanks to the built-in Windows Disk Clean Up tool, you can immediately free space on your hard drive by deleting temporary Internet files and setup log files. All you need to do is double-click My Computer, right click on your ‘C’ drive, select Properties and choose Disk Cleanup, at least once a month. Your PC will then searches for the sections that can be cleaned. To clean a section, simply check the box next to it and click OK.

Run disk defragmentation

When you store programs on your hard disk Windows saves fragments of these programs in the first available empty space. This slows down your PC because it has to look for the fragments and piece the files together. This is where Windows Disk Defragmenter comes in, as it gathers program fragments and restores them to the right order. Thus your PC finds what it is looking for in no time.

However, defragmentation is a process that takes at least an hour to complete, so you obviously can’t do it daily. A quarterly frequency would be good enough for most users. To begin the process, click the Start menu and go to Accessories, from where you select System Tools and then Disk Defragment.