The speed of a PC is directly related to the amount of information stored on your hard drive. In this paper, five simple but critical steps to clean your hard drive.

Each year there are many promising methods to solve the software crisis. What to expect from all these methods? Do they meet their promises?

With the number of programs, information, data and files available, both in computer stores and for download on the Internet today is not difficult very quickly fill up valuable hard disk of a computer, and make the same in a slow and retarded monster.

However, keeping the hard drive as free as possible is essential for best performance your computer is able to offer. Fortunately, this is a difficult process at all, which can easily be performed regularly and that with some regularity and organization will allow him to keep your computer running like a freshly oiled machine.

First, should know how to find the amount of available space on the hard drive of your computer. For that, you access the My Computer icon. After double-clicking it, press the right mouse button on the C drive icon, go to the Properties option and you can see a pie chart showing the amount of used and free space on your hard drive. Check this often to get an idea of how much room is there for use.

If you find that your disk is full in more than fifty percent, it might be time to start cleaning. There are five easy steps to do this:

1. Uninstall unnecessary programs

Many times a new software program will be installed just for fun or play applications, but after a few weeks, simply stop using. These programs always fill up your disk, and take up valuable space.

Therefore it should remove them as soon as possible. However, even be tempted to delete these programs directly from your hard drive, be aware that this could cause problems. So the ideal is to use the Windows Uninstall feature to remove the program safely and completely.

2. Clean Temporary Files

When your computer does not close properly, pass information from memory into fragmented files. Furthermore, while using the software, your computer will write information that is immediately required for temporary files, but will not then, and also will be housed. The installation files also widen the temporary folder, and not always clean themselves after using the program. You can delete these temporary files using the option Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Cleanup.

3. Scandisk and Defragmentation

When using Windows programs are installed, the necessary files are saved in any free space that is within the album, and not directly behind the last program installed. As a result, the hard drive left with empty spaces are not large enough to install a complete program, but large enough to remove a valuable hard disk space.

To solve this problem, you should do a disk cleanup by selecting Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Scandisk, to locate all the file fragments scattered across the disk, and for them to put any errors you find.

Then, you must defragment the disk, by selecting Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools, Defragment, to order all the program files from the beginning of the disk, without leaving spaces. This will eliminate those small gaps and leave all the free space together, so they can install new programs with multiple files.

4. Empty the cache of Internet

When browsing the internet, web pages and images that appear on your host computer in a reserve small temporary files (cache) the Internet to the computer can quickly remember where they lodge in the network, so we can have more direct access to information when it returns to navigate these pages. This information can reserve space quickly added, and “eat” your hard drive space.

If you use Internet Explorer, Netscape, or one of the many other browsers available examiners, clearing your cache will be quick and easy. Simply follow the instructions in the Help option within these programs. You might also want to put a specific maximum file size for your cache folder, so it does not allow any kind of files get more rampant.
5. Empty your mail programs filled

It is easy to check email messages and find it very old, who had promised to classify some other time. One or two messages do not take much space, but hundreds certainly do. Take some time to sort through these old emails as soon as possible and delete which are not important.

Create folders and organize to stop. Have also a habit that when new emails come, be immediately filed in these folders, or deleted. Program in your email program to empty the Deleted Items folder each time you close the program.
Bonus: Empty your Recycle Bin

Once you have emptied their wallets of unnecessary program files, empty your Recycle Bin to remove everything that has moved toward it. Either way, make sure that not re-used, since in this case, files are permanently deleted it, and lost forever.

Once you’ve cleaned the disk, keep it that way. Try this quick routine maintenance at least once a month. For your work computer, Friday afternoon, before leaving for the weekend, could be the ideal moment. When you return to work Monday, have the computer with the fastest speed available.

Also organize their Internet surfing habits. Direct all downloads to one folder, so that you can easily find and delete them if necessary, or transferred to other media such as diskettes or CD. Be aware that installs programs. For trial versions, note the date when the same shall expire, which will remind you to uninstall those programs you no longer can use, and just take up space on your disk.

And above all, remember to clean your hard drive may take some time, but no doubt it will recover with the new speed that displays your computer, and quiet to work with normal times. Be friendly caregiver and your computer, and she will be with you.