How many of us remember the experience of a silky smooth, fast-booting, hassle-free Windows following a fresh install? Unfortunately, this occasion is a rare one in the world of Windows, and the dream ride is soon reduced to a crawling nightmare in a matter of days. Here are some ways to capture that magic moment and keep your Windows running without hiccups!

1. How to clean up your registry

The registry is Window’s storage of vital program settings and instructions. As you install new programs, countless registry entries are created by Windows – but some do not get removed after the program is uninstalled. Because Windows have to sift through these unwanted registries, useful programs can be slowed down.  Little Registry Cleaner is a specialist in this area – it scans and removes redundant entries on your system.

2. How to manually disable startup items

Ever notice that Windows is taking forever to boot? There may be too many programs trying to run at startup, many of which you cannot see. To check out what’s cooking during startup, execute ‘msconfig’ from the Run dialog box and go into the Startup tab. Un-checking some programs you do not need is a good and easy way to speed up startup times.

3. How to turn off Windows Indexing

Sometimes, you might notice your hard disk LED lights are on even when the computer is idle – indicating that Windows is up to something. Indexing was designed to allow faster search times for files on computers, but massive system slowdowns tend to occur when Windows tries to index the millions of files on your hard disk in the background. To turn it off, go to My Computer, right click on your main hard drive, click Properties, and uncheck ‘Index this file for faster searching’ under the General tab. Do the same for other drives you might have.

4. How to clean up unwanted files on your computer

CleanUp! is a powerful tool to remove your computer’s temporary and redundant files. Removing cluttered files may improve system speed by a long shot, because hard disks do not have to seek through these mess to reach useful files. Doing so prior to defragmentation is also recommended.

5. How to perform a do-it-all cleaning

If you’re the type who just wants to get things done without the hassle of downloading individual utilities, CCleaner is the solution. This little gem performs a holistic sweep of your registry and temporary files with a straightforward interface, sparing you of any technical jargon in the process.

This post was written by Chan Huey Hoong, if you wish to write for this blog, just drop me a line.

Do you perform regular maintenance on your computer? Tell us in the comments!