Your computer is running slow, but you apparently haven't done anything? It's time to clean up your system!
When you installed Windows, probably coming from Windows 7 you then installed 10 with the SSD the computer was a rocket, but over the years (if not in a few months) you have noticed a slowdown, and the disk is full; in that case it's time to clean up.
Before we begin, if you are one of the “daredevils” who for some reason wanted to keep versions of Windows older than 10 or 11 I immediately advise you to upgrade to a more recent version of Windows, both for a safety issue, and because many applications are no longer supported on 7 and 8.1.
At the time of writing the article the guide is valid for Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Cleaning on Windows: preliminary actions
In the (fortunately) very rare case in which Windows cleaning fails, it is always better to make a backup before taking these actions; that way if something were to go wrong, you still have your operating system as it was before.
Luckily for you, on the internet of guides on how make a backup There are many on Windows operating systems and there will be no problems if you accidentally delete data you need or if something goes wrong.
It can be useful too create a system restore point: to this there is a little guide of Microsoft itself; However, remember that Windows automatically creates restore points.
Delete files you don't need
If you are a user with a minimum of skills, this might seem like an obvious action: however, know that for many people this is not the case.
Many people, in fact, they download everything imaginable left and right: videos (which take up a lot), mp3s, images, filling the hard drive with things that are of no use; needless to say that in this case the wisest thing to do is to delete the images, videos and music files that are not needed.
To do this, simply click on the files, press the “delete” key (or alternatively right-click and then “delete”) and put them in the trash, after which the bin must be emptied; if you want a direct elimination instead after selecting the relevant files, simply press the shift+del keys in combination, in this specific case you will clean unwanted files without having to empty the trash.
Empty the trash
Even though this may seem trivial it is a fact that, for some reason that is not yet understood, many users use the trash as a kind of archive; to empty it, simply press the right mouse button over the trash can icon and click “empty trash”
This will delete other unwanted files.
Uninstall programs and video games you no longer use
Another thing that few do (and that many forget to do) is uninstall programs you no longer use, therefore you just need to search in the Windows box for “install applications and simply click on it”
Once you click on it, a window like this should appear.
At that point simply click on the programs you want to uninstall and uninstall the programs you no longer use.
However, it must be said that in some cases not everything is always eliminated and you may need to manually delete residual files from uninstalled programs; if you are not properly skilled in this practice third-party programs such as Revo Uninstaller they can help you clean up.
In fact, the advanced functions of Revo Uninstaller allow not only to clean in the classic way by uninstalling programs, but also to remove residual files that do not go away with uninstallation; It's not all: it also has a particular function that allows you to delete registry keys that are no longer needed.
Windows Disk Cleanup
So we get to the crux of the matter: cleaning the Windows operating system, the real one; but what does that mean exactly? When Windows updates, or when you switch from one version of Windows to another (for example from 10 to 11, but also from 7 to 10), the operating system “keeps” some files.
In the case of previous versions of the operating system it exists a folder in C: which is usually called Windows.old, where it actually holds the old version of the operating system (which usually it is also quite large in terms of disk memory).
Know this though that there is a function called “Disk Cleanup” which is already present on Windows operating systems.
After that a small window like this will appear.
It will simply be enough for you click on “ok”; then a window like this will appear, which is actually the core of disk cleanup on Windows operating systems.
At this point click on cleaning system files and select the “C:” drive as above; then tick every single box, if you want to do a complete cleaning and be 100% sure that unwanted things will go away and at that point you will just have to wait for the computer to finish processing the deletion of the files.
Can using external programs help?
Generally someone uses external programs to clean the PC, except for a few very rare cases (like Revo Uninstaller which helps you do things you can do manually, but it helps you save time), these little programs can cause more damage than good and it would be better to use the “native” functions of Windows.
Therefore make sure you always use the methods proposed by Microsoft itself (therefore internal to Windows) to clean the system.
The temporary files that Windows saves itself on appdata
This is very important because in addition to saving space, this operation will also make Windows gain speed; to do this, just write %appdata% in the search bar and press enter.
So This window will appear.
Go back one level because you don't have to be in the “Roaming” folder, but find yourself in the appdata/local/temp folder.
At this point as seen at the beginning, to clean up, delete everything with Shift+Del once everything has been selected (with CTRL+A you can select everything); If some files cannot be deleted, just “ignore” them, it's not a problem.
The “Downloads” of the “Windows” folder
Do the exact same thing inside the C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload folder and don't worry about deleting everything in there.
Delete unnecessary files from “Folder Options”.
Always with the trick of searching via the search bar, select and search for “Folder Options”, in the last line you will find a box that says “Delete”, just click it.
Then press on “Ok”.
Some extra housekeeping from the command prompt
Like above search for “CMD” on the Windows search bar, but this time press the right button to log in as administrator.
These two commands do the following things:
- wsreset: resets and cleans Windows Store, eliminating useless cache
- ipconfig /flushdns: Clears the DNS cache of the operating system.
Clean temporary files via application function
Like above, search for “Storage Settings” in the Windows search bar.
Then click on “Temporary files” and delete everything you don't need accordingly.
Run the Antivirus
Among the things to do to clean the operating system one of these could be to run an antivirus: needless to say, the first step is use Windows Defender which is already present in the operating system and do a full scan, possibly deleting unwanted files.
In this case, however Some third-party programs can come in handy: one above all Malwarebytes which is definitely one of the best to eliminate what Defender does not detect (now very little) or which somehow “escapes”.
Conclusion
As you can see, although many people install little programs that claim to clean the disk wellin reality these little programs (with some small exceptions) are of absolutely no use: Windows already has everything.
Many people blame the operating system for malfunctioning, when in reality it is often the installation of third-party programs that causes quite a few problems; to make it easy Windows must be known to keep, there are no ifs, buts or wherefores.
Said this Have fun cleaning your Windows operating system.
#Cleaning #Windows #clean #system
