Cleaning out my computer?

Question

I called my cable company because I could not get the internet on my computer.They said because it's running so slow, it probably needs to be cleaned out.
How do I clean it out, and get it to a faster pace?
Do I have to delete anything?
I'm not a genius at computers so try and keep it simple lol

Also if I have to download anything, is there anything for free, that will do it?

Answer 1

As you will appreciate there are many reasons why your computer is running slow:

First of all make sure you do not have any malware in the form of viruses or spyware. Run your anti virus and anti spyware programs in order to clear out any beasts.
If you do not have any protection these are available for free:
For anti virus I suggest:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
For anti spyware I suggest:
http://www.superantispyware.com/

Remove junk files by running Ccleaner – free for download from:
http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Your hard disk(s) may be fragmented. Windows has a built in defragmentation program but you can download a third party program for free:
http://www.auslogics.com

Your registry may be cluttered or corrupt. Ccleaner mentioned above also has a registry cleaner. How about downloading another very good free registry cleaner:
http://www.eusing.com

You may have too many applications kicking off at start up. This free download allows you to control what runs at start up:
http://www.glarysoft.com/quick-startup

Your hard disk may be getting full. You need at least 15% of free space for it to operate efficiently. Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs & remove any applications you no longer use. How about removing all those pictures & music that is filling up your hard drive?

Finally, after you have done all the above may need to upgrade your RAM. So that you get the right type of RAM for your system do a free scan at Crucial to determine your RAM.
http://www.crucial.com/ for USA
http://www.crucial.com/uk/?gclid=CM31ls7_zY8CFQjREAodQhNtxg for UK

Good luck with your quest.

wdw

Answer 2

Slowness on your computer is not a direct reason you wouldn't have connectivity to the internet. You may have some spyware that is preventing the ability to get to certain sites.

Try this:

Goto Start > Run > type: "cmd"

*You should see a black box appear*

type the following:

ping www.yahoo.com

If you receive any response, it means you have a connection, and can communicate (at least somewhat) with certain internet sites. If you are unsuccessful, it probably means it is a connection issue, in which case, it has to do with your cable provider. The only suggestion I have is to do what is called a power cycle, which includes removing the power from the modem (and the router if you have one) for 30 seconds, and hten plugging them back in.

On the subject of 'Cleaning out' your computer, there are a variety of ways to do this. One way is to download free spyware removal utilities such as Ad Aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) or Spybot S&D (www.safer-networking.org). You should also make sure you have an Anti-virus actively running on your computer, there are many free home options available for this as well (such as Avast).

Other things to do include cleaning out old unused programs, by going to Add / Remove Programs. A quick way to get here is by doing the following:

goto Start > Run > type " appwiz.cpl " (don't type the "s)

In here make sure to remove any programs that you don't use anymore.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

You probably have to many programs and services starting up with Windows. To cure this, read the following.

To control what starts with Windows:

Click Start and then Run. (Vista – Start>All Programs>Accessories>Run). In the run box, type "msconfig" without the quotes and then hit "Enter". This will open the System Configuration Utility. Click the "Startup" tab. Now remove the check mark from any and all programs that you do not want to start or "boot" with Windows. Now click apply and then click OK.

You will need to restart your system. When the system starts you will see a box stating that you used the Config. utility, put a check in "Don't show this box at startup".

That should do it.

Do not remove any check marks from your security software. You want it to load with your operating system.

Answer 4

Using a registry cleaner can clean up your computer and then make your computer faster,Why?the reason is that there may be some regsitry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer slow".
Everytime you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the computer registry.over time, the registry can grow to enormous proportions, especially if the various programs you've installed do not do a good job of deleting and/or updating it's Registry entries.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make it fast.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically!It even can speed up your computer by 300% or more!
There are some comparison and review of TOP 5 registry cleaners.
http://www.speed-up-your-pc.com/
You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 5

The only advice that I can give to you is to get as much memory as you can afford and that your pc had handle and to do a clean install of your operating system.This way your pc will be like a brand new one and should run nice and fast

Answer 6

CCleaner is good. Also, defragging and running disk cleanup will help, as will deleting programs you no longer need.

Answer 7

The best software for that is
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/