RIVER BENDER - May, 2006

I'm surprised how many folks don't know about "Clean Manager," probably because we have so many folks buying their first computer. It's a Microsoft system utility tool that comes with most, if not all Windows operating systems and lets you clean out unnecessary junk that accumulates over time in your PC. Some junk may be harmful and could possibly be the reason for troubles you're having. It's good idea when trouble shooting to first run Clean Manager. I run it about once a week.

There are two ways to run Clean Manager: (The filename is actually cleanmgr.exe)

1. Go to Start, Run and type cleanmgr and click OK. After selecting the hard drive a list of items to be cleaned out will appear. Check all of them. It may take a few minutes if you have a lot of files. I suggest you run cleanmgr weekly, especially if you have a smaller hard drive and browse the web often.

2. The other way is to go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and click Disk Cleanup.

What are all those files in Cleanmgr and how did they get there?

Here's a list of what you might see depending on your version of Windows. You may delete all of them.

1. Temporary Setup Files - These files are no longer needed. Setup programs created them.

2. Downloaded Program Files - Downloaded program files are ActiveX controls and Java programs that are downloaded automatically from the Internet when you view certain web pages.

3. Temporary Internet Files - The Temporary Internet Files folder contains Web pages that are stored on your hard disk for quick viewing. Your personalized settings for Web pages are left intact.

4. Old Chkdsk Files - When Chkdsk checks your disk for errors, it might save lost file fragments as files in your disk's root folder. These files are unnecessary and can be removed.

5. Recycle Bin - The Recycle Bin contains files you have deleted from your computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin.

6. Temporary Files - Programs sometimes store temporary information in a Temp folder. Before a program quits, it usually deletes this information but not always.

7. Temporary Offline Files - Temporary offline files are local copies of recently used network files that are automatically cached for you so that you can use them when you are disconnected from the network.

Automating Disk Cleanup:

If you go to Microsoft's web page at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=253597 you can learn how to automate the running of cleanmgr.

More stuff to delete:

While we're discussing getting rid of stuff it bears repeating to take a look at programs that are loaded into memory when you turn on your PC. If there are too many programs and your PC doesn't have lots of RAM memory you may find it becoming very sluggish. By disabling many of the programs checked you'll speed up your PC. Here's how:

Go to Start, Run and type msconfig and click OK. When the menu appears click the Startup tab, which will produce a list of programs checked to load into memory when your PC is turned on. Delete by unchecking as many programs as you can identify. This only prevents the program from loading in memory. You'll still be able to run it at any time or add it back to the list. You should end up with perhaps less than 4-6 programs checked. To learn more about what to uncheck type msconfig in www.google.com.