The state of the computer's hard drive affects the speed of Windows 7, since the system actively uses the free space of the drive for its own purposes. The disk stores installed applications, user data, and temporary and service files. A cluttered drive is slow, slowing down the entire computer. It's time to put things in order and completely clear the disk of debris.
Why you need to clean your hard drive
Three reasons to clean your disc
- The need for free space. For the user, installed applications and Windows 7 itself, a significant amount of free space is required on the drive. Many software manufacturers even list this parameter as one of the most important when describing the requirements for a computer's hardware.
- Stability of work. Non-existent links, "broken" files with reserved names, remnants of remote programs and drivers are often the cause of system failures and installed applications. The digital junk accumulated on your hard drive makes Windows 7 unpredictable.
- Work speed. Empty and useless files clog up the disk and put additional strain on the file system, slowing down Windows 7.
Where does garbage come from?
- Caching. Web browsers use the hard drive for "caching", that is, intermediate storage of information downloaded from the Internet, as well as increasing the speed and stability of work. Unfortunately, they do not like to erase the recorded information after finishing work.
- Temporary files. Many applications create temporary storage of service information on disk: current settings, clipboard, intermediate copies and much more. They also do not seek to clean up this information after themselves - the disk is clogged.
- Remains of deleted applications. The uninstallation procedure does not always work flawlessly; often incomprehensible files and entire folders remain that are no longer needed by the user.
- Files Windows 7. The operating system creates many temporary, intermediate and work files. Emergency exits, random crashes and software conflicts turn many of them into digital junk.
Manual cleaning methods
Using the Disk Cleanup utility
The system utility for cleaning the hard drive erases temporary and unused files, and also cleans the recycle bin.
To run the utility, press the "Start" on-screen button, then select "All Programs" in the left column. In the list that opens, click "Standard", then the "System" folder.
Select "Disk Cleanup" from the list of utility utilities.
You can get to the same window using the search bar. To do this, press the "Start" button and type in the search bar "Disk Cleanup". Go to the active tab with the same name.
The fastest way to launch the utility is to use the Run window: press the Win key combination (with the Windows icon) and R. In the small window that appears in the input line, type cleanmgr.exe and click OK.
The utility begins with the appearance of a small window in which we are asked to select one of the available logical drives for cleaning. Select the device and click "OK".
Windows 7 immediately starts scanning the drive for potential candidates for deletion.
After completing the analysis, the utility offers to select the categories of files to be deleted. Some of them are already marked by default, others do not contain marks. For greater clarity, the window contains a brief summary of why the system perceives this information as garbage.
Having finished with the choice, we press the “OK” on-screen button, we confirm the decision. The procedure has started.
Advanced cleaning options are provided by the "Advanced" tab in the same window. However, it will only be visible to users with administrator rights. Therefore, first, we will restart the utility as administrator. To do this, after reaching the already familiar "Disk Cleanup" menu item, click on it with the right mouse button, and in the context menu that opens, select "Run as administrator".
After selecting a logical disk and completing the analysis, the Disk Cleanup window has acquired a new Advanced tab. We pass to it.
The top button "Clear" leads to the system window "Programs and Features" with a list of applications installed on the computer. One of the ways to increase the amount of free disk space is to remove some applications.
We select applications that we can do without and remove them from the hard drive.
The bottom button "Clear" offers to free up some of the filled space by deleting files of system restore points and shadow copying. Savings in this case come at the expense of safety. Additional restore points can be useful if, for example, the latter was created on a computer infected with a malware program. Shadow copy files also store old copies of user files, which can help with corrupted core files. Therefore, the utility offers to confirm your desire to delete this information.
Through Windows Explorer
One of the most frequently used and familiar applications to any user is Windows 7 Explorer. Many actions to clean up the hard disk can be performed directly from it.
Recycle Bin stores files deleted by the user in case they need to be restored. This is one of the reasons for the system messages about the lack of hard disk space, even when a lot of information has just been deleted - everything moved to the Trash. Let's clean it up.
To do this, in the "Explorer" select "Trash" and click on it with the right mouse button. In the context menu that opens, go to the line "Empty Trash".
The "Explorer" will ask us again if we are sure of our desire to permanently delete what is in the "Trash", and after confirmation, it will clean up. There will be more disk space.
Now let's move on to the disk itself. The already familiar cleaning procedure can be started from the "Explorer". To do this, first select the logical drive that we plan to free from unnecessary information, for example, the main system drive C: \\. Hovering the mouse cursor over it, press the right button, and in the context menu that appears, select the "Properties" line.
The "Properties: Local Disk (C :)" window contains several tabs. First, go to "General". Here you can see data on the availability of free space on the drive, as well as the "Disk Cleanup" button we need. We press it, we get into the familiar window of the profile utility.
The "Tools" tab contains buttons that launch other useful functions:
- Run Check - scans the disk and looks for errors.
- "Defragment" - grouping information in a way more convenient for the file system.
- "Archive ..." - the ability to create a copy of important information on another medium in the form of an archive.
After cleaning the main disk, you need to do the same with the rest of the logical devices.
The system performance will increase significantly if you free up enough space on the system drive (C: \\) by moving, for example, user information to other devices using Explorer.
System settings
To reduce the size of temporary files created by Windows 7, you can change some system settings. However, this should be done by experienced users, as incorrect edits can break the system.
Reduce the size of the paging file. A portion of the disk space is used by the system for virtual RAM expansion. The paging file that is created has a significant size, approximately equal to the amount of RAM. For most applications, reducing the amount of virtual memory will not lead to negative consequences, so you can reduce it.
Press the "Start" on-screen button, type "System" in the search bar and go to the active line with the same name in the list of search results. In the large "System" window that opens, click on the "Additional system parameters" tab, which is located on the left. In the small window "System Properties", go to the "Advanced" tab, in which we press the upper on-screen button "Parameters" related to the item "Performance". The "Performance Options" window opens.
The window shows the size of the swap file. To reduce it, you need to click the "Change" on-screen button and set a new size or location on other disk devices.
Then you can turn off the hibernation function. This feature is especially useful for laptop owners. In normal hibernation mode, the main power consumers of the computer (monitor, processor, hard disk) are turned off, but the RAM is not de-energized. This allows you to quickly start work from the same place in which it was interrupted, but is fraught with problems, if the battery runs out, the data in RAM will be lost. The hibernation utility saves the contents of RAM to the hard drive and completely shuts down the computer. When resuming work, the data is loaded into RAM again.
The advantage of hibernation over hibernation is non-volatility, and the disadvantage is the need to create a large file on the hard disk to store the contents of the RAM. Therefore, if the user does not plan to use hibernation, it can be turned off to free up additional free space.
Press "Start" and enter "Power supply" in the search bar. Go to the tab of the same name.
In the power plan selection window, the current mode is highlighted with a radio button. Click the active line "Power plan settings" next to it.
Now you need to disable putting the computer into sleep mode. To do this, select the option “Never” in the drop-down lists “Put the computer into sleep mode”, and then click the on-screen button “Save changes”.
In the same window, select the "Change advanced power settings" tab, located just below. A small window "Power supply" appears with a list of parameters in the main part. We find among them "Sleep" and sequentially set the values \u200b\u200b"Never".
Now no hibernation file will be created. But you need to erase the one that is already on the disk. To do this, use the "Run" window, which is called by the combination Win + R. In the input line, type the command powercfg –hibernate –off and click the “OK” button.
If you later need to undo your changes, you will need to use the powercfg –hibernate –on command.
Special programs for cleaning debris
CCleaner
One of the best hard drive care programs CCleaner, even in a limited free version, has excellent functionality. The application interface is organized in a convenient matrix form, simple and straightforward. The first tab is called "Cleanup" and contains the Windows and Applications tabs, each of which contains a list of potentially junk file groups that are created by system utilities or applications. By default, the user is offered the safest option for choosing what to consider as unnecessary information, but changing everything is quite simple: just check or uncheck the box next to the filegroup name.
Having decided on the list, you can estimate the potential volume of the freed up space, for which we press the "Analysis" button.
If the results of the analysis do not suit us, you can revise the selection options in the tabs. It might be worth clearing the extra group. Otherwise, click "Cleanup", confirm our intention and start cleaning.
CCleaner also provides a handy tool for uninstalling unneeded applications. The "Remove Programs" utility has been placed in the "Tools" folder. The list takes up the main part of the window, contains all the basic information about the applications and two options for uninstallation. The "Uninstall" on-screen button launches the built-in uninstall utilities of the applications themselves, "Uninstall" forcibly erases the program and its traces in the system.
The package contains the ability to clean not only the hard drive, but also the registry, startup list, and external media. To erase confidential information without the possibility of recovery, you can use the Erase Disks utility.
An additional advantage of the CCleaner package is a flexible system of settings that allows you to set the frequency of automatic cleanings, exceptions from deletion rules, or additional restrictions on the age of temporary files.
Video: how to install and use CCleaner
TuneUp Utilities (AVG PC TuneUp)
TuneUp Utilities complex optimization package was partially renamed after the rights to it were sold to the new owner. The application consists of a large set of utilities, some of which are designed to combat digital waste.
For the convenience of the user, the utilities are combined into large blocks, including "Freeing up disk space".
The package is very easy to use, the interface is simple and friendly. To start work, of course, you should start the scan located in the "Maintenance" block.
Then we select the block "Freeing up disk space" we need and run the procedures contained in it.
Basic hard drive cleaning utilities:
- Disk Cleaner. Cleans the hard drive from unnecessary information. These are mainly temporary files of the system and applications.
- Disk Space Explorer. Reveals hidden disk reserves by compiling a list of the 100 largest files on the drive.
- Duplicate Finder. Searches for files in various places on the disk. Clones are found even if they have different names.
- Browser Cleaner. A standalone utility that cleans up damaged and outdated files created by one of several dozen of the most famous browsers.
The disadvantages of TuneUp Utilities include the aggressiveness of the default settings, so it's better not to use them without adjusting, so as not to lose important and necessary files or programs. This is easy to do, just select the icon in the upper right corner of the screen. In addition, many users complain about the poor performance of the disk defragmentation utility, which is set by default. It is imperative to remove it from the settings, and use other applications for defragmentation.
On the other hand, the package has a built-in function for creating restore points, so with due care, you can not fear serious consequences.
The package is paid, providing the opportunity to test without payment for two weeks.
Video: AVG PC TuneUp 2014 - Review and Review
RevoUninstaller
The strength of the Revo Uninstaller package is a set of utilities for uninstalling programs that thoroughly clean the computer not only from executable modules, but also from working folders, temporary files and other traces.
The package interface is very friendly and straightforward. For the convenience of the user, the recently installed programs are allocated to the "New programs" group. This is necessary, for example, to track "intruders" that are tied to a popular free utility and installed on the computer by default.
Removal takes place in several stages. First, Revo Uninstaller performs preparatory actions: analyzes the application to be removed, creates a backup copy of the registry and, if necessary, even a system restore point.
The deletion procedure is very visual, accompanied by graphic and numerical data.
After completing the removal of the main part, Revo Uninstaller scans the disk, looking for all remaining folders and files related to the erased application. The results are presented to the user in the form of a list, with deletion marks by default. If you want to leave something from the list, just uncheck it.
Then comes the cleaning of the registry from references to deleted items.
Among other features of the package, it is worth mentioning utilities for cleaning the history of browsers, Windows and MS Office, as well as guaranteed removal of confidential information.
An additional advantage is that the package is distributed free of charge. The only requirement of the developer is to register for a certain time.
Video: Revo Uninstaller overview
SlimCleaner
The developers of the free SlimCleaner package approached the issue of cleaning the system and optimizing the computer from the standpoint of real democrats: the best settings and programs are determined using polls. The created online community of users shares positive and negative reviews, on the basis of which a decision is made about the usefulness of applications with a final rating.
Cleaning begins with analyzing the contents of the hard drive. Previously, you can correct the list of categories of potential garbage.
The program works very quickly, the analysis will not take much time.
The scan results are presented in a visual form. To get more detailed information about the contents of file garbage, you need to double-click on the line of interest.
The program also presents user ratings of programs installed on the computer.
You can not only see the final grade, but also find out what it came from, as well as read the positive and negative reviews of other users.
Additional settings and toolbars for major browsers are analyzed in the same way. Not all of them deserve the right to be on the computer.
The Disk Cleanup utility very clearly presents the scan results, shows the most "heavy" directories and files, including system virtual memory and hibernation.
SlimCleaner developers declare the function of intelligent disk defragmentation, which differs from the usual setting for the personal characteristics of the computer. Of course, the package contains utilities for guaranteed erasure of confidential information, including on external media.
Auslogics BoostSpeed \u200b\u200bDisk Cleaner Utility
The powerful computer optimization package Auslogics BoostSpeed \u200b\u200bcontains several utilities for cleaning the hard drive from unnecessary information. They are collected in the category "Disk space" and in a visual form show the possible positive results of work.
- Disk Cleaner scans the drive and generates a list of files that can be deleted. By default, file garbage includes temporary files of the system, media players, Java, instant messengers and some other programs, as well as the cache. There is a possibility of a more cautious approach: by choosing the "Mark only safe" option, you can be sure of a safe removal.
- Duplicate File Finder is designed to search for copies of files in different places on the disk. The application finds copies of photos, music tracks, documents, applications and prompts the user to get rid of them.
- Disk Explorer shows the files and folders on the drive in terms of occupied space. The user can see exactly what data "ate" the free space, and even rank the top 100 largest files.
Auslogics BoostSpeed \u200b\u200bbelongs to the universal optimization packages, so its functionality for cleaning the hard disk is inferior to many other packages. An additional disadvantage is the paid distribution of the application.
Video: AusLogics BoostSpeed \u200b\u200b9
SlimComputer
The main task of SlimComputer, another package of a developer already known to us, is to find and remove useless, harmful and simply bad programs from the computer. The manufacturer is constantly monitoring new applications, collecting user feedback and making its own rating of the utility of the utilities.
Work begins with scanning, the settings of which can be changed on the main page.
After completing the scan, SlimComputer presents the applications found on the computer in the form of a list with a visual color characteristic of usefulness.
Here you can also start uninstalling the selected applications by clicking on the large on-screen button in the lower right corner of the screen.
The found browsers, including plugins installed with them, are evaluated according to the same principle.
If you wish, you can get detailed information about the utility, including positive and negative reviews about it.
Video: SlimComputer review
How to avoid cluttering your hard drive
They say that a wise person differs from a smart one in that he does not get into those situations from which the smart one can get out. A cluttered hard drive will not be a problem if you accustom yourself to maintaining order at every stage of working with information.
Splitting disks
If the computer has several logical disks, then you need to determine the specialization of each and strictly adhere to it. For example, the system drive is for Windows and the main software, another is for additional, entertainment or test software, the third is for user information, storage of work files and settings. Such an organization of the drive will maximize the speed of the system, as well as facilitate the backup of working files.
Folder for temporary files
Create a separate folder to store your own temporary files: photos and videos uploaded from the network, saved documents from mail, torrents and the like. If necessary, it will be much easier to clean one directory than to search for junk all over the clogged disk.
Installation control
Free packages like to add unnecessary "default" programs in automatic installation mode. These can be browsers, pictures, ad files, desktop icons and other garbage. Therefore, always open the list of installed utilities and mercilessly disable all unnecessary.
System restore points
After cleaning and optimizing your computer, create a system restore point on the same day. All accumulated errors, file junk and incorrect settings will be cleaned up when you rollback Windows 7. Do not forget to save your work files on a separate external media.
Digital trash can lead to slow computer performance, operating system crashes, and insufficient disk space. With proper handling of information, you can get by with the system capabilities of Windows 7, but it is better to use a special program. Irrecoverable erasure of confidential information, removal of unnecessary programs with all traces of their presence, regular automatic cleaning - these useful functions are available even in free packages.
The speed of the computer largely depends on how it is configured operating system ... In Windows 7, the developers tried to take into account the mistakes of previous operating systems: a new software product from Microsoft is significantly optimized and provides comfortable work from graphical interface Aego even on low-powered netbooks.
However, it is still desirable to have some performance margin in order to be able to run resource-intensive applications - for example, games. System optimization can help free up additional power. It is worth doing it even if a completely productive machine began to work more slowly. This can happen after the installation of an application, due to frequent reinstallations software, processing large volumes of photos or videos, and even just numerous surfing sessions on the Internet.
As a result of all this, the hard drive and windows registry clog up, new library and driver files appear, software errors occur due to outdated audio and video codecs. I will tell you about ways to increase the power of Windows 7 both manually, using standard OS tools, and using third-party utilities.
Preliminary test
The G7 developers have added a tool to the system that tests the main components of computer hardware for performance. It allows the user to understand what to expect when using the new OS. The test is launched in the "Computer Properties" window, to call which you should use the "Win + Bgeak" keyboard shortcut. Based on the results of testing, the system will give an average score. Note that for no-beeches this indicator usually does not exceed 2.3. My test notebook with Intel dual-core processor (1.87 MHz), 1 GB random access memory and graphics system ATI Radeon 1300 earned only 3.1 points. However, this is quite enough to comfortably work not only with office programs but also graphics, audio and video. You can improve this result in laptops only by increasing the RAM and replacing the hard drive with a more efficient one. In the case of desktop systems, a video card upgrade is also possible. The system optimization methods described below will not increase the score, since this test evaluates only iron.
Getting rid of unnecessary things
Practice shows that a freshly installed system works very quickly without user programs. But such a PC will fit only for surfing the Internet and playing solitaire. To make a full-fledged working machine out of it, you will need to install at least an office suite and various players. By installing the necessary working utilities, we have to put up with the fact that new ones are added to the system libraries, drivers and registry entries, and the more programs, the more such garbage. At the same time, many applications add themselves (or their auxiliary utilities) to system autostart.
Clean and accelerate
Some programs start automatically when the OS boots and run in the background, wasting system resources. At best, such applications simply take up RAM (the user may not even be aware of this). At worst, they are actively functioning: they download updates, write reports, index files, check disks for viruses. You can view and edit the autorun list in the "System Configuration" window, on the "Startup" tab. All applications loaded at system startup are listed here, indicating the manufacturer and location of the file for each program. Unchecking the boxes opposite unnecessary components , you disable their autoplay. You can open the standard System Configuration program from the Start | Run | msconfig ".
All programs that you do not use every day can be ranked as unnecessary in the autorun list - for example, Skype, BitTorrent client, Adobe and Google program components, various players. Reducing the number of startup applications increases not only performance, but also the speed at which Windows starts up. Do not exclude only system programs (drivers, battery discharge indicator, etc.).
Disable User Account Control
UAC is a user account control system that protects the OS from rash user actions. This service is useful, but too intrusive: starting any third party program (not Windows certified) requires confirmation. In addition, OS resources are spent on monitoring. This service can be disabled without much compromising system security: open "Start | Control Panel | Accounts users | Change User Account Control Settings ”and move the slider to the“ Never notify ”position.
Disable indexing and other services
A serious flaw in Windows has always been a lot of unnecessary services. In the "seven" the situation has improved significantly: most of them (there are more than 100 of them) are configured to start manually, and only a few start working automatically. But even some of the latter can be disabled for optimization purposes.
By windows default 7 automatically indexes all files on your computer. This is done to speed up the search. In addition to the OS itself, this procedure is carried out by any programs designed to search the contents of the PC. As a rule, indexing is performed only during idle time, but you can turn it off to ensure maximum computer performance. To do this, you need to deactivate windows service Search. Open the Start Menu | Control Panel | Administration | Services ". In the list that appears, double-click on the desired item and set the startup type to "Disabled".
I also advise you to disable the service " Remote registry "To protect your PC from network attacks.
Managing Windows Update
Among other things, Windows 7 has an update service that monitors new patches, downloads and installs them on the system. But in automatic mode, the installation process can significantly slow down the OS. This service can be switched to start manually - then the update process will not be carried out at a time when maximum power is required from the PC.
Simplifying the interface
All beautiful effects Windows 7 interface uses a lot of system resources. In everyday work, you should not give up them, but in those cases when P K is required maximum productivity , they can be temporarily disabled. It is quite easy to do this in the "System Properties" by selecting the line " Extra options systems ". On the "Advanced" tab, click on the "Options" button and select "Best Performance". Return the initial state you can by selecting the item "Restore defaults."
Defragment and clean up your disk
Defragmentation hard disk noticeably accelerates windows work especially if you copy or delete frequently large files ... By default, in the "seven", this procedure is automatically performed once a week, but sometimes it is still worth checking the hard drive for fragmentation... Do not forget about regular cleaning of the disk from unnecessary files using the built-in utility. This stage completes the optimization of Windows 7 using standard system tools. You can also use third-party utilities if you wish.
Assessment of system optimization results
The experiment was carried out on a test PC with the following configuration: Processor: Intel Pentium 4 (2.8 GHz) Memory: 1.5 GB DDR (400 MHz) Video: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 HDD : Seagate (80 GB) As a result of the implementation of all the above recommendations, including disabling the Ago effect, the system start time was reduced from 60 to 46 s, loading Microsoft Word from MS Office 2007 Pro - from 7 to 4 s, and start page Yandex in Internet Explorer - from 10 to 6 s. The test of the WinRAR archiver (145 MB of data) showed an acceleration of the disk system by 2.5%. In synthetic tests SiSoft Sandra, Fritz Chess and Super Pi, optimization gave an increase in hardware performance of 0.5-3.6%.
Memory is clogged on each computer, this happens for various reasons - various downloaded files, films, programs, etc. And it does not depend on how much memory you have on your hard drive. I will tell you how to clean your computer from junk on windows 7 and free up space on the HDD in this article.
Disk cleanup
The Windows operating system has a built-in program that is designed to cleaning hard disk.It allows you to delete temporary files that are not significant for the OS. To start the cleanup, right-click on the C drive, then select "Properties", and find "Disk Cleanup". The program will choose itself unnecessary files and suggest those to be deleted. There can be pictures downloaded from the Internet, files from the basket and much more.
Also, the program can remove and system files and analyzes the files to be deleted.
Cleaning up system files
By clicking on the tab "cleaning system files", you can remove unnecessary programs and eliminate information for. All points are deleted here, except for the last one. Therefore, before doing this, it is better to first check the performance of the computer.
Removing unnecessary programs and files yourself
Programs take up a lot of space on your computer, so I advise you to check them yourself for relevance and size. To do this, click on "Start", then "Programs" and view their size and whether you need them at all.
Analysis of data on HDD using the program
WinDIRStat is a utility designed specifically to diagnose which files are taking up disk space. After scanning the HDD, it will show all types of files and folders that take up disk space. After viewing this information, you yourself can decide what to delete. There are many other similar programs.
Other ways to clear your memory
- Review the programs that you have on your computer. Delete the ones you don't need;
- Do not save anything to your desktop and empty the trash can, because this is all the territory of the hard disk;
- Take a good look at your computer and remove files and folders that duplicate each other;
- Disable saving data for recovery;
- Turn off hibernation as its file is very memory intensive.
Here are the basic methods for cleaning your computer from junk, and there are many more programs to help you get rid of it.
Over time, the computer slows down. The system boots slowly, programs take a long time to open, etc. There are many factors that cause Windows to slow down. Of course, you can reinstall the system, but it's better to do less drastic methods to speed up Windows 7.
Why Windows starts to slow down
After you have installed the Windows 7 operating system, the system boots up pretty quickly, the programs work fine, without brakes. Over time, the speed of work decreases.
This is due to the fact that the system is gradually littered (the remaining files remote programs , fragmented files, etc.), new programs appear at startup, gadgets and add-ons are installed that take up part of the computer's resources. Combined with work unnecessary services this slows down the system.
What to do to speed up Windows 7
We clear the system of debris
The very first step is cleaning the system from debris... Garbage means files left over after deletion, unnecessary shortcuts, temporary files, etc. Junk files accumulate on the hard disk. If there are a lot of them (especially on the system drive “C”), then Windows will work very slowly.
Remove trash from the system you can use the built-in tools of Windows 7. The utility is called "Disk Cleanup". The easiest way is to open and run this utility by typing in search bar Start menu prompts Disk Cleanup.
Choose from the list system disk (usually “C”). Let's wait a bit while the system analyzes all files and identifies unnecessary ones. After analysis, check the boxes to be deleted.
After this operation, 3.5 GB of space was freed up on my computer.
Disk Defragmenter
In a nutshell defragmentation - the process of collecting pieces (elements) of files into one sequence of elements. Pieces of the same file can be located in different places. This slows down access to them. To speed up Windows 7, you need to periodically defragment it. Defragmentation should be done after cleaning the system from garbage (previous point).
Defragmentation can be done windows tools 7, but I would advise you to use special programs. Read it. The review presents best programs for defragmentation and help how to defragment.
Remove unnecessary programs from startup
There are programs that, after installation, are registered in the startup and start when the system starts. Not all of these programs are needed at system startup. Any additional program , which automatically starts at system startup, slows down Windows.
Cleaning the registry
Registry - directory (database), which contains various settings of the operating room windows systems ... When installing new programs or games, changing system settings, launching new services, etc. new entries are added to this directory. After deleting programs, the recordings are retained. Unnecessary directory entries are obtained. The directory fills with unnecessary entries and slows down Windows.
Cleaning the registry of unnecessary entries helps speed up Windows. There are many registry cleaning programs. I would recommend using the free Wise Registry Cleaner (download the program).
After starting the program, select the desired language and click on the “Scan” button. The program will scan the registry and find all unnecessary entries.
After that click on the "Clean" button and Wise Registry Cleaner will remove all unnecessary entries.
Acceleration using a flash drive or memory card
Reboot your computer
Some users, instead of turning off the computer, send it to "Sleep". It's comfortable. You can turn on your computer and continue working. All open files and the folders will be restored without having to wait for Windows to boot.
But the longer you do not turn off the computer, the more various data are stored in the RAM. Gradually rAM is filled with information, and the computer starts to work slower.
The speed of your computer depends largely on how the operating system is configured. In Windows 7, the developers tried to take into account the errors of previous OS: a new software product from ...
And today I will tell you how to free up more space on the System Drive C, with operating system Windows 7. Firstly, everything that is installed on the desktop is all connected with Disk C.
And so, in order for this disk to have more memory, for this you do not need to store any large files on it, it can be music, movies, games, etc. You also need to periodically empty the trash, which also accumulates a large number of deleted files by the user.
Move on. Go to "My Computer" - "System Drive C" - Go to the "Windows" folder - "Temp" folder. By the way, my disk now has 285 GB of free space, after cleaning the disk, let's see how much to add.
This folder contains files and folders that need to be deleted, we will delete immediately past the trash can, so that it does not then be cleaned again "Shift + Delete".
Let's move on to the next step. Go to "My Computer" in the "Organize" tab - "Folder and Search Options" go to the "View" tab, go down to the very bottom, check the "Show hidden files, folders and drives" checkbox, uncheck the "Hide protected system system files" , press "YES", confirm "OK".
Next, go to "My Computer", "System Drive C", "Users", the computer name in my case is the name "Max" for each computer it will have its own. This computer name is given when installing Windows 7. Go to the "App Data" - "Local" - "Temp" folder.
As you can see, there is also a huge number of files and folders that we do not need. We also delete them "Shift + Delete". Some files may not be deleted as they are already being used by some programs.
The next thing we need to do. We go to "My computer" - "Drive C" and there we find the file "Hiberfile.sys".
This file is responsible for allowing the computer to enter hibernation mode. For example: You played some kind of game, or you have some important programs open, you need to leave for a while and so that the programs do not start again, just go to the "Start Menu" - "Shutdown" - "Hibernation". If you do not need this mode, then you can turn it off, it takes up 2.95 GB of memory for me, but maybe more.
And so how to disable this mode. We go to the "Start" menu in the search bar, write cmd and run this file as administrator. A window will appear in which you need to register the following powercfg hibernate off
With this command, we disable this mode. Press "Enter", as you can see, the file has automatically disappeared from Disk C. What else can you do, how else can you clean up Disk C.
Go to "My Computer" press the right mouse button, select "Properties" - "Disk Cleanup". You have to wait a bit here. After that, go to the "Advanced" tab, in the lower window, system restore and shadow copying, click "Clear", in the window that appears, click "Delete", "OK", "Delete files". The disk cleaning process will begin. Upon completion of cleaning, click "OK".
Any operating system gets clogged over time. The number of files on the disk grows, defragmentation increases, which sooner or later affects performance. Windows 7 was less fortunate in this respect than the subsequent OS. Firstly, it itself takes up more disk space, which can be seen even by the system requirements for installation: at least 20 GB of space for Windows 7 versus 16 for Windows 8 and 10. Secondly, Windows 10 has a built-in option “control memory ": the system itself monitors the amount of remaining free space and, if necessary, gets rid of temporary files. The "7" has to be cleaned on its own. Consider the ways and nuances.
The simplest is to use the built-in tool. Open "Explorer", on the "Computer" tab, left-click on the desired disk and select "Properties" in the context menu.
In the window that opens, click "Disk Cleanup".
We are waiting for the utility to evaluate, and we see a list of items ready for removal. At first, not all checkboxes are ticked, but you can mark each one manually - or, conversely, uncheck the box if for some reason you do not want, for example, to get rid of Internet Explorer.
The main volume is usually occupied by files related to updates: both the updates themselves and backup copies of system files, which are replaced with new versions when installing updates. Together, they can easily take up to several gigabytes. If the system was updated successfully and rollback is not planned, it makes sense to get rid of them.
You can also click the Advanced tab and select the option to clean old restore points. Although shadow copies still cannot take up more space than they are allotted - by default, this is 3% of the disk space. In order to meet the limit, the system itself overwrites old restore points.
When everything is ready, click "OK" and wait for the cleaning wizard to finish the job.
Cleaning with third-party utilities
Not recommended. scrubbing a little more than standard scrubbing, and often it would be better not to. For example, the well-known CCleaner contains the "Old prefetch data" item in the options. Prefetcher files, by analogy with restore points, have a limit on their number and when it is reached, they are overwritten. It is much more likely that the cleanup will overwrite the actual data, which will slow down the download until new data accumulates.
We should also mention registry cleaning. This is not possible in standard Windows 7 utilities (as well as in 8 and 10). The reason is simple, it is harmful and useless. Even if we are talking just about garbage on the disk, registry files weigh some kilobytes and can not contribute to either fragmentation or cluttering the system.
Video - cleaning the disk from garbage
Manual cleaning
What neither third-party programs nor the built-in cleaning wizard are able to cope with is the specific behavior of some software. This often applies to drivers.
Open drive C and look for AMD, Intel, or Nvidia folders. If there are any, you can demolish everything inside. During installation and driver updates, the installers themselves are downloaded into these directories, after which they remain there as a useless load.
If you use driver packs or utilities like Driver Booster, keep in mind that they often create backups of installed drivers and also download installers, which remain even after uninstalling the utilities themselves. After uninstalling them, enable the display of hidden files and go through the directories in Program Data and in c: \\ Users \\ username \\ AppData \\ Roaming, manually deleting the folders with the corresponding names.
Finally, the system itself backs up all the drivers that have ever been installed and keeps them in a special storage. Over the years, for obvious reasons, its size swells greatly. There are two ways to clean up storage. You can do everything by hand using the system utility PnPUtil.exe - run the command line as administrator and enter pnputil /? to display a list of possible actions.
In the article I will teach you how to clean your computer from garbage. I'm a blogger and I download a lot of stuff on my computer, install programs, test patches and the like. A lot of debris accumulates in the system, interfering with normal operation. I will consider a few tricks on how to clean and speed up your computer with your own hands.
These four steps will provide maximum speed and optimization. I asked my friends to advise the program, it turned out to be nonsense, I began to search myself. Let's start by cleaning up the hard drive.
How to clean up computer junk: hard drive
I'll tell you how to clean your computer from garbage, follow all the steps in the article. Do not use the standard uninstaller, Revo Uninstaller will help. As for the garbage on the hard disk itself, we carry out it in two stages.
First stage: standard
Few people know that Windows has a standard utility for cleaning hard drives. To do this, open “my computer”, and on each of the local drives, right-click and select “properties”.
Find and click "clear". 
And we agree with our decision.
The process will go through, after which quite a lot of space will be added to your disk. I am writing this article from a work computer, he is 2 weeks old, and over these two weeks, trash has accumulated for almost 6 GB.
Method two: by the program
The standard cleaner is good only for the system itself, so you need to clean the rest of the hard drive as well. For these purposes, I recommend the CCleaner program, here is its official site... There is nothing complicated to download for free. We open and see the program window in Russian.
- We select the item "cleaning".
- First, we do the analysis.
- The entire list of unnecessary files will appear, click delete.
This completes the cleaning of the hard disk. I offer a list of alternatives for free.
- Advanced Disk Cleaner
- Blank and secure
- Freespacer
- HDD Cleaner
- Moo0 Disk Cleaner
Cleaning your computer from garbage: registry
Cleaning the computer from garbage in the registry, I use the Wise Registry Cleaner program, you can download it here, the program is completely free. Download and install. At the first start, they will ask about a backup copy of the registry, we make it. We choose deep cleaning to get rid of all the jambs, which is good, everything is completely in Russian. 
Go to the optimization section.
- The section itself.
- We mark the checkboxes, I put everything.
- Click Optimize.
- After the program runs, the words “optimized” will appear.
The last section is compression of the registry, a cool thing. We must first conduct an analysis. The computer will not respond for some time, do not be afraid.
Now click on compress. The registry will start compressing, I advise you not to do anything at this time.
After compression, a reboot will take place, this is mandatory. The second step was taken, the registry was optimized, the free utility Wise Registry Cleaner helped. For an alternative, I offer more programs, you can download it for free and without registration.
Registry application for windows 7, 8 and 10
- Auslogics Registry Cleaner.
- Vit Registry Fix Free.
- Reg Organizer - this program works fine for Windows 10 for free, I tested it.
- Avira RegistryCleaner.
Cleaning the system volume information folder
A month ago, my computer started to boot very slowly for about 35 minutes. Thought it was the end of the hard drive, but nothing happened. The fact was that the system volume information folder stores backup copies of restore points, and I had 253 GB of these points, and I started cleaning it. First you need to enable the visibility of hidden folders. We enter the control panel and find the folder parameters.
- The path to the panel.
- We expose large icons.
- Click the folder options.
- View tab.
- Uncheck the box.
- We change the check box.
- Press ok.
This folder is now on drive C, but you cannot open it even if administrator rights are configured. To clear, you need to go to drive C, and find system volume information, right-click and select properties.
To add an administrator to access, click add.
Enter your account and click ok.
All record is created, click ok. 
During creation there will be all sorts of warnings, we ignore them.
To clear the restore points, go to the control panel and look at the screenshot.
- Path to the program.
- In the left section, select “system protection”.
- Select drive C.
- Click configure.
That was the problem, I had this slider set to 50%, so all the memory was full. I set it to 5 percent, let the dots be. To clear the memory, click delete.
On this, the entire hard drive is clean of debris. Let's move on to the last step.
Defragment your hard drive: free windows 7, 8, 10
Let's start with the standard method, it works the same on all systems, including windows 8. Go to my computer and select the disk for defragmentation.
Defragmentation is the transfer and clustering of system files by type.
- Right click.
- Find properties.
- Service tab and perform defragmentation.
In the next window, select the local drive. First, click on the analysis, how it goes, click on defragmentation. There are analogues of the standard program, I will not analyze them, because they all work according to the same principle.
List of programs for windows 10 and all others.
- Auslogics Disk Defrag.
- SuperRam
- Advanced defrag
- Ashampoo magical defrag
- ScanDefrag
- Memory Improve Ultimate
Do not use online tools to check for garbage, they will not help, it is better to do it manually.
The article shows how to clean your computer from garbage, namely: hard drive, registry, restore points and defragmentation. Keep only what you need on your computer. At the end of the video.
