Forget about buying one of those PC cleaning apps, here's how you do it all for free and it does just as good a job:
https://www.howtogeek.com/162683/pc-cleaning-apps-are-a-scam-heres-why-and-how-to-speed-up-your-pc/
https://www.howtogeek.com/162683/pc-cleaning-apps-are-a-scam-heres-why-and-how-to-speed-up-your-pc/
How to Actually Clean Your PC
Let’s say you want to clean your PC just like a PC cleaner would. Here’s what you can do:
- Run the Disk Cleanup tool included with Windows. It’s focused on freeing up space on your hard drive, but it will also delete old temporary files and other useless things. Just tap the Windows key, type Disk Cleanup, and press Enter to launch it. You can even schedule a Disk Cleanup to clean your computer automatically.
- Clear your browser history or — even better — set your browser to automatically clear its history when you close it if you don’t want to store a history.
- Run the Disk Defragmenter included with Windows. This isn’t necessary if you use a solid-state drive.
- Don’t bother with a registry cleaner. If you must, use the free CCleaner, which has the best-tested registry cleaner out there. It will also delete temporary files for other programs — CCleaner alone does much more than these PC cleaning apps do.
A test performed in 2011 by Windows Secrets found that the Disk Cleanup tool included with Windows was just as good as paid PC cleaning apps. Note that this is true even though PC cleaning apps fix “registry errors” while the Disk Cleanup app doesn’t, which shows just how unnecessary registry cleaners are.
So yes, it’s been tested — PC cleaning apps are worthless.
Speeding Up Your Computer
The best tools for speeding up your computer are things that a PC cleanup app won’t do for you:
- Uninstall software you no longer use, especially programs that run at startup and browser plug-ins.
- Disable unnecessary startup apps to improve Windows’ boot time.
If you regularly see errors on your computer:
- Run an antivirus program and an antimalware program to scan your computer for malware-producing error messages.
- Google error messages you see regularly to find fixes for them