# How do I clean my computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511 "2008-11-26T01:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/1 "2008-11-26T01:18:33Z")
Every once in a while, it acts like it is dragging an anchor. Specifically, internet throughput slows to where some tasks time out. I use Spybot and AdAware regularly. What else should I be doing? A disk cleaner? (The one supplied by Windows hangs.) A registry cleaner? How do I avoid really fouling things up if I use one? Anything else recommended by the safe and sanitary Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/2 "2008-11-26T02:48:09Z")
[Ccleaner](http://www.ccleaner.com/)is a safe and easy way to clean your hard drive of unnecessary temporary files and other schmutz that slows it down; it also has a safe registry cleaner. Adaware and Spybot are not bad, but [MalwareBytes AntiMalware](http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php) is the new sheriff in town for cleaning spyware and adware; it gets what the others can’t. Finish up with [Diskeeper Lite](http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207), a defragmenter that is more efficient than the Windows defragger. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/3 "2008-11-26T03:34:40Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Every once in a while, it acts like it is dragging an anchor. Specifically, internet throughput slows to where some tasks time out. I use Spybot and AdAware regularly. What else should I be doing? A disk cleaner? (The one supplied by Windows hangs.) A registry cleaner? How do I avoid really fouling things up if I use one? > > Anything else recommended by the safe and sanitary Dopers? Find out which, if any, programs have decided on their own that they need to start up when you start your computer and use your computer resources to help them run in the background. These are not necessarily adware or spyware or viruses. There are many helpful sites for this. Here: [http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup\_index.htm](http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm) for example. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/4 "2008-11-26T04:08:09Z")
Is it only the internet? While spyware is a likely culprit, the problem may actually not be on your end. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/5 "2008-11-26T04:22:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Finish up with [Diskeeper Lite](http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207), a defragmenter that is more efficient than the Windows defragger. The Windows defragger is a very early version of Diskeeper Lite. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/6 "2008-11-26T05:49:53Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Specifically, internet throughput slows to where some tasks time out. Are you using Firefox? It has a memory leak that gobbles up system resources and slows your entire computer down after a while. Install this memory optimizer which cuts the memory requirement to a fraction. [http://firefox-ultimate-optimizer.en.softonic.com/](http://firefox-ultimate-optimizer.en.softonic.com/) since I started using it, my computer doesn’t slow down any more. At least not due to Firefox, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/7 "2008-11-26T06:34:47Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Are you using Firefox? It has a memory leak that gobbles up system resources and slows your entire computer down after a while. That was in version 2.0 of Firefox, released circa 2006. Since version 3.0 this past June, such memory leaks have been nearly eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/8 "2008-11-26T12:05:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Are you using Firefox? It has a memory leak that gobbles up system resources and slows your entire computer down after a while. Install this memory optimizer which cuts the memory requirement to a fraction. > > [http://firefox-ultimate-optimizer.en.softonic.com/](http://firefox-ultimate-optimizer.en.softonic.com/) > > since I started using it, my computer doesn’t slow down any more. At least not due to Firefox, anyway. I have heard and read many bad things about Firefox Ultimate Optimizer. Not least of which is that it is a trojan. As **[t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net)** pointed out, Firefox 3 plugged up those memory leaks. At best, I would wager that FUO simply hides them, perhaps by using a page file. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/9 "2008-11-26T14:28:15Z")
Are you sure it’s your PC that’s the issue? If it’s just internet access, then maybe your ISP’s link is getting soaked. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/10 "2008-11-26T23:50:44Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Ccleaner](http://www.ccleaner.com/)is a safe and easy way to clean your hard drive of unnecessary temporary files and other schmutz that slows it down; it also has a safe registry cleaner. > > Adaware and Spybot are not bad, but [MalwareBytes AntiMalware](http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php) is the new sheriff in town for cleaning spyware and adware; it gets what the others can’t. > > Finish up with [Diskeeper Lite](http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207), a defragmenter that is more efficient than the Windows defragger. I have CCleaner. It scares me a little because of all the things you can do with it. I usually only use it to clean up temporary files. Thanks for the tips on the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/11 "2008-11-29T05:18:30Z")
Follow up: after a thorough delousing, my computer seems noticeably faster. Thanks for the tips. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/12 "2008-11-29T05:32:03Z")
You might want to try turning off some of the more useless Windows Services, too. > **[Home - Black Viper | BlackViper.Com](https://www.blackviper.com/)** > > Welcome to my little spot on the internet. My name is Black Viper. Enjoy your stay! ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/13 "2008-11-29T08:32:30Z")
Thanks guys. I’m getting some of these, but waiting till I’ve done the last 2.8k of my nano and _verified the word count_ before running anything new. I’ve mainly just replied to subscribe. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/14 "2008-11-30T09:26:51Z")
Okay, new question, **Really Not All That Bright** ’s link to blackviper, mentions this [Microsoft Security bulletin.](http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-067.mspx) I’m not making much sense of it - can anyone translate to _exhausted non-tech_ for me please? It looks panic inducing. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-clean-my-computer/474511/15 "2008-11-30T23:58:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You might want to try turning off some of the more useless Windows Services, too. > > [http://www.blackviper.com/](http://www.blackviper.com/) Could you explain this a little, maybe give an example of something that could be turned off, and how one actually turns them off? 2000 Pro here.