Most of us have faced problems with Windows Vista or XP being slowed with junk folders and residual file bloat. Herein we are about to analyze in detail, CCleaner from Piriform, a free software for cleaning and optimizing the performance of your PC. We will go step by step to understand the functions in the best possible manner.

How to install and setup:

The installation is quite simple, if you have a broadband connection you can download and install the set up in a few seconds.

install

You have to be very particular while selecting options for the set up.

install options

Most of the short cuts are the common ones. You can use “Add Run CCleaner to the recycle bin menu” and get an option to delete the function by just right clicking on the Recycle Bin. You can also add a CCleaner Yahoo toolbar but if you already have too many toolbars on your browser, this feature can be ignored.

CCleaner: Running it the first time

When you run CCleaner, your first screen would be as follows:

first run screen

The first things you would like to remove from your PC are the internet temporary files, shortcuts and other system level items that deteriorate the speed of your PC. You can have all of these removed without erasing the saved passwords.

Our first review about CCleaner will help us determine if the program deletes the saved passwords, login information and other important files that are important for us while browsing the internet.

browser cleaning options

Using the Internet explorer you would want to get rid of the cookies first. These cookies over a period of time jam your computer and also provide an insight for the various advertisers to your computer. Once you delete the cookies you will get rid of all the automated logins however your saved passwords and login will not be affected.

Moreover, the temporary files on the internet are one of the main reasons that your computer slows down. Those age old files for plug-ins and installation can adversely impact your PC performance.

Update: With the new version of CCleaner you can now clear up all the unwanted stuff on almost any browser, Firefox 3.5 Beta or Google Chrome as well as Apple’s Safari browser.

Let’s examine “Windows Explorer” now:

windows explorer options

Other than all of this you also should take care of the other common PC clearing tasks. The cleaning of the common short cuts and other housekeeping elements might not increase your PC performance drastically but you can be sure that it will help you avoid duplicate copies and confusion when you want to delete the unwanted files.



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