Spring is here! Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. Allergies are raging. And everyone is prepping for that forced labor tradition called spring cleaning. Do you do some light dusting? Or do you move furniture, and scour the baseboards with a toothbrush?

In your rush to disinfect everything, don’t forget your computer. It could probably use some spring cleaning too. Just like your home, it can get cluttered. Cleaning it out can improve its performance.

Begin with your browser

A good place to start is your Web browsers. They store a lot of information about the sites you visit. This can include images, cookies, preferences and passwords. Besides taking up space, these can be mined for information about you.

Getting rid of this information is easy. It can be done from within each browser. The options are a little different for each. If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer, learn how in this tip. Some of you may be using Apple’s Safari. In that program, click Edit>>Reset Safari.

Another way to clean up Web tracks is with CCleaner. It will erase records from Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera. And CCleaner can do a lot more. It can remove unwanted start-up programs. It can even clean up hard-to-access information in your registry.

Clean up your files

The next task is to tackle your truckload of files. Everyday use of your PC can create redundant files. These are duplicates of your documents, photos and videos. They take up space. And you may not even know they’re there.

CloneSpy is a free tool that can sniff out these duplicate files. It can also delete them at the touch of a button. Be careful how you use it. If you’re unsure about a file, keep it to be safe.

Duplicate files often turn up in your iTunes music collection. iTunes keeps these duplicates in its library. There may even be dead tracks that no longer work.

iTunes doesn’t make it easy to clean these out. So let the iTunes Library Updater do it for you. It can be a real time-saver.

You may be using a desktop search tool. There are several available, including Google Desktop, Windows Desktop Search and Copernic Desktop Search 2. These programs help you search your computer like you would the Internet. They index much of your hard drive.

While useful, their indexing can get out of hand. They may index much more than you need. They can include your e-mails and Internet activity. The indexes can even include files you’ve deleted. This can take up needed space. It can also pose a security risk.

Whew! Are you worn out yet? Once you’re done inside the computer, don’t forget the outside. Clean off that dirty monitor.

thanks for sharing

Thank you!

Thank you for the reminder....Hey honey...