Windows XP Speed Secret #7: Run Disk Clean-Up

Windows XP Speed Secrets : Microsoft Doesn’t Want You To Know! (#7)

Both Windows and application programs tend to leave temporary
files lying around on your hard drive, taking up space. A hard drive
that is close to being “full” can cause Windows to slow down or
interfere with efficient disk access and virtual memory operations.


If you surf the web a lot, your temporary internet files folder can
become quite large, causing Internet Explorer to slow down or
malfunction. Cleaning up unneeded files, scanning for disk errors
and defragmenting the hard drive can help to restore some zip to
your system.  Try to run once a month for peak performance.


1.  Double-click the My Computer icon.
2.  Right-click on the C: drive
3.  Select Properties
4. Click the Disk Cleanup button (to the bottom-right of the Capacity pie graph)
5.  Select / check Temporary Internet Files and Recycle Bin
6. Click OK