In my opinion computer maintenance is one of those areas that most people may overlook. Think about it. You do maintenance on your house and car but how often do you think about giving your computer a little TLC? Your computer is your gateway to everything digital and keeping it running at optimal performance is non-negotiable, and I have a few tips to get the job done.

CCleaner is one of the best free programs for keeping your PC running fast.  The first time I used it, it cleared 5GB of temporary files from my drive. If you have an older PC with a smaller hard drive space can be crucial to your computers performance. CCleaner clears all temporary files, history, cookies, auto complete form history, and index.dat files from I.E, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. It also deletes all files from the recycling bin and third party applications. (Note: CCleaner only deletes temporary files that are not needed and will not delete files you’re currently using)

Another great feature is CCleaner can clean up your computers registry.  If you’re unfamiliar with the registry it’s a large group of files that contain information about everything on your computer. The problem is when you uninstall a program those items are not removed from the registry which can cause your PC to have poor performance over time. CCleaner can clean up your registry, but also it will give you the option to backup the items it’s about to delete for just in case purposes.

In the Tools section of CCleaner you can Uninstall programs, see what programs are running at Startup, manage System Restore Files, and Wipe your other drives (just make sure your wiping the right one). I would only recommend using this feature for a deleting a flash drive.

The next culprit that can bring your computer down are virus attacks because you have outdated programs and plug-ins. Trying to figure out which programs on your computer need updating can be time consuming, but Secure PSI (Personal Software Inspector) scans your system and notifies you of everything that’s out –of-date. It also allows you to download the latest version of the software to help keep your PC secure right from the interface.

CCleaner and Secure PSI give you two good “free” options for maintaining optimum computer performance. For more tips checkout my PC Security topics and see my video on "How To Improve Your PC's Load Time"