Clean your PC in no time

Windows is complex and so it is difficult for many people to get and keep their PC in top condition. The result: an increasingly slower system. Fortunately, it is less difficult than you think to make and keep your PC in top shape again. With these tips you can clean your PC in no time.

Tip 01: Secure system

How is it possible that malware, viruses and ransomware still have such a hold on our computers? The answer is simple: the security is not in order. We discuss how to properly protect your system without having to study further. Important are of course the presence of a virus scanner, an up-to-date Windows system and the most recent version of essential programs that are often attacked and show you - very important! – how to check your security.

Tip 02: Windows Update

Security updates for Windows appear regularly. These should come in automatically. Check regularly whether this actually happens. Windows Update can be found in Windows 10 at Settings / Update & Security. You can open the settings via Windows key + I. Always click Looking for updates, even if Windows indicates that your system is up to date. With this you force a manual check and any updates come in immediately – and not only when Windows starts searching again. After installing updates, reboot your system and run the check again. Users of an earlier Windows version will find Windows Update in the Control Panel.

Tip 03: Update drivers

Components in your PC and devices connected to your computer require drivers, also known as drivers. In Windows 10, most drivers come with the operating system. They are also automatically updated via Windows Update, but not all drivers are. To get the most out of your devices, you can update your drivers manually. It is difficult for the average computer user to find new drivers on the manufacturer's website. With the free version of Driver Booster, you can have the most recent version of your drivers checked and updated automatically. Be alert during the installation to avoid unwanted extra programs from the same maker. Launch Driver Booster, run a check and update your drivers. This process takes a while, especially with the free version of Driver Booster. Driver Booster will regularly come up with notifications about purchasing the pro version. You can ignore that: the free version is enough.

Windows version

The tips in this article are written around the most recent version of Windows 10: Creators Update. Many tips can also be applied to earlier Windows versions, but sometimes you need some creativity to get to the right setting. Haven't installed Windows 10 Creators Update yet? You can download it via Windows Update (see tip 2). On the site of our sister magazine Computer!Totaal there is an extensive article about performing this upgrade.

Tip 04: Update programs

Many programs have a built-in update function that checks whether you still have the most recent version. This does not always work well, which means that on an average system there is a lot of outdated software. Outdated programs are a potential security risk. We've covered Patch My PC Updater before. This program is completely free and checks all essential software on your computer. After the check, you will see a list of outdated programs. With the button Perform update everything is updated automatically. Most installations run 'quietly' so that you are not constantly Next one need to click to complete program installations.

Bee schedule you can specify when Patch My PC Updater should check for new versions.

Tip 05: Virus Scanner APK

On a Windows computer, an antivirus program and firewall are very important. Make sure you know which solutions your PC uses for this. Go to Control Panel / System and Security / Security and Maintenance and look at Security. If you have not installed an additional program (for example Norton or Avast), Windows itself takes over the 'security baton' with Windows Defender. Under Security you can reactivate any disabled security guard. The next step is very important: open your security program (for example via the security icon in your system tray) and check the status. Windows can report that everything is OK, but it is important to check this with the security officer. Update to get the latest antidote and perform regular checkups (security scan). Updating and scanning is usually done automatically, but here too it is wise to know how to check the status.

Tip 06: Ransom and malware

Ransomware is an increasing threat and malware is of all times. It doesn't hurt to take extra measures to stay one step ahead of "bad guys", even if you're using an "all-round" security program. You can fight malware effectively with Malwarebytes. The free version doesn't offer constant background protection (as a virus scanner does), but it works great for detecting and destroying malware. This requires an extra manual step (you have to indicate yourself that you want to perform a check). In the previous Tips & Tricks we focused on Cybereason RansomFree. This free solution works very well against ransomware. One of the features of ransomware is that it modifies and encrypts your documents with encryption. Cybereason RansomFree places various folders containing 'decoy files' (for example from Word and Excel). Once ransomware strikes and attacks one of the decoy files, Cybereason RansomFree will stop the ransomware.

Tip 07: Cleaning machine

To make and keep your computer fast, you now have to take a few extra steps and then have (almost) nothing to worry about. You have to deal with unnecessary temporary files, programs that you never use or run in the background and Windows settings that prevent your system from working optimally. We cover them all and for most tips the common denominator applies: automate as many jobs as possible, because nobody likes cleaning!

Tip 08: Disk Cleanup

Windows Disk Cleanup can recover a lot of wasted storage space and is easy to use. You cannot automate this standard Windows component, it requires a manual action. Start Windows Disk Cleanup via a search in your start menu. Have your C drive examined (and repeat this later for your D drive if you have one). A list of parts that you can have cleaned will appear. Tick ​​what you want to get rid of, but read what it is for each part to prevent you from throwing away something wrong. For example, you can free up a lot of disk space by deleting backups from a Windows upgrade, but it also won't allow you to revert to an earlier Windows version. Windows Disk Cleanup immediately shows you how much space you get back. click on OK for a cleanup. Restart Windows Disk Cleanup and look at the tab More options to delete older backups, for example.

Tip 09: Cleaning aid

The most recent version of Windows 10 has a new cleaning tool to automatically rid your system of a large number of unnecessary files. Open the Windows 10 settings and look at System / Storage. Activate Smartsave and check the cleaning aid settings at Change how space is freed up. Here you can also see (after a few weeks) how much storage space the Windows component has cleared for you. In our test system this was more than 10 GB (!). With the button Clean up now perform a manual cleaning action, but in practice it is sufficient to Smart save to be turned on once.

Tip 10: Auto-cleaner

CCleaner can also help you with automatic cleaning. Start the program and look at Options / Settings. Place a checkmark Automatically clean computer during startup and everything is arranged. With this, CCleaner automatically deletes cookies, recycle bin files and unnecessary cache/log files. Please note: some cookies are necessary to stay logged in on a website. If you find this useful, you can make an exception for these cookies and CCleaner will skip them. Look for this at Options / Cookies for the existing cookies. Drag the cookies you don't want to clean to Keep cookies.

Tip 11: Space eaters

Are you short on disk space and want to know where the largest files can be found? Then until recently you were dependent on TreeSize Free. TreeSize Free still remains useful because you can quickly examine a drive letter or folder for 'large users', but the function is now also built into Windows 10. Look at Settings / System / Storage and click on your C drive (or other drive letter you want to examine). You can see which parts or folders are using a lot of disk space. You can click on most folders/parts to eventually open a folder in Windows Explorer.

Tip 12: Cloud vs. Local

After doing the previous tip, some OneDrive users may have been shocked. By default, Microsoft's cloud service saves everything that is in your OneDrive on the internet on your computer. This can be a problem especially for people with a small SSD and a 1 TB OneDrive. It is possible to sync only your most important folders to your computer. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray and choose Settings / Account / Selective Sync. Uncheck the folders you don't want to download automatically and confirm with OK. This will delete the files from your OneDrive folder on your computer, but they will remain with the cloud service. Note: do you delete your files from your OneDrive with Windows Explorer? Then the files will also be deleted from the cloud storage! You can request your files via www.onedrive.com (or by adding the folder again via Selective sync). Do you have Dropbox? Right-click the Dropbox icon in your system tray, click the gear and choose Preferences / Account / Selective Sync.

Tip 13: Remove software

There are many ways to uninstall programs. Look in Windows 10 at Settings / Apps / Apps & Features to remove programs you don't use often. We personally like the overview you get via Control Panel / Programs / Uninstall a program more pleasant. The best method offers the free version of IObit Uninstaller. The program will show you a list of installed software after which you can remove it. IObit Uninstaller checks after the uninstall whether there are any remnants left behind, after which you can have them erased. Also look at Windows Apps / Windows Apps. Here you will find the default apps that are present in Windows 10. Are you not using certain apps? Then you can recover up to 1.6 GB of disk space. You can reinstall the apps with a special command. Start Windows PowerShell via a search in your Windows 10 start menu. Give the command Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”} followed by Enter.

Make sure that you do not install any unwanted extras during the installation of IObit Uninstaller and do not be tempted to buy the pro version: the free version is excellent.