It's something we would all like to avoid, but it's probably happened to each and every one of us at some point in time. Our computers get infected with viruses, or spyware that slow down our applications and generally makes life really difficult for us. When this happens don't kill your computer, format it or start making plans to buy a new one. You really don't need to do this because with a few simple computer clean up steps you'll be able to use your computer again.
At the Start Menu, do a Windows Update for security sake. If you can't find it on the Start Menu, go to All Programs then Accessories and finally System Tools and you should see it there.
Next you need to get rid of you cookies. They're kind of what they sound like. Basically they are little crumbs that are left behind on your computer after you visit a website. They don't actually do anything except take up a lot of disk space. To get rid of your cookies head to Start then Control Panel and finally Internet Options. There should be an option there called Delete Cookies. It's quite simply really.
Next thing you'll want to do in a computer clean up is a complete disk cleanup. To do this click on Start head to All Programs, then Accessories and finally System Tools. There just click on Disk Cleanup from the list that appears. You'll get a few tabs, select the More Options tab at the top of the page, and select all three of the following: "Windows Components," "Installed Programs," and "System Restore". Clean up all three by clicking on their respective tabs. If you have system restore points don't delete them all. They are a great method of backing up data. Just keep one or two of the most recent system restores and you can delete the rest.
Something else you can do to clean up your computer is called Defragmenting. This option is also in your System Tools. This usually takes a while and it's recommended you just leave your computer on overnight so that it will defragment properly. You shouldn't use it because your computer will most likely lag and the whole process will just take longer for no reason.
Of course a computer clean up wouldn't be complete without getting rid of the spyware and viruses in your computer. If you have any anti spyware or anti virus programs it's good to run them at least once a week and not just during a computer clean up session. If you don't have any such programs installed you should go do something about that now. You can either buy software off the shelf or download some anti virus and anti spyware programs from the Internet.
