Disk Cleanup Wizard

Windows XP includes a toll that helps users to get rid of unwanted files. It cleans up Temporary Internet Files, Temporary Windows Files, Temporary Program Files, Recycle Bin, Setup log files, Downloaded program files and also compresses files unused for a long time.

To Clean Up your disk:

1. Click Start
2. All Programs
3. Accessories
4. System Tools
5. Disk Cleanup

The program will ask you to choose a drive you want to clean. Pick one and press OK. It will start looking through the content of the hard drive, calculating how much space you can reclaim. After some time, usually a few minutes you will see a box from which you can choose what data you want to clean. Press OK. The program will ask you if it can proceed, press OK.

Optimizing your Hard Drive performance

Many of the functions in Windows XP rely on having enough disk space free to operate, including Windows’ virtual memory system and programs that need to create temporary files, to name just two of the most important. In addition, almost every function in windows relies on quick hard disk access. Windows includes a number of utilities that can help you optimize hard disk performance, including the following:

1. Disk Cleanup Wizard - Scans your hard disk, looking for files that can be safely removed, helping you to free up disk space.
2. Disk Defragmenter - Rearranges the data on your hard drive so that files are written to disk contiguously. During the defragmentation, it also places more frequently used files toward the front of the disk so that they load faster.
3. Chkdsk - Scans the files and directory structure of your disk to make sure that they are free of errors.

Cleaning your system - Hard Drive

Over time, your computer can become cluttered with unused programs, unknown data, and unwanted visitors. With a little effort, you can clean your system so that it runs at top form, and you can breeze through your work faster and easier than you can in an unclean system. In addition, clean systems are more reliable, less prone to failure, and easier to protect from attack by malicious programs.