FREE DISK CLEANER SOFTWARE

Why you need to clean up your computer?

Many programs on your computer leave lots of traces on your disk resulting from use, particularly the browsers (Firefox, Chrome, IE explorer), and also Skype, the chat programs (MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Messenger, etc.), the Officed Suites, music and video software, etc. These programs continuously leave files on your disk, some of them can actually be quite big, taking up considerable disk space. Others leave traces behind in your computer registry, which is the heart of your operating system. Over time, these junk files will slow down your computer so much that you think it is completely broken, while it only needs 10 minutes of your time for disk clean up. Recently, a friend asked if I could look at his computer, as it did not respond at all anymore. It took me half an hour to get a little program installed, as indeed the 2 years old maschine hardly responded at all. Once installed, it took 10 minutes for disk cleanup and it was again aas good as new! He thought I was a magician, but there really was nothing to it. In fact EVERBODY needs to know this and do a WEEKLY disk cleanup, or your computer will eventually stop working.

Besides junk files, many people using their computer for professional use, end up with an amazing number of identically named files and a duplicate file finder, can help you identify such files and allow you to decide which one to keep, usually the latest, but now always, so be careful when using it. It is nice if a duplicate file finder is included as it can clean up more space, but not really essential for the operation of your computer.

How to Clean Up computers and what does Disk Cleanup software do?

PC, computer or disk cleaner software carry out a combination of windows cleanup and maintenance tasks, primarily:

	Cleanup registry files
	Clear Internet browser caches,
	temporary files,
	history and cookies
	Delete general temporary files
	Locate and delete duplicate files

Many commercial computer protection software have these functions included, but those programs are so heavy that they almost always slow down your computer. Long ago I stopped using them and went for a commercial cleaning program. Now those programs are really costly over the years, as they make an update every year or so and then invite you to update, trying to make you believe that that is essential for the functionality of the program, which is not the case.

But in the context of this webpage service, I started looking again into free disk cleanup solucions and found one particularly that worked faster and more thorough than the commercial disk cleanup program I had installed on my computer.

So, using a light free disk cleanup program and a light free virus program, you actually not only safe yourself about $40 per year, but your computer may actually runs faster, than when you buy a all-in-one commercial software for virus protection and computer maintenance. (See more at best free antivirus software)

Besides disk cleanup, you really also want a program for managing the software at your computer. Many installed programs try are programmed to initiate immediately when you start up your computer, slowing down not only the startup process, but again, also your overall computer performance. The more programs are active simultaneously, the slower your computer is, and believe me, it makes a major difference. So a good disk cleanup software also comes with a software removal and startup programming tool.

Finally, there is the problem that the Windows operating system gradually relocates parts of the files throughtout the computer in fragments. Since early on, MS recognized the problem and issued its operating system with a defragmenting program that does the job, but many of the commercial software comes with a somewhat faster and fencier looking defragmentation tool. The free disk cleanup software usually does not, so you would need to use the defragmenter that comes with the computer, but that is perfectly alright.

Another element of interest is speed. You don't want to wait forever until the cleaning is done.

So here are some of the better solutions we have found. Mind you, those are not the only ones, as there are umpty programs that do at least a few functions that we menstioned, but usually not enough in one program.

We suggest you also read this article on free computer and disk cleanup.

	http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner This programme is for free for individual non-commercial users. It is nice and fast; it is the programme I use a few times per week for rapid cleanups. It cleans up junk files as well as your registry and removes software you no longer want.

	http://www.nkprods.com/ncleaner/ This programme is no longer maintained, but it is very lightweight and it deleated a lot of junk that the other program mentioned here did not find. It looks pretty dated, but I decided to provide it from our server in case you decide you want to use it: It is very drastic and it looks pretty scary when you see how many things it cleans up. I found no other programme with so many file types to be deleted. I use it about twice a month and so far it does not seem to have done any damage, so I guess it is a functional and very drastic cleaner. As I said, it is dated and the turn off button does not always work: Sometimes I have to turn it off with Ctr Alt Delete! But heck who cares?.....Its free. Since there is no telling how long that webpage is still working, I also host it from here: nCleaner download.

	http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html This free programme looks for spybots already on your computer. It is a good idea to run this from time to time to get rid of whatever spy file has nested itself on your computer. I think it does just this, and it takes quite a while to run the scan, but it really is a good idea. I have had it on my computer for half a year or so and one never knows with those things if it works, but I presume it guards against fishing and spying software and run the scan once a month.

	This is what the Softpedia website says: It is easy and powerful tool to clear user browsing history, clean index.dat files, remove cookies, cache, logs, delete temporary internet files, autocomplete search history and any other tracks that user leaves after using PC. It includes DDOD, Gutmann algorithm to make deleted tracks unrecoverable. Using this application, you will be able to review tracks that your computer keeps against you. With monthly updates the program gets support for many new applications that released on the Web and you can be sure that your system is always clean and safe. Protect your privacy! This tool will prevent recovery of already deleted data (files). I use this about twice a month, not so much for privacy reasons, but it almost always removes several dozens of megabytes that probably slow down the performance of the computer. CNET says: Wipe may be frustrating for computer experts looking for a customizable security option, since it keeps things so simple that users are given few choices or settings to change. However, its simplicity is a benefit, as it makes Wipe an effective and simple option for users of all experience levels. We highly recommend this download for anyone looking to enhance security. You can download it here: Download from CNET

	http://www.lavasoft.com/ The free version provides virus and spy-ware protection. I have not tested it, but one may presume that it does what it is supposed to do.

Download powerful registry cleaner no longer available as a very light but extremely powerful freeware can be downloaded from our website. Don't be tempted to look for in on the internet and download the new free version. That only works for another month and this free version fo the past becomes inoperable. I use this twice a month for cleaning the registry on extreme scan, and I also delete the errors marked in yellow, but that is up to you to decide. Monthly the registers are defragmented with this little programme.

But don't forget to run Window's own preinstalled Disk Cleanup. I find it always deletes some files that the other programmes had overlooked. It usually is located in the directory "System tools in your computer.
As you may have noticed, I use several programmes to clean up my computers, because each uses a different approaches to cleaning and the all cleans different file types. Is this necessary? If you browse a lot and write many files and or manage a lot of photos, your computer will soon slow down. I need my computers in top condition and over time I found this to work for me. Is it necessary to use so many programmes? Definitely not, but having run all these free programmes, I tell myself that I outsmarted the paid programmes and that my computers run better than with the paid programmes that in the past always slowed down my computers because the were continuously monitoring and doing things I did not ask them to do. Most of the programmes you find here only work when you open them and stop working after you close them, at least if you tell them to do so in their preferences or tools.

Defragmentation There are other important factors slowing down your computer, the most important one is fragmentation. I had never realized, but there is more to defragmentation than I realized. Read more about defragmentation and the free software currently available to speed up your computer.

	http://www.iobit.com/ld/iobitadvancedsystemcare.html
No doubt that the free version of Advanced System care is the slickest All in one maintenance programme. It has a sweet of nice looking tools all in one programme and no doubt this programme can successfully do all the maintenance you need with just a few clicks on different buttons. I have used it for a while and it worked well. Then why don't I use it as my primary maintenance programme? I found that the individual programmes listed about, have some more rigorous features than this all in one programme, but frankly, I don't know if that is really all that important. If you don't want to deal with different programmes, then this is an excellent choice.