Thread: Remove the bloat

You've probably installed a"number games or other programs you no longer use, which are probably hogging useful disk space if nothing else. A quick way to get rid of them is to select Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs. Now uninstall everything you are certain you don't use. Be careful, though, as there may be some entries you don't recognise. The key here is, ifin doubt, leave it where it is, but you may be amazed at the amount of stuff you can clear out.

Having done this, there are likely to be a lot of outdated and unused entries remaining in your Registry. To remove the unnecessary ones, you can use a utility such as CCleaner (available at CCleaner - Home[/URL]). Not only will CCleaner slim down your Registry, but it can also remove temporary internet files, cookies, log files, CHKDSK file fragments and more.



While you're at it, it's worth heading to Accessories, then System Tools, and running the Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter programs in that order. Taking all these steps will help to ensure your XP installation starts off as optimised as possible
before taking on the task of managing all your computing requirements over the next few years.

As well as backing up your important documents to CD or DVD regularly, you should get into the habit of backing up your hard disk to an external drive. Most external drives come with backup software;making it easy to safeguard your files automatically, and then restore the data quickly if needed.You could also consider a bit of manual backing up of, for example, your documents folder to a USB memory key. Being so cheap these days (4GB models can be picked up for less than Rs. 700), you could keep two of these devices for this purpose.

You can also email yourself copies of important documents (as long as they are less than 20MB) via GoogleMail.Then, using Gmail 's built-in labels, you can keep them out of the way of your inbox. As an added bonus, you can download these attachments on any web-connected device whenever you need them. Another alternative is to make use of one of the many free online backup services.