January is National Clean Up Your Computer Month. Start off the year with a clean computer that will be cleared of anything that might be slowing you down.
Follow these steps to clean up your computer.
- Always keep your computer up-to-date. If you are a Windows user, go to the Start Menu and search for “Windows Update.” Click on which updates you would like to perform and your computer will download or install which ones you find necessary.
- Next, open your internet browser. One of the easiest ways to make your internet browser perform faster would be to delete your browser history.
- In Internet Explorer, you can click on the Tools menu, choose options, and then select the data you want to clear.
- In Firefox, you can open the Firefox menu, then the Options window. Now you can click on the button that says Advanced, choose the Network tab, now click Offline Web Content and clear your data.
- If you use Google Chrome, hold down Control and Shift, and type Delete. A tab will open and you can select the data you would like to delete.
- Run a scan on your computer that checks for adware and malware. There are several specialized programs that are designed to find and erase adware and spyware.
- You should check your computer for viruses and other threats by running an antivirus program.
- Remove any unwanted programs from your computer. You can do this by going to Programs and Features or Add/Remove Programs on the control panel. Select a program you would like to delete and click uninstall.
- Finally, after your computer is all cleaned up, you should back up the system. You can do this by going to the Start Menu and searching “system restore.” Create a restore point, which will allow your computer to be rolled back in case something happens. You should back up your computer to an external hard drive that has plenty of space.
We hope these steps have been helpful and that they will allow you to clean up your computer this January.