Cleaning up a sluggish computer

One of the most common calls I get is about someone’s computer running really slowly.  Nine times out of ten it is due to either malware or the hard drive is nearly full.  Here are some things you can try to clean up those problems and hopefully speed up your system.

1. Download CCleaner I just get the Free version. After installing this and run it, click the Analyze button, then when that is done, click Run Cleaner.  This will delete a lot of junk files which consists of cookies and other temporary files that you don’t need that are just taking up space.
2. Download Malwarebytes and install.  Run this to find and clean malware off your computer.
3. Restart the computer after doing 1 and 2.  Then if it is still running sluggishly, run CCleaner again and this time click on the Registry link on the left.  Scan for Issues, then Fix Selected Issues.  It will ask if you want to make a backup first — do this, it’s always a good idea to backup your registry before making changes.
4. Click on Tools in CCleaner and Uninstall any software that looks suspicious or that you don’t need.  If you don’t know what an app is, just Google it.