Got a call from someone the other day, asking for help to get her laptop to fly again.

This is the advice I gave her, apart from the normal physical cleaning tasks and careful use of compressed air.

This what I do to keep my computers on song. I use these software to clean my machines of any redundant files and other useless items:

1. CCleaner – http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner -  Easy to install and easy to use. The CC stands for Crap cleaner, and boy does it do a good job, and best it is for free.

2. Advanced Systems Care Free – http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html – It works well as well

After both cleaners have run, I restart my machine and then importantly I defragment it. Defrag is a process whereby everything gets refiled. This should be done at least once a month. I do mine weekly. For this I use Raxco’s Perfect Disk which I bought for about R350 – well worth it. You could also use Iobit’s free option – Smart Defrag – http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html – I have used it and it also works very well.

Thereafter your machine will run like a song.

The only other potential problem can come from malware – that can slow a machine down. To protect against that, it is vital that you install, apart from a normal anti-virus package, software that can pick up malware and other potential security issues.

For that I use – Malware Bytes Anti-malware software, Threatfire, and Microsoft Security Essentials. I scan my machine once a week for any rogue files and it protects me in real – time.

That’s what I do for PC Maintenance in general to keep my computer singing.