Lot of us experience slow performance of our computer as we continue to use our machines every day. A lot of technical support requirement is generated due to slow performance of computers. Other than slow performance, there is that ever increasing security risk that is associated with various applications that we use everyday, such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Microsoft has provided tools with its Operating System to ensure that your computer stays healthy and gives you a long life of optimal performance.

Here is what you can do to keep your computer healthy:

1. Click on “Start” button”
2. Click on “Control Panel“
3. On the Control Panel window, double click on “Scheduled Tasks“
4. This will launch a Task Scheduler window. On this window, click on “Add Scheduled Task” and then click on “Next“
5. On the list of applications, click on “Disk Cleanup” and click on “Next“
6. From the frequency options, select “Weekly” and then click on “Next“. This will ensure that you get rid of unwanted files from your computer every week. Please note that whenever the task scheduler launches Disk Cleanup Wizard, it will give you options for the files to delete. Make sure you go through the entire list carefully to ensure that you don’t loose any information that you may need later.
7. Select a preferred time and day when you would want your computer to run this wizard. Then click on “Next“
8. It will prompt you for a username and password. Please enter your windows login details here. After entering the details, click on “Next“
9. Click on “Finish” to complete the process.

The above process will only run disk cleanup every week. It is also recommended that you run Disk Defragment tool and Disk Checking tool every month. To Add Disk Defragment to the scheduler, follow the steps below:

1. Follow the first 4 steps as mentioned above
2. Click on “Browse” on the window where a list of applications is provided
3. On the browse window, go to Windows –>System32–>defrag.exe
4. Select the file above and click on “OK“
5. Follow the steps listed earlier from point 6 onwards. The only difference will be the frequency. The frequency for this should be set up as “Monthly“

Follow the same steps for checking hard disk for errors every month. The only difference is that in Step 3, you will need to highlight the file “CHKDSK.exe“.

Once complete you have created a good maintenance plan fo your computer and your machine will not go into the never ending slow performance loop.

Other than this, you should also keep your Windows Update settings to “Automatic”. This means that whenever you connect your computer to internet, Windows Update will scan the system for latest updates and offer updates for download and installation whenver one is available. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Click on “Start“
2. Click on “Run“
3. On the Run box, type “sysdm.cpl” and click on “OK“.
4. On the window that opens, click on “Automatic Updates” tab and select the option (Radio Button) “Automatic (recommended)“
5. Click on “OK“

This will ensure that all security updates are installed on your computer.

I hope this will help you in keeping your computer healthy and problem free. Happy Computing.