Clearing Junk Off Your PC
This is one of the most frequent questions people ask about their computer when its performance seems a bit slow or sporadic.
Generally the answer is “Not necessarily, however”.
On most home computers, performance speed and continuity are going to depend mainly on your processor (how fast it performs in gigahertz) and your random access memory (measured in gigabytes). Your available RAM limits how easily your computer can shuffle information around in its “awake state”.
Your machine’s efficiency relies on other factors too, such as the quality and design of your processor and your motherboard in general.
Networking speed also is a factor, to the extent that your computer use involves online tasks, and to the extent that your OS and apps are network-reliant.
That said, your built-in hard drive is relevant especially to the extent that the above resources are being used to their limits.
The more that your computer needs to retrieve/save information from/onto your drive in the course of normal usage, then the more your computer speed and performance will be influenced available space on your drive. Also, the general condition and properties of the drive and its contents can affect speed and performance in your computer experience.
Taking a look the hard drive therefore can be helpful in getting better performance from a computer, depending on the above mix of factors.
Windows has certain built-in tools that can help in examining the hard drive, both the integrity of the drive equipment and the contents – boot information, operating system, applications and data organization as well.
Most computer users don’t use anywhere near the capacity of their hard drive. But if you’ve got large numbers of binary files – photos, videos, music recording or installed software packages – then you may be pressing the limits of how much disk usage will allow efficient operation of the drive.
Often the hard drive issue – if there is one – has less to do with the amount of data you have store and more to do with the organization of the drive.
Issues such as fragmentation and accumulated errors are relevant. A quick note about fragmentation. If you're using Windows 10, then that function is handled automatically by Windows. But most earlier versions rely on your doing it manually, periodically. Running a chkdsk on your drive periodically also is a good practice. Regardless of claims that Windows 10 takes care of this, I've found that doing this manually gets rid of all sorts of glitches even when Windows says it's not necessary.
Excess storage of unnecessary logs and tracks on your drive can be relevant too. Programs like ccleaner are a handy way to take care of that end of PC housekeeping.
If you have an excess of personal data files stored, it might be worth getting help to move or copy some of it over to a drive or cloud space. It's more often important to back up (copy) what's on your drive than to move or remove it.
It also might pay to get help organizing your user files if you've let them accumulate without organizing them into a folder structure. This may seem like an overwhelming amount of work, but it’s one of those undertakings that goes faster and becomes more satisfying once you get started.
Getting a bit of help to guide you in doing this will enable you to get organized much faster than you ever imagined. Getting help with basic “Windows Explorer” or “File Explorer” features is one of the best learning exercises you can undertake if you want to get improve your computer experience and make it more enjoyable.
Now, again regarding how much space is used up on your disk, and analyzing what’s on there:
If you favor software solutions and want to examine what’s on your computer in detail, there are numerous third-party software programs to do this. Several popularly recommended titles are: WinDirStat, SpaceSniffer, and TreeSize.
If budget is a factor, then consider using the handy utility built into Windows 10 for disk space analysis, located under Settings > System > Storage. This is part of the OS package, so you already have it on your machine at no additional cost.
Take note – when if you seek outside help to address computer speed and performance issues, it’s best not to rely on johnny-come-lately computer users. Many of today’s newer crop of “experts” have only limited applied knowledge, and many offer little more than scripted “support” and one-size-fits-all “solutions”.
Even if you’re using a relatively new computer with Windows 10, 8.1 or 7, it’s best to rely on hands-on computer users with experience going back to XP or prior, and preferably even some grounding in legacy systems and command line environments. This is why I keep active ties and try to lend support to seasoned computer user groups.
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