SPRING IS HERE; TIME TO CLEAN UP YOUR COMPUTER

Where exactly did winter go? Now that spring is here, it seems as though autumn never really left.

But that doesn't mean we get a free pass on our annual ritual of spring cleaning.

So roll up your sleeves, and let's take several steps to ensure your computer keeps humming happily for many seasons to come.

1. Start by checking your computer's wire and cable connections (disconnect power first), unplug them and then replug, to ensure clean, sound contacts and to spot any wear and tear in the wiring. Take a digital photo of the back of your computer to make reconnecting wires easy.

2. Use a can of compressed air to get rid of accumulated dust from the backside of the computer as well as between keyboard keys. If you use it on your computer fan, be sure to anchor the fan's blades with a toothpick or clip to prevent damage from the air blast.

3. Clean your monitor. For LCD screens, use rubbing alcohol and a microfiber or soft cotton cloth. Use any popular window spray for monitors with glass screens. Spray the cloth, not the screen, and rub. Don't use paper towels; they scratch.

4. Power up the computer and take stock of its contents. Use the utility Windirstat to generate a colorful visual breakdown of directory contents and easily detect where the bloat is. Then visit those directories and start erasing files you no longer use or need.

5. Track down duplicate files with Exact Duplicate Finder and delete them. Use Windows' Add/Remove program utility, found in the Windows Control Panel, to uninstall programs languishing unused for months or years. If you rarely use a program, or moved on to more advanced or better versions, dump it.

Windows' Add/Remove utility stumbles easily when it can't find installation components -- a more robust program remover is Revo Uninstaller. The free version will be adequate for most tasks, but the pro version does a more thorough job getting rid of all elements, sometimes scattered throughout a drive, of programs that were never completely or correctly uninstalled.

6. Get rid of other useless files and clutter. Fire up CCleaner, an all-purpose junk remover that sniffs out unnecessary files such as installation, cache and old system data files.

7. Make sure all drivers are up to date. Drivers are critical system files utilized by printers, monitors and other computer components needed for smooth operations. Iolo System Mechanic ($39) is a great suite of tools that helps clean and optimize your computer; among its tools is a driver seeker that hunts down outdated drivers and then retrieves updated ones from the Web. (There are a couple of free services that track down drivers but I have found them awkward to use and slow, and I do not recommend them.)

8. Bytes like contiguous living space. The more you use your computer, scan the Web, record music, install programs and erase documents, the more scattered those families of bytes become. Windows has a built-in defragmentation program that reunites these pieces. An even better option is Defraggler, which does a more thorough job of defragmentation on a scheduled basis, stays in the background when you are busy and tackles system files accessible only during boot-up.

9. The registry is the central headquarters of your computer and benefits from frequent inspection and its own defragmentation. Again, CCleaner is the program to turn to. Its registry utility will track and fix errant registry settings and then defragment the registry.

10. No cleanup is complete without a backup regimen. A few of the backup programs I've recommended in the past are either no longer free or no longer supported. I now use Acronis Drive Image ($50) but have read excellent reviews of Backup Maker (though I have not tested it yet), a free program that offers many filter, compression and scheduling options and that appears to be reliable and easy to use.

Be sure your backup settings are correct and up to date, don't fear redundancy (make two or more backups, store data on external drives) and back up frequently. For a list of links to all free utilities mentioned in this column, send an email to me with the word PCGUYSPRING in the subject line.

Credit: Contact Peter Grad at [email protected].