Release Thy Computer from Bondage!

What do you do if your computer is running sluggishly or has other problems?  Try the following.
        -First, BEFORE you have a problem, Backup you data!!  Everyone should have multiple copies of anything digitally important, ideally on an external hard drive.  Until you can get one, Mozy is a free service that backs up any folders you select to the internet (click on configure and select the folers you want).  It backs up your data whenever your computer has an internet connection, giving you a LOT of peace of mind (click on "MozyHome Free" at the bottom of the webpage).
        -Run Antivirus Software.   Either AVG Free Edition Antivirus or Avast! Home Edition work superbly and are absolutely free.  [If the links do not work, go to www.cnet.com and do a search for either "avg free edition" or "avast home edition"].  Be sure to update virus definitions before running a full scan.
     -Get Spyware Protection.  Two programs that I know of will scan your computer and kill any spyware programs absolutely free.  Spybot: Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware.  Be sure to update before running a full scan.
     -Disable start-up programs (this is semi-advanced).  Click on "Start," go to "Run," type in "msconfig" (without the quotes) and press enter (or click "ok").  Go to the "startup" tab.  Everything in that list are programs that are set to run as soon as your computer boots up and stay running.  Most of them you don't need.  For my computer, I uncheck everything except my antivirus program, mozy, and a few others that I know I need (use trial an error, or google the startup item to see what it does).
     -Run Disk CleanUp and then Defrag your hard drive.  To run Disk CleanUp, click on "Start," then highlight "All Programs," then highlight "Accessories," then highlight "System Tools," then click on "Disk Cleanup."  It will ask you which drive you want to clean up.  Usually it will be C: (but it is whichever drive windows is installed on).   I recommend you check everything except "compress old files" then click "ok."  It will then ask you if you want to perform these actions.  Click "Yes."
To defragment your hard drive, Go to "My Computer," then right click on your C: drive and click on "properties."  Click on the "tools" tab.  Click "defragment now" and then highlight your hard drive (start with C: but if you have multiple hard drives, do them each in turn) and click "defragment."  This process takes several hours. 


Click Here for a more comprehensive list of to-do's for a sluggish or otherwise in need of attention PC