Being in the computer repair business, I often get asked, How do I speed up my computer? This is a tough question to answer without any knowledge of the computer and software that a user might have. But I do have one recommendation that usually helps out most people.

If youve had your computer for more than a year, there are 1000s if not millions of unused files just laying around your system. Most people know about clearing their browser cache, and maybe even using Windows XP Disk Clean Up through the properties of your C:/Drive. And both of those programs help.

But there are large amounts of files that are created by third party programs, installers, Java cache files, and etc. Its difficult to even find these files let alone clean them out on a regular basis. Several of the more active adware and virus programs use these areas to operate from too.

And then theres all the registry entries that go with these files. The registry is a database on your computer that is used by the system to register any software, hardware, and activities. On a brand new computer it is huge in both size and number of entries. But over time this database can become quite bloated and slow down daily operations.

Every time you do something to change your user, software, or hardware settings this activity is recorded in the registry database. Think about it for a minute, every single time you install, change, or even move things around it is recorded. The number of entries on any daily session can be in the 1000s.

Every day when you boot up, your system runs through every setting in the registry to know how, where, and what is on your computer. As time goes on, and new entries are made, this becomes a more time consuming task. And during the normal operation, the registry is check 1000s of times for file locations, hardware driver aspects, and many of the different settings.

So the bigger the registry, the more computing power and time is needed to complete these checks. And this type of access is going on every time you click or type during your daily computing chores. Anything you can do to keep the registry mean and lean can improve the performance of your computer.

But doing a manual clean up of your files, and the registry can be difficult. Knowing what files and what settings are no longer needed is almost impossible. One of the reasons is the registry listings can be in multiple sections and many places. And its about as easy to decipher as our wonderful tax laws. I get to do it often when repairing a computer but its not a lot of fun nor is it always very straight forward.

But the is a good way to approach this clean up. There are some very smart folks over at a company called CCleaner.com. They have written a small utility called CCleaner and it cleans out the registry and deletes all the old inactive files everywhere.

Normally Im not to wild about turning loose a program that deletes files and registry entries on any of my computers. But Ive tested this utility on every computer in the shop and it works flawlessly every time. Its fast too. We use a couple of computers to test new software and hardware and they get cluttered up with old files and installations. Many of the uninstall programs dont remove all the files and registry entries.

We use CCleaner after all our tests now and it removes all the left overs fast. And the speed on boot up and day-to-day operations does speed up. Its a noticeable difference before and after you run CCleaner. They also have a support area and forum on their web site for any questions and issues that anyone would have using their software.

Many of the major computer sites and magazines have given CCleaner the highest marks for both reliability and results. That says a lot right there since most of these expert web sites are pretty thorough in testing and dont give out high rankings all that often.

Ive added CCleaner to my basic recommendations of a good virus protection software and adware remover. It goes the extra mile in clean up that can really help any computer speed up both the boot process and daily operations.

If your computer is acting sluggish and slow, this would be an excellent utility to run. Always make sure that there are no pesky viruses or adware first. And always make sure you have the latest version of both virus definitions and any new adware protection.

Did I mention that this great little utility is also free? Thats right, its free for the using. They do take donations so if you use the program and like it, why not go ahead and give them a few bucks for their great work. Thats a good way keep this and other great software free.

You can get CCleaner at www.CCleaner.com. Just follow the instructions on the installation and operation and Ill bet you see a big difference afterward. Good utilities are hard to find, and free ones almost impossible. This is a great tool to help anyone clean out their system and get back some of the original speed of their computer..

John Dow owns www.PowerSolutionsCD.com, a website that specializes in computer troubleshooting, security, and repair utilities. His Power Solutions CD has helped thousands of customers protect their computer and data, by providing a collection of utilities and how to articles to fix and repair ANY hard drive or computer problem. Click here to learn more: www.PowerSolutionsCD.com.