Clean up Windows PreFetch and the Registry
Windows prefetch is a process by which the operating system keeps records known as pointers. The purpose of these pointers is to speed the task of finding the data that you use within your computer. It is a fairly good system but Microsoft should have incorporated an automatic cleaning functionality to it. Ah, Microsoft they do come up with some great ideas, but they usually don’t think through the finite details though and problems are only found through prolonged use. So we have this pretty good system that speeds things along, but over time the data begins to degrade and needs to be cleaned out or the prefetch will point to non-existent data and actually slow the process down. Fortunately it is very easy to clean out the prefetch files.
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Go to “My Computer”
2. Select C drive
3. Select the Windows Folder. (You may get pop up warning but it must be done)
4. Scroll down to and select the “prefetch” folder.
5. Go to the top of the page and select “Edit”
6. From the drop down menu click on SELECT ALL.
7. Now select “delete”. (If asked to confirm click OK)
8. Close out of all the windows and empty the trash bin.
9. Restart the computer.
Clean up the registry. Registry cleaning has a kind of mystical air about it and for good reason; make a mistake here and your system could become completely unusable. The maintenance and care of registries has always been the arena of trained professionals. That has changed quite a bit in recent years though and today there are quite a few good products available to clean your registry and even a few good free ones. Although there are quite a few registry cleaners software, I personally recommend the free registry tool in CCleaner. Just Google it you will find it. You may be asking though what is this registry, why do I need to clean it, and how do I do that. Good questions.
The Windows Registry is a file which stores all the settings and options for Windows operating systems. It has information and settings pertaining to operating system software, hardware, user settings, and every program installed on your system. That’s a lot of responsibility to put in one place, but such is the task of the registry.
The problem is that when changes are made to your computer such as programs being installed and uninstalled, user settings being deleted or changed, updates to software being installed, the registry is sometimes either not updated or improperly updated. When this happens the registry needs to be cleaned so that your computer can run quickly and efficiently.
How do you clean it? As I stated before, you should download and install CCleaner and then use the registry tool to perform the cleaning. This program has been used by me hundreds of times as well as by hundreds of my customers and I can attest to its effectiveness and safety. I am not affiliated with CCleaner in any way, the customers I refer to are from my computer repair business.