Let’s start with the basics; Overall good computer guidelines. These are a general rule of thumb when it comes to good maintenance of your computer. Just like you maintain other things in your life (your car, your house, your laundry!), your computer needs a little cleanup now and again too. So here’s how to do it:

1st, start with a “spring cleaning attitude” and focus on removing any extra icons from your desktop, organize them in folders, or neatly arrange them in a manner that makes sense to you. Do this with un-needed internet bookmarks as well.

2nd, run a spyware removal program and an antivirus scan. Good free ones include (Spybot Search and destroy, and AdAware for spyware detection, and AVG and Antivir for antivirus). Do a full scan and be sure to delete any spyware or infected files.

3rd, defragment you hard drive. When you save files it saves them in smaller pieces called fragments. These fragments are not always stored in order, so by defragmenting the hard drive it finds and organizes all the pieces for each file and puts them in order. This speeds up things a little bit.

4th, clean up your desk! Physically we mean. Organize your papers, throw out any scrap, organize and consolidate what you have. Also, grab a can of compressed air and clean off your keyboard, you’d be surprised how much stuff collects in between the keys. Lastly I recommend using a Clorox hand wipe or something similar to disinfect the keys on the keyboard and the mouse- kill those germs, especially during flu season!