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Pick a time just before you will not be needing your computer for a long stretch, and run the Disk Cleanup Utility. The process can go very fast or it can hang your computer for hours.

You can be aggressive about what to delete, although if Disk Cleanup finds Office Setup Files, its generally better to keep them. This is because if you ever update MS Office via the Microsoft Office Website (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/default.aspx) its generally handier to use the files on your computer, rather than find and load the Office disks (although finding the setup files is difficult too).

Also keep setup logs as they are sometimes necessary for software uninstallation.

There are many freeware tools out there that can help you do the same thing as Disk Cleanup and more, but be careful not to delete uninstall launching executables themselves (as some programs do) as these are obviously necessary for software uninstallation, if you decide to do so later on down the line.

15. Delete unneeded programs.

Delete unneeded programs. These clog up your disk, registry and slow the display of your Start Menu. You can do this by clicking on:

16. Delete unneeded files.

Delete unneeded files. Apparently once your disk gets past the 50% full its performance degrades and as it gets near the full mark, it seriously degrades.

17. Disconnect unneeded or little used Network Drives.

If you have a network or home network and you have used the My Computer or Explorer option "Map Network Drive," you may have network mappings where the drive or folder no longer exists or is accessible from your PC.

Unfortunately, this greatly increases time before your Desktop appears after you log on (or a plain start your computer if you do this automatically and by pass the login screen). What happens is the PC will try a set number of times to contact this drive or folder before giving up, but this can be a minute or two. In fact according to one technician I know he has seen it delay boot up 30 minutes!

18. Use the Quick Launch Toolbar.

This is not displayed by default, so right click on a blank part of the toolbar and choose toolbars and then check Quick Launch, see below:

The Quick Launch Toolbar allows you to start frequently used programs without opening the Start Menu or going to the Desktop. You can drag shortcuts onto toolbar from the Start Menu (which will cause them to move off the Start Menu) or your Desktop (which causes them to be copied).

19. Use keyboard shortcuts.

Use keyboard shortcuts. Once you get in the habit of using these, they are such a boost to efficiency.

Ctrl - a - Selects all items on a page including	Ctrl - x - Cuts selected items	Ctrl - c - Copies selected items
Ctrl - v - paste the current item on the clipboard	Ctrl - p - prints your current document or Webpage	Ctrl - n - opens a new IE Window
Print Screen - places an image of your screen on the clipboard for pasting into Word or Paint or another image program	Alt-Print Screen - places an image of the current active window on your clipboard	Tab - moves from one blank (field) to the next in a form
Shift - Tab - moves to the previous blank (field) in a form	F1 - Opens the Help Menu for the active program	F2 - Allows renaming of a file
F5 - refreshes the display of your current Window	F11 - makes IE go to full screen	Home - brings cursor to beginning of a line
Ctrl- Home - brings cursor to beginning of document	End - brings cursor to the end of a line.	Ctrl - End - brings cursor to the end of a document.
Shift - [Left or Right] Arrow Key - highlights one character	Ctrl - Shift - [Left or Right] Arrow Key - highlights a whole word.	Ctrl - {Right or Left] Arrow Key - moves the cursor through the document one word at a time.
Ctrl - [Up or Down] Arrow Key - moves the cursor through the document one paragraph at a time.	Double Click on a Word - Highlights the word.	Triple Click on a Word - Highlights the whole paragraph.

20. Don't wait for Internet Downloads, start them and move onto something else.

Don't wait. You've visited a search engine and got a list of sites to check out. You click on the first link, and it's taking ages to load. Don't hang around waiting, just click on the Stop button.

Often the bulk of the page will appear immediately. If it doesn't, hit Reload to fetch the rest. An alternative approach is to work your way down the list of sites, right-clicking on the best links and choosing Open in New Window.

21. Break folders up with large amounts files and few folders, to many folders containing manageable amount of files.

The effect of this is to cut down the amount of time Windows takes to build views when traversing folders.

Windows may stop and build a view of each folder as you try to get deeper in a folder structure or find one file in a folder of a thousand documents.

22. For the same reason as in step 20., if you have a large amount of programs on your Programs part of the Start Menu, break them up into categories. Put often used programs and folders on the initial Start Menu.

It's easiest to work with Explorer when you want to manipulate the Start Menu. In fact if you right click on the Start Menu and choose "Explore," it will open most likely open right to the Start Menu Folder in you you C:\ Drive File Tree.

23. Switch from the new XP Start Menu to the Classic View.

The Classic View packs information (actually program shortcuts) more efficiently.

24. Turn off personalized menus on your Start Menu and in all your MS Office Programs.

This is a pet peeve of mine. That is I get annoyed at, not being sure something is on a menu because it is not immediately shown, or having to wait for less used item to appear.

25 Steps to a Faster PC

13. Turn off Windows animations.

14. Use the Disk Cleanup Utility.