Spring Cleaning For Your Computer!

Like everything else computers need to be cleaned on a regular basis. In this case I am talking about cleaning the data of the computer, although cleaning them physically is also a good idea and I will go over that in a later post.

Follow these easy steps for a simple cleaning that will clear the majority of junk and Malware that you may have on your machine.  Make sure that you do not have other antivirus software running when you do the following steps.

Step 1.  Download the following programs if you do not already have them.

Ccleaner---https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner





Malwarebytes---https://www.malwarebytes.org/




Both of these have free versions and I would recommend using them.

Step 2. Run CCleaner and look over the list of programs and files that it finds. If you do not see any files that you can't live without let it clean those out.

Step 3. Run Malwarebytes and again look over the file that it finds. If they are not recognized programs or files let Malwarebytes delete them.

These programs do not need to run all the time, only when you are cleaning the computer. I use Windows Security Essential "http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download" as my only full time virus scanner.  Some of the other virus scanning programs can require too many memory resources and cause more problems than they are worth. Your best defense against malware is your own caution. Know the sites that you are visiting and never open attachments from anyone you don't know or aren't expecting.  If you do have a problem that is not fixed by these steps, then you will need to get some help from a professional who can search out the specific files that have been infected and correct those.

Following these steps on a regular schedule, like once a month, will help keep your computer running smoothly.