# 6 tips for cleaning your computer's hard drive



## ekim68 (Jul 8, 2003)

> February 12 is National Clean Out Your Computer Day. Follow these tips to keep your system hard drive clutter-free and help maximize free space.


Here


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

That article IMHO contains some very risky suggestions.
It is OK for the user with some knowledge, but then that type of user would not need the article in the first place.

To someone following it without any real knowledge - they would be far better advised simply using the provided disk cleanup and clean up of system files.
together with the suggested uninstall of any apps (programs) that are no longer wanted, and of course the deleting of unwanted personal data

This one
Use File Explorer to examine all the files on your system and then


> You can then examine and possibly delete unnecessary files, but be aware some of these will be system files (like pagefile.sys) which Windows probably won't let you delete and would simply recreate if you did (or worse, render your system unbootable).
> 
> *Google a particular file name if you're not sure what it is and want to know if it's safe to delete it.*
> 
> Make sure to empty your Recycle Bin after deleting the files you no longer need (right-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop and select Empty Recycle Bin.


Google to see if it is safe to delete is one of the more risky advice I have ever seen in an article from TechRepublic
and the
Make sure to empty your recycle bin SHOULD read - ONLY after ensuring you DID NOT need those deleted files.

The CCleaner suggestion with and it includes a registry cleaner - should read - BUT you should not use the registry cleaner.

The deletion of duplicate files has always been risky - one maybe a system file in use and the other maybe the backup file, just because one is a shown as a duplicate does NOT mean it should be deleted.

MY strong advise would be - as mentioned in the second paragraph above and if anyone reading the topic decides to follow the advice in the article, do so with caution.


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