1. Back up your PC
It's essential to perform regular backups of your PC, unfortunately, Windows XP Home Edition doesn't come with a backup utility. Download Acebyte Utilities To Back Up Your Data.
The built-in backup utility in Windows XP Pro is more robust than earlier versions, but it won't back up to a CD-R. It does work with CD-RWs, hard drives, and removable storage.
Log in to XP Pro with Administrator privileges, select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. Step through the various dialog boxes and follow all directions. In the 'What to Back Up' dialog box, choose the All information on this computer option if you haven't done a backup before. This will create a floppy that you can use to boot your PC and to restore the backup after a crash.
2. Check hard drives for errors
It's wise to do a thorough check on the status of your hard drives occasionally. Go to Start, My Computer, right-click the icon for your C: drive, and choose Properties. Then choose the Tools tab and click the Check Now button. Repeat this step for your other hard drives.
Applications and files must be closed in order for error checking to fix the problems it finds, so XP will often report that the disk check will run the next time you restart your system if you've checked 'Automatically fix file system errors' on the next screen.
Note: Finding and recovering bad sectors can take hours if you have a large drive.
3. Defragment hard drives
The more you use your PC, the more some files become broken into disparate parts scattered around your hard drive. Defragmenting rearranges each file's pieces into a single continuous block for faster access.
You'll need to be logged in as the Administrator to run XP's Disk Defragmenter. First select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Highlight the drive that you want to check, and press the Analyze button. XP will tell you whether the drive needs to be defragmented. If XP does recommend defragging, click the Defragment button.
4. Sack any spyware
A free program like Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-aware can get rid of any freeloading spyware that makes its way onto your system.
5. Clean out unneeded files
Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup, and select the drive you want to clean. XP will analyze your files and show a list of which ones can be removed. Check the boxes next to the categories you want to discard.
The More Options tab offers you several more cleanup choices. The System Restore cleanup option, in particular, can clear lots of disk space by erasing old restore points.
6. Back up again.
Once you've finished tweaking your system and you're sure that everything is running well, it's a good idea to back up everything once again. That way, you'll always have a clean, fully optimized starting point that you can return to in case a disaster befalls your system.
