You may have found that your once speedy computer has been slowing down quitely. Maybe your seeing some error messages on your screen or possibly the BSOD (blue screen of death). There are a few things you should do routinely to keep your computer running at its peak. This should only take you about 15 or 20 minutes every few weeks. These are fairly basic stuff and simple to do.
First and foremost be sure you have a virus scanner. Be sure to update it and use it regularly, bare minimum once a week. I have mine set to run automatically at a time when I probably will not be using my computer.
Remove games and programs you no longer use. This is simple to do in your add / remove programs feature in Windows. Since you're not using them you might as well remove them and save the space on your computer for something you do use. Another simple way to remove unwanted programs simply and safely is to use a computer registry cleaner program. A computer registry cleaner is usually a quick and easy download.
See what's loading up on your computer at 'start up'. If your computer seems to be taking a long time to start up when you turn it on check your System Tray, (usually in the lower left of your screen). Some examples of things you probably do not need at start up are Quicktime and RealPlayer). Not only are your startup programs adding to the time it takes for your computer to startup, they are also using valuable memory and Windows Resources. If you are uncomfortable doing this manually try a complete registry cleaner download. Most softwares of this type will be able to remove these applications.
Remove old or invalid registry entries. I am not going to suggest that you try to locate your registry and start messing with it, but I would strongly suggest you download a registry scanner or complete registry cleaner. Cleaning your registry will increase the speed and improve your computer's performance. It will also eliminate the error messages you see and computer freeze ups.
There are many registry cleaners on the market today, at various prices. To find a good windows registry cleaner download, looking for reviews is a good place to start. Some registry cleaners are more thorough than others. Also, check out how the program works, there should be no need for the user to do anything with the registry directly - the program should do it all. A good program should also include a registry checker, so you can see what problems it finds instead of having to guess what it's going to do.