Unfortunately, you can’t completely erase the records of everything you’ve done. However, you can compress it, free up some space on your computer, and get that machine running faster. In general, here’s how to compress those old records:
- On most machines with Windows, you see a Start image in the lower left hand corner of your screen once the computer is on. Click on this with your mouse.
- Click on All Programs.
- Look for Accessories.
- Move your mouse over to System Tools and then click on Disk Cleanup.
- A small window will pop up that says, “Select the drive you want to clean up.” It should automatically show you the C drive (C:). Click “OK” or press the Enter key on your keyboard.
- A new window will pop up that says, “Disk cleanup is calculating how much space you will be able to free on (C:). This will take a few minutes to complete.” Here’s where you need to be patient. If you’ve never done this before, this may as long as 20-30 minutes to complete, or even longer if your computer is much older. It’s at this point where the computer is calculating how much space it can save, how many files can be compressed, etc.
- Eventually, another window will pop up with a list of boxes.
- We recommend checking ALL the boxes so you can maximize space! Don’t worry about erasing things you may need. Doing this will clean and compress a lot of things, all or most of which you won’t or don’t need. In addition, this window will show you how much disk space you will gain!
- Click “OK” or press the Enter key on your keyboard.
- Yet another window will pop up and ask if you’re sure you want to do this. Click “OK” or press the Enter key on your keyboard.
- This may take a while, but when it’s done cleaning and compressing, the window will disappear.
If you’ve never done this before, you may want to re-start your computer once this cleaning is completed. You should then see things move more quickly on your computer. Try doing this weekly or even daily, especially after you have been on the Internet!
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