While it is very important to carry out regular maintenance on your computer, doing it wrong can do more harm than good for your PC. You might think that deleting a few files, running a couple of cleanup programs, and changing a few settings will make Windows work like new. Far from reality, many times, instead of cleaning and optimizing the PC, you are making it work worse and worse. We teach you to avoid it.
Since forever, but especially since the era of Windows XP, a large number of myths have circulated on the net about how to properly clean and optimize your computer so that it works better. And, although there is no magic formula that doubles, or triples, the general performance of the PC, yes, surely you have read about it on the Internet but that, in reality, you should always avoid doing. Let’s go see them.
Be careful with PC partitions
In order to work properly, and allow us to recover the system in case of error, Windows creates a recovery partition, or RECOVERY, when you install it for the first time. This partition can be insignificant, if you have installed Windows from scratch, or it can occupy tens of gigabytes if it came already created from the factory.
The purpose of this partition is to allow us to recover the PC in the event of an error, accessing the recovery options and even reinstalling Windows from scratch to leave the computer as fresh from the factory.
often recommend delete this partition to free up spacebut in reality this can give us more problems than benefits, since it will prevent you from recovering the PC in case of error, and you will also not be able to use the update tools built into the PC.
It is better to leave this partition alone. It does not affect the performance of the PC and you may need it in the future.
Be careful when cleaning files and the registry
A very common myth when looking for how to clean Windows is that of delete files and folders that are useless. It is true that there are some directories that can be useless, like the temporary folders, or the typical $GetCurrent, Windows.old, $WINDOWS.~BT and $Windows.~WS folders.
However, there are other folders and other files that it is often recommended to delete and that, in reality, Windows does need to function properly. And, if you delete it, you’re going to have serious problems. For this reason, you should never trust those that recommend you to delete, for example, files from the Windows folder on your PC, or from System32. This is never going to help your PC, it will only cause problems.
In addition, another of the most common myths is that of the cleaning the windows registry. It has always been said that you should use programs to clean and defragment the operating system registry to make Windows work better. And this, generally, is going to give you more problems and errors than benefits. Avoid it whenever possible and let Windows do the job of optimizing your registry.
Update drivers
It is very important to keep the drivers up to date to keep the computer working properly. And it is true, since it is one of the basic maintenance tasks of the PC. However, not everyone knows how to do it, and that can lead you to do it wrong.
There are programs that promise update drivers in bulk, which is a mistake. These programs install generic, or unofficial, drivers that appear more up-to-date, but actually cause more problems. Always avoid them.
Turn off Windows features and services
Finally, another of the recommendations that circulates the most on the net is that, for Windows to work faster, it is necessary to disable functions and features of the operating system. And, in addition, many times you even have to do it by force.
Mistake. If you use programs, or commands, to remove parts of Windows, as you might expect, you’ll only have problems on your PC. Therefore, this is another of the myths that you should always avoid. Leave the operating system as Microsoft created it and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble.
