I. Disc Clean-up in XP
  1. Press the start button.
  2. Press the letter p for programs.
  3. Press enter on accessories.
  4. Press the letter s for systems Sub-menu.
  5. Press the letter d for Disc Cleanup.
  6. Press the letter programs.
  7. Press enter.
  8. N If you only have one drive, (usually your c drive), press enter here. However if you have more than one drive, press shift plus tab together.
  9. Arrow down to the drive you wish to clean up.
  10. Tab to okay and press the spacebar.
  11. The computer will start calculating how much space will be freed up after cleaning up the disc. This takes a few minutes.
  12. You are soon given a list of files to clean up and possibly take off your computer. The first five are usually checked by default.
The list includes:
down loaded program files
temporary Internet Files
off line web pages
recycle bin
temporary files ( (found under Windows on your c drive.)
Web client temporary files (files from web page publishers)
compress old files (This compresses old unused files to save space on your hard disc. Most users don’t use this feature.)
catalog files for the content indexer (This helps find files on your drive faster. It is usually left unchecked.)
  13. Tab over until reaching the "disc cleanup tab."
  14. Arrow once right to "more options."
You are now given a few different optional buttons. These are not commonly used but can help improve computer performance if cleaned up every once in a while.
Tab across and you will find:
clean up windows components
installed programs cleanup
system restore cleanup (This deals with your system restore points created by the computer.)
Okay
  15. Once you have chosen all your selections, tab to okay and press the spacebar.
  16. Once the computer is finished, you are placed back on your desktop.

II. Emptying your Recycle Bin
  1. Press the windows key plus the letter "m" to minimize all programs and land on your desk to the Recycle bin.
  2. If there are files in the Recycle Bin, you are asked for a confirmation. You must press y for yes or n for no to delete everything in the Recycle Bin.

III. Disc Defragmentation
  1. Press the Windows Key also called start button.
  2. Press the letter p for programs.
  3. Press enter on Accessories."
  4. Press the letter s until reaching "System Tools."
  5. Press enter.
  6. Press the letter d until reaching "disc defragmenter."
  7. Press enter.
  8. You are placed on analyze.
  9. Tab twice to the list of drives available on your computer.
  10. Arrow to the drive you wish defragmented.
  11. Tab once and you will land on "analyze. " again.
  12. Defragmenter will check out the drive you highlighted to determine if defragmenting is necessary. This is not really necessary to do for carrying out a fragmentation.
  13. Tab to the "defragment" button and press the spacebar.
  14. You can check status in JFW by pressing insert plus numpad page down (number three.)
  15. On Microsoft Windows Operating systems previous to 2000, Defragmenter sometimes has problems completing.
  16. The Defragmenter will frequently restart if there has been several drive changes. This problem has been solved in 2000 and up.
  17. When Disc Defragmenter is finished, you will get the message below.
"Disc Defragmenter Dialog. View report., close button. View report read only button." These are actually buttons that can be depressed with your spacebar depending on your wishes.
  18. If you are finished, tab to close and press he spacebar.
  19. You are placed back on your list of drives.
Another drive can be highlighted for you to defragment as explained above. If you are finished with defragmenting all drives, press alt plus f4 to leave the Defragmenter Program.

IV. Automatic Updates:
  1. Press the "Windows Key" also called "start button."
  2. Press the letter s until reaching "settings."
  3. Press enter on ""settings."
  4. Press enter on the "control panel."
  5. Press the down arrow or the letter a until reaching "automatic updates."
  6. Press enter on "automatic updates."
  7. If you tab once you are presented with some radio buttons. The first one "automatic" is highlighted by default. Other options include:
"own load updates for me but le me choose when to install them."
"Notify me but don’t automatically install them."
"Turn off automatic updates."
  8. You should leave the radio button of "automatic" checked. So arrow up to this option if you explored the selections.
  9. Tab once to "automatically download updates for my computer and install them everyday."
You can arrow up/down and choose how often you wish updates to be downloaded.
  10. Tab to "at" and you can pick a time of day to download the updates. Arrow to your selection.
  11. Tab to "install updates from the windows web site link." This link will let you go to the windows Web Site and manually search for your updates. It is not commonly used.
  12. Tab to ok. If you have made all selections, press the spacebar.
  13. Press alt plus f4 to close the "control panel."

V. Internet Explorer Changes that Can Prove Helpful:
The directions below are using Internet seven. They aren’t much different from version six.
  1. Press the Windows Key plus the letter m to reach the desktop.
  2. Press the letter I followed by enter to open Internet Explorer.
  3. Press alt plus t for reaching "tools."
  4. Press the letter o to reach "Internet Options."
  5. Tab to "delete cookies" and press the spacebar.
  6. Press the spacebar on okay. All cookies are deleted in the Temporary Files. Cookies are pieces of information a web site puts on your hard drive to track your visits.
  7. You are placed back into the general tab sheet. Tab once to "delete files" and press the spacebar. You are placed on "delete all off line content" checkbox. It is unchecked by default. This is up to the user.  Once you make a choice, tab to okay and press the spacebar.
  8. Tab to "amount of days to keep in history." This is usually set at 20. You can arrow up or down to the desired amount.
  9. Tab to "clear history" and press the spacebar. You will be asked, "are you sure you want Windows to delete your history of visited web sites?" If you do, press the letter y. If not, press the letter n. You are placed back into the general property sheet.
  10. You can reach Internet Settings through "control panel." This is useful if you are using an alternative internet browser.

VI. Documents and Setting Changes That Can Prove Helpful:
  1. Press the Windows Key.
  2. Press the letter s until reaching "settings."
  3. Press enter on "settings."
  4. Press enter on "control panel."
  5. Press the letter f until locating "folder options" and enter at that point.
  6. Press shift plus tab once.
  7. Press the right arrow once to reach "view."
  8. Tab twice to "advanced."
  9. Arrow down to "show hidden files and folders." Buy default this is off. Press the spacebar.
  10. Tab to apply and press the spacebar.
  11. Tab to "ok" and press the spacebar.
  12. Press alt plus f4.
  13. Press Windows Key plus the letter M.
  14. Press the letter m until reaching "my computer."
  15. Press enter once reaching "my computer."
  16. Arrow down to the "c drive" and press enter.
  17. Press the letter d until reaching "documents and settings."
  18. Press enter once reaching "documents and settings."
  19. Arrow down to your account and press enter. This will usually have your name attached to the account.
  20. Arrow down to "local settings" and press enter. If "show all hidden files and folders" is not turned on, you will not see the "local settings." 9.
  21. Locate "temp" and press enter."
  22. Press control plus the letter a to select all files in this folder. You will not be able to delete all because Windows is still using some. However, windows will deny access on those not allowed to be deleted.
  23. After selecting all files, press the delete key. You will get an "access denied" prompt. However, all files before the inaccessible file were deleted. The files with a prefix are windows XP performance files.
  24. Press control plus the end key and move to the end of this list.
  25. Press shift plus up arrow to select the files as you move up through the list. Once reaching the last file, arrow down once to deselect it.
  26. Press the delete key and the selected files are removed.

VII. Windows Temp Files:
  1. If you are still in the "local user" temp files, press backspace until reaching the c drive once again. If you are just coming back and need go directly to the windows directory, do the following.
    A. Press the "Windows Key."
    B. Press the letter r.
    C. type in "c:" without the quotes and enter.
    D. Press the letter w until reaching "Windows."
  2. Press enter on the "Windows" Directory.
  3. Press the letter t until reaching "temp."
  4. Press "enter" on the "temp directory."
  5. Press control plus the letter a.
  6. Press the delete key to remove these files.

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