I'm surprised there's not a sticky for this, but can anyone recommend any software or a checklist to clean up junk on a PC on a regular basis besides cookies and cache? I'm referring to things like registry and defrag. I also feel like there's space and/or resources being used in the nooks and crannies of my machine unbeknownst to me that I can take care of.
By default an automatic weekly defrag is part of the scheduled maintenance and takes place without you having to do anything.
I regularly use Disk Clean-up and its 'clean up system files' option. This can free up a lot of space used by update backups.
Registry cleaners should be avoided at all costs, they can often cause more problems than they 'cure'. In fact, registry cleaning is unnecessary and provides little if any benefit.
- Review your installed programs and uninstall those you don't need.
- Use Autoruns to disable unwanted startup programs / Tasks / Services. This doesn't free space but makes the PC more responsive and indicates stuff you may want to uninstall.
- Disk Cleanup after monthly updates
- Use CCleaner to remove unwanted restore points
- Clean up files with Wise Disk Cleaner - use with care
- Clean up orphaned update files with Patch Cleaner - backup the orphaned files
- Delete old driver files using Drive Store Explorer - use with care
Best Practices for Regular PC Maintenance
Let Windows take care of Windows
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Security and Maintenance
I agree. Let Windows do whatever it needs to do. A security scan and maintenance for disk drives will be performed regurarly and automatically. There's really no need to run a bunch of other stuff to make it more clean or better.
Not necessary but once a week I do the following:
Check apps for updates. Quick look on Ninite, bookmarked update pages, MS Store or within app itself makes this simple.
Run Disk Clean-Up
Run Defrag & Optimize Drives though I now leave the SSD to maintain itself here.
Run Quick Scan with Defender and Malwarebytes
Run Macrium Reflect, create full or differential image.
Run a Robocopy bat file to backup certain folders and files to external drives
I'd also stay clear of registry cleaners.
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