I have been told to 'clean' my personal computer? What exactly does that mean and is it easy to do?
Robert, Mid-Levels
DQ: Internet browsers and other applications tend to create lots of little files, which are not necessarily dispensed with after their use. As a result, they take up a lot of space and slow a PC down. If any are malicious they could harm your computer, so you should get rid of these files regularly.
A system optimisation and privacy tool called CCleaner (ccleaner.com) does the basic work for free but you can pay for more functions. Another set of tools comes from Auslogics Software (auslogics.com). The company provides a number of utilities to speed up your computer and internet connection. None of these products should be difficult to use, as they are reasonably self-explanatory.
The performance of my once super-fast personal computer has considerably slowed during the past few months. It runs the Windows XP operating system and is powered by an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor. What could be wrong?
Name and address supplied