Disk clean up can help find unused files that can be deleted. It gives you the option to safely remove the unused files to help improve the performance of the computer by making it run faster or frees spaces so that more used files can be saved. If the computer has a lack of space it will slow down the computer. Therefore, it’s important to run a disk clean up to enhance the computers performance; it will allow the computer to run faster.
Disk formatting is the act of preparing a data storage devices like the hard disk drive, floppy disk and USB drive for original use. The hard drive is an essential component for the computer system. Hard drives are usually pre-formatted when bought. The formatting process involves testing the disk to make sure everything works properly, checking for bad sectors that will be noted and won’t be used in the future. And lastly, creating internal address information that is unique to the hard drive and will be used when locating data. When a computer's hard drive is formatted or reformatted, all data on the disk is completely erased and a fresh copy of the system's operating system is reinstalled. There will be a larger amount of free space on your hard drive. This extra room is the result of the formatting process deleting unnecessary system files that were previously taking up space on the hard drive. Computers run faster and more efficiently when there is more room on the hard drive, so formatting the drive can increase the computer's performance in terms of data storage ad speed. Furthermore, disk formatting can delete harmful programs that may have not been resolved from the virus protection program. Therefore, this will stop the computer from not working properly and will allow the computer to run normally and not be slowed down by harmful programs that the user may be unaware of.
As you use the computer, the files get fragmented which means storing of a file in several separate areas and is scattered throughout a hard disk. Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work to find the files you need; this can slow down your computer. Removable storage devices such as USB flash drives can also become fragmented. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your disks and drives can work more efficiently. A disk defragmenter brings all the files together. Doing this will improve the computers performance because the user will be able to access files more easily due to them being organised in one place. In addition, the computer will run faster because it doesn’t need to work as hard to access files which are scattered throughout the drive.
Removal of cookies – Cookies are small text files that take up space on the computer, they may contain adware which can sometimes be harmful. By removing the cookies it frees up space, which could consequently lead to improved performance; because the computer will run faster. And deleting cookies will stop adverts which could become annoying to the user.
Cleaning the registry –The more the computer is used the more cluttered the registry can become. This can slow down windows performance because space is taken by useless items. By cleaning the registry it will speed up the PC’s performance and be more efficient to use because space will be free from items that are not needed by the user. Consequently, more space on a computer leads to faster performance.
Internet history -History maintains the path of pages the user has been on. You have the option to delete them – this will avoid privacy issue. In addition, internet history can slow down the computer because it takes space to record each page. By deleting internet history, it deletes cache and cookies this means the site will load faster because it’s taking less space on the hard drive.
A firewall is a network security system that control's the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on applied settings. A firewall makes a barrier between trusted and secure networks. This prevents unauthorised access to the computer. This helps with security and can stop malware and harmful things happening to the computer which could affect personal privacy. Many personal computers operating systems include software based firewalls to protect from threats. Firewall devices can be purchased but they are very expensive. However, more recently hardware firewalls are typically found in broadband routers. Hardware firewalls can be effective with little or no configuration, and they can protect every machine on a local network. Most hardware firewalls will have a minimum of four network ports to connect other computers.