Technology Tips – Published March 2022 in the Guide and Digest
By Don Trauger – Kennett
This article is an update of the March 2020 Tech Tips article. Most of the information remains the same, however, the Disk Defrag feature has been updated for newer PC’s. Disk Defrag optimizes the storage drive for improved performance. The two programs also clean your computer from unneeded files and Registry entries.
Download the Wise Disk Cleaner. Enter in your web browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html then press the keyboard’s Enter key. Then click the Free Download button. Download the Wise Registry Cleaner. Enter in your web browser https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-registry-cleaner.html then press the keyboard Enter key. Click the Free Download button. Both downloaded programs will be found in your Downloads directory. Open File Explorer, double click the Downloads folder then double click WDCFree to install the Disk Cleaner. After WDCFree is installed, double click WRCFree to install the Registry Cleaner.
Double click the Wise Disk Cleaner icon on the Desktop screen. Click the Scan button to analyze the amount of your computer’s junk files. After the scan completes it will display the number of files that will be removed, and the total size freed up. Next, click the Clean button to actually remove the files. For a deeper cleaning, click the Advanced Cleaner button at the top of the window. Click the Scan button and when it’s finished click the Clean button. Do not try to delete any other files should if they are displayed. Two other items at the top of the window are Slimming System and Disk Defrag. Slimming the System requires good computer maintenance expertise. Click Disk Defrag to analyze what type of storage drive your computer has and it will indicate whether it is an HDD or the newer SSD type. Click the Smart Optimize button to optimize either type of drive. For HDD drives optionally click the down arrow next to the Smart Optimize button and choose Full Optimization for the best performance gain. It will take a while to complete this task.
Next, double click the Wise Registry Cleaner icon. Click Deep Scan to clean unused Registry entries. Make sure you observe the results of the scan. Do not try to remove anything that is unsafe to remove. Two other items included are System Tuneup and Registry Defrag. System Tuneup makes changes to your system to improve overall performance. Personally, I find it unnecessary to run it. Do not run the Registry Defrag as it is also unnecessary and could cause problems.
In addition to WDCFree and WRCFree, Microsoft has their own cleanup tool – Storage Sense. It is good for cleaning up Microsoft specific unneeded files. Open Settings, click System, scroll to and click Storage. Wait until it analyzes your system, then click Temporary files. Wait again until it scans your drive. Leave the Downloads unchecked. All other selections should be checked. Click Remove files. Wait until it completes.
Finally, my recommendation is to run all three programs once a month leaving the Wise Registry Cleaner until last. This procedure will ensure that proper maintenance is achieved.