As we all know any version of Windows is prone to junk accumulation.
Redundant registry entries, junk files, slowly start choking your once super-fast PC & you start to feel that various programs are starting to feel sluggish.
Sure there are many programs which claim that they can return your PC to its former glory & turn it into the state that it was bought. But such programs cost money, are share-ware etc.
Some example: Ace Logix’s Ace utilities. This has always been my favorite Paid software for cleaning out Junk Files & Registry entries. It has many sub-utilities. I suggest you go through them & decide if Ace Utilities is worth buying
Another one is YL Software’s: WinUtilities Professional Edition or as it is Popularly called WinUtilities Pro. This has been available for quite some & claims to be very simple to use. WinUtilities Pro has about 20 sub-utilities to do everything one might think of to optimize Windows.
Let’s not forget iolo’s System Mechanic Professional: This bundle of apps can easily claim to be one of the earliest offerers of All-in-one suites for Windows upkeep. I had used it quite some time back in the early days of PC & internet was very satisfied with it.. until the trial period ended 
If you do decide to BUY any of the above Apps to keep your windows “optimized” I would surely recommend Ace Utilities for its precision & shear bulk of the Junk Files & Registry entries it catches. I have never backed up registry before Ace utilities “fixes” it & have never encountered any errors / crashes / weird or indecent behavior 
. Surely a must have.
However, many users simply do not require a slew of utilities that tend to confuse rather than help. To answer the noobs prayer, there is a very simply & deceptively efficient program which has garnered a heavy user-base, is a pure-freeware.
C Cleaner:
Initially known as Crap Cleaner, the rebranding helped user acceptance!
The program is very simple to use. Below are the steps that will help you get the work done faster, more efficiently & most importantly without loosing valuable information that you intend to prevent from deletion by CCleaner
First Download from link. It’s a very small file of about 3MB
The icon is a simple reassuring image. Choose to display it on your Desktop.
Once you double-click you will be presented with a simple window:
You can start right-away, but there are a few steps BEFORE you do that to prevent needed data to get accidentally deleted.
On the upper-right side you will find Applications Tab. Click on it & the below window will appear:
Make sure you keep the check-boxes selected / deselected as above. Trust me, I have done extensive research on it.
What this basically keeps is your “Session” & “Cookies” intact, which are actually needed & removes the other junk.
Then Move right down to “Options” –> Settings.
Again the same routine. Minimal hindrance.
Finally go the “Advanced” Sub-Menu:
Conclusion:
The above settings will smooth-en your process with minimal pop-up warnings & you won’t loose any data.
Piriform (the company behind CCleaner) unfortunately cannot keep these settings “by default” for security & data conscious people. But, I have been safely using these settings with no loss for quite some time now.
A neat trick is to run CCleaner After EVERY installation & uninstallation. This will keep your system running like new.
Stay Digified !!
Alap
