Easily Troubleshoot Your PC Yourself

Here are a few simple tips you can apply to fix around 80% of common computer “issues” and save money in the process:

Restart your PC

Yes, I know—every IT technician will tell you this, but it’s the foundation. There’s a reason Microsoft once displayed a notice on its support website asking customers to do this before contacting them.

Do not use cleaning software

Cleaning your PC can quickly become a problem, especially for beginners. Free and paid software like CCleaner exists to do this in just a few clicks. So why am I telling you not to use them?

Simply because, in most cases, inexperienced users check as many boxes as possible, thinking:

Well, the software is well known, so it must be safe.

If you check everything without knowing what each item does, yes, you will clean your PC—but far too much. Over time, this will create more problems than it solves.

So CCleaner, Ashampoo WinOptimizer, and similar tools should be avoided. Don’t worry though—I’ll explain how to do things safely below.

Manage software installations and removals

Using a PC inevitably means installing and uninstalling software at some point.

Windows provides a way to manage uninstallations via Settings > Apps > Installed apps, BUT it only does half the job. As a result, files, registry keys, and other leftovers remain, which eventually slow down your PC.

Instead, prefer these tools:

Bulk Crap Uninstaller [ bcuninstaller.com ]
Revo Uninstaller [ revouninstaller.com ]

These free or paid tools track EVERYTHING that gets modified during installation and allow for clean removal using a scan feature. (They work even better if you used them for the installation.)

Don’t install just anything

Software is like email—you shouldn’t do just anything.

If you want to test software safely and leave absolutely no trace on your PC, do it in a virtual machine [ en.wikipedia.org ] such as VirtualBox [ virtualbox.org ], for example.

It’s also safer to download drivers and software directly from official websites rather than from aggregator sites.

Delete temporary files

To do this, nothing could be simpler:

Close as many programs as possible or, even better, reboot into Safe Mode [ support.microsoft.com ].
Press the key and the key at the same time.
In the Run window that opens, type %temp% and confirm.
Delete everything in the folder that opens (some files may not be deletable, but that’s fine). There’s no risk to your PC—except maybe making it faster 😊.

Clear your web browser cache

Open your favorite web browser.
Press CTRL + SHIFT + DELETE on your keyboard.
In the window that opens, select All time (wording may vary slightly depending on the browser). If you don’t want to risk losing saved passwords or settings, only check “Cached images and files”, then confirm.

Update Windows

Launch Windows Update and click Check for updates. Recent versions of Windows usually do this automatically, but performing a manual check regularly never hurts.