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	<title>The Well Connected Mom &#187; pc tune-up</title>
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		<title>Clean Out Your Computer Day</title>
		<link>http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/2010/02/08/clean-out-your-computer-day/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/2010/02/08/clean-out-your-computer-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:34:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>WellConnectedMom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iolo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pc tune-up]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[System Mechanic 9.5]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/?p=625</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Clean Out Your Computer Day helps people clear out unneeded files and programs off their computers.   We tested System Mechanic 9.5 to help us accomplish this.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href='http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/2010/02/08/clean-out-your-computer-day/' class='retweet vert' startCount = '0'>Clean Out Your Computer Day</a><div><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #888888;"><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Turned-off-programs-and-services-not-used-much.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Automatically-Repair.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Final-Results.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a>by Lori Cunningham</span></span></div>
<div><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #888888;"> </span></span> </div>
<div><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #888888;"> </span></span> </div>
<div><span style="color: #888888;"><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/System-Mechanic-9.5-110x110.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-638" title="System Mechanic 9.5 (110x110)" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/System-Mechanic-9.5-110x110-150x150.jpg" alt="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmom.com, mom tech" width="150" height="150" /></a></span></div>
<div>Did you know that today is the official &#8220;Clean Out Your Computer Day?&#8221; Every 2nd Monday of February has been designated as such by the Institute for Business Technology.  What a brilliant idea.</div>
<p>I&#8217;ll be the first to admit that I am a pro at quickly getting a smooth, fast running computer to run slow.  I tend to download different programs to try out &#8211; some trials, some full versions.  My desktop tends to collect a zoo of shortcut links &#8211; so many that they are no longer &#8220;shortcuts&#8221; since I need to wade through a ton of shortcuts to find the shortcut I&#8217;m looking for!  </p>
<h2> </h2>
<h2><span style="color: #800080;">What are Some of the Main Reasons Your Computer May be Running Slow?  </span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Extra programs/services could be loading when you boot up your computer that you don&#8217;t need. </li>
<li>The <a title="Windows registry" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry" target="_blank">Windows registry</a>, which stores settings and options for the Windows operating system gets overloaded with unnecessary references which can cause your computer to crash or freeze.</li>
<li>Security threats can cause issues with your computer.</li>
<li>Temporary and history files divert your computer&#8217;s processing power and should be discarded frequently.</li>
<li>Hard drives and RAM (system memory) get fragmented which make it harder for your computer to open files and start programs.</li>
</ul>
<p>I have tried various &#8220;free trials&#8221; for computer clean-up programs.  They seem to work great and give me an entire laundry list of all the problems I have.  Then they fix only five and say that&#8217;s all the trial can do for me.  What a disappointment.  So I obtained a copy of <a title="System Mechanic" href="http://www.iolo.com/system-mechanic/standard/" target="_blank">System Mechanic</a> from the folks at <a title="Iolo.com" href="http://iolo.com" target="_blank">Iolo.com</a> to review their product and report back to you if it helped my computer.   </p>
<p>To no surprise, I received a system status of &#8220;poor.&#8221;  I knew this was the case because my computer runs sluggish and takes a long time to boot up.  </p>
<p><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/First-Scan-System-Status-is-Poor.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img class="size-full wp-image-631 alignleft" title="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmom.com, mom tech" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/First-Scan-System-Status-is-Poor.jpg" alt="" width="799" height="597" /></a> <span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #888888;"> </span></span>  </p>
<p>What I didn&#8217;t realize was how bad off my poor computer was.  I had over 412 registry problems, 15 vulnerable security issues, and 1 GB of system clutter!  Yikes! </p>
<p> <a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img title="Problems to fix" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg" alt="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmom.com mom tech" width="795" height="838" /></a> </p>
<p>To further enhance my computer&#8217;s effectiveness, I found that I could turn off  programs and services I didn&#8217;t use much:</p>
<p> <a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Turned-off-programs-and-services-not-used-much.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img title="Turned off programs and services not used much" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Turned-off-programs-and-services-not-used-much.jpg" alt="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmom.com mom tech" width="795" height="593" /></a> </p>
<p>I have to admit, I love diagnostic tools like this &#8211; and System Mechanic 9.5 is full of over 40 useful tools that you can use automatically or as needed: </p>
<p><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Turned-off-programs-and-services-not-used-much.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Automatically-Repair.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img title="Automatically Repair" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Automatically-Repair.jpg" alt="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmom.com mom tech" width="797" height="602" /></a>  </p>
<p>OK, you&#8217;re probably wondering how did my computer fare through all of these tests and pokes?  Here are my final results after running the complete diagnostics twice, the same day I loaded the program: </p>
<p><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Problems-to-fix.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Turned-off-programs-and-services-not-used-much.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Automatically-Repair.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"></a><a href="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Final-Results.jpg#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed"><img title="Final Results" src="http://wellconnectedmom.com/blog/wp-content/themes/atahualpa342/images/articles/2010/02/Final-Results.jpg" alt="System Mechanic 9.5, pc tune-up, wellconnectedmomm.com, mom tech" width="792" height="599" /></a> </p>
<p>As you can see, I was able to recover nearly 1 GB of hard drive space and 222 MB of RAM, fix over 400 registry problems, repair 15 security vulnerabilities, and take care of 7 start up problems.  Phew!  That&#8217;s a lot of fixes! </p>
<p>System Mechanic 9.5 is the number one selling PC tune-up software on the market.  They have repaired over 70 million computers since 1998.  System Mechanic retails for $49.95 but is currently offered for $24.95 at Iolo&#8217;s <a title="website" href="http://www.iolo.com/system-mechanic/standard/" target="_blank">website</a> for a one-year licence.  System Mechanic call also be purchased at Costco, Sam&#8217;s, Target, Best Buy, Office Max, Office Depot, etc.</p>
<h2><span style="color: #800080;">A Mom&#8217;s Perspective</span> </h2>
<p>I shudder to think where I was headed with my computer had I not been able to fix a lot of these issues now.  I was already starting to have some strange problems with my computer before I tried System Mechanic 9.5.  My hope is that those issues are far behind me.  As with kids, if you don&#8217;t nip things in the bud right away, you&#8217;ll have larger problems later.  Take the time today or this week to clean up your computer.  Keeping your computer in check will help increase the longevity of your computer. </p>
<p>Well, after loading the System Mechanic software, retreiving all the drive and memory space, and fixing registry, security, and start-up issues in under 15 minutes, I feel as if I have saved several hours of work.  Time for a long lunch!</p>

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