Windows 7 TIPS

Internet Cache Files

For IE 8

1. Tools
2. Internet Options
3. Under Browsing History - Delete  button
4. I typically only delete Temporary Internet files and History. I usually leave Cookies since they often contain information for web sites I frequent that i don't want to enter in every time.

 Firefox

1. Tools
2. Clear Recent History (Ctrl-Shift-Del)
3. Click on Details
4. Select the Time range to clear
5. Check only those items you want to clear
6. Click on the Clear Now button

Google Chrome

1. Click on the tools icon on the upper right hand corner
2. Select Clear Browsing Data (Ctrl-Shift-Del)
3. Check what you want to clear
4. Select the period of time you want to clear the data
5. Click on the Clear Browsing Data button

Windows TEMP Directory

1. Start the Windows Explorer
2. Go to C:\Windows\Temp
3. Press Ctrl-A to highlight everything in the right hand panel and press Shift-Delete.
4. This deletes them permanently and doesn't send them to the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin

1. Right click on the Recycle bin
2. Select Empty Recycle Bin

Other Program's Cache Directories

There are other programs like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom which cache the thumbnails of the graphic files you edit. This may speed up the program somewhat, but over time I've seen it add gigs of extra files that you may want to clean on a regular basis. See each individual program for the specifics on where those files are kept and the easiest way to delete them.

Changing the Action Center Alerts

Normally the Action Center will show message alerts for things like Windows Update, Internet Security Settings, Network Firewall, User Account Control and Virus Protection.
If you want to turn these alerts off:

1. Start / Control Panel
2. Go to Action Center / Change Action Center settings
3. From here you can uncheck any item that you no longer want message alerts for.

Resource Monitor

If you want to see where possible bottlenecks may be in your computer's performance, the Windows Resource Monitor is a system tool that allows you to view information about the use of hardware (CPU, memory, disk, and network) and software (file handles and modules) resources in real time.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type in RESMON and press the Enter key

Problem Step Recorder

You can use Problem Steps Recorder to automatically capture the steps you take on a computer, including a text description of where you clicked and a picture of the screen during each click (called a screen shot). Once you capture these steps, you can save them to a file that can be used by a support professional or someone else helping you with a computer problem.

1. To start the Problem Steps Recorder, click on the Start button and type in PSR then press the Enter key
2. Click Start Record
3. Go through all the steps to reproduce the problem
4. Click on Stop Record
5. The program will then create a zip file.
6. Save and send this file to your support person so they can view the steps taken. Screenshots along with the description of the steps will be included.