What free program can I use to speed up and clean my computer ?

Add/Remove Programs

there are many useful tools for various computer chores.
various disk and registry cleaners and defraggers, etc., available from cnet or major geeks.
Like Wise disk & registry cleaners, Auslogics disk defragger and registry cleaner and many more
also a nice program called WinPatrol by BillP that allows easy ways of deactivating unnecessary startup programs or moving them to delayed start.

Registry Mechanic is great but it costs a little [although there is a free trial]

Try CCleaner. I run it regularly to clean all the unused files from my system.

@FireMadeFlesh Yeah I agree, I use CCleaner daily, another one is an online scanner you can use which is Trend micro, would put the link in but not sure how, but if you google it, it’s pretty straight forward from there :)

Also having an understanding of what the services are and how they work will help in freeing up memory. Check this site out I’ve been using it since 2001.

I third CCleaner. If you’ve got a win virus, you’ll likely need to boot up your computer in safe mode, and then run your anti-virus and Malwarebytes, too.

Fourth CCleaner, and seconding what Auggie said about anti-virus/Malwarebytes. You may also want to defragment every now and again – I know Windows 7 does it automatically, but it does a shit job. I like Defraggler. If your a slightly more advanced user, you can download System Explorer and monitor which programs are using up the most memory.

My advice (I am not a computer tech):

First, as others have mentioned, make sure you are using a good antivirus software, Avast is one that I have used. Next, you will also want to be sure that your browsers and other programs are updated, this can alleviate some slowness and response time issues (i.e. Internet Explorer). Then, in Add/Remove Programs check to see if anything can be uninstalled (just be sure that you know what you are uninstalling). Finally, run CCleaner (as recommended by others) and you should notice an improvement.

I use CCleaner, it is easy to set up, free, and works great. Just be sure to check the settings before you run, there is an option to not clear out cookies; that way you won’t have to re-enter usernames and passwords on the websites that you frequent (i.e. banking, email).

There are other things you can do or try, defragmenting, adjusting virtual memory to name a few… good luck!

I also use CCleaner to do housekeeping.
If you think you have a virus or malware/spyware, then you can dowload Defender for free.
I am unsure of what your key resources are, so I will assume it was spec’d right for Vista.

The best thing you can do for your speed issue on a Vista computer is get off Vista and onto Windows 7.

You will see an amazing first start performance and the system resource needs for Win7 versus Vista are minimul.

Don’t even look for something like that. Forget utilities like CCleaner; if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up screwing up your registry and deleting stuff you don’t want lo lose, and if you do know what you’re doing, everything it does can be done more safely, if less conveniently, with utilities already built into the system.

If your system has a virus, you need to get rid of it damn quick. A tool you already have, but may not be updating, is the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which is distributed monthly along with Windows updates. If the virus hasn’t disabled Windows updates, get the latest version here.

After downloading it, run it in deep scan mode. It is not an antivirus in the sense that it continuously monitors your system, but it’s pretty good at killing bugaboos that are already there – it works better than some commercial antivirus programs.

After you’ve cleared out your virus, take a look at the startup programs you have running on your computer. If you’re a typical user, you probably have half a dozen things that start with Windows and gratuitously go on line to communicate with their servers. They often fight each other for bandwidth and leave you locked out of your system until they get done. Don’t let them start with Windows, or at least don’t let them check for updates automatically. A good tool for this is this one. It will tell you about everything that starts automatically with Windows, where it starts from, and gives you an option to disable it. It’s a good way to find an offending program and stop it from taking over your computer.

Also – ditch IE for FireFox or Chrome. You don’t need the aggravation.

I also use CCleaner, but I uncheck a few boxes to avoid the issues that @IchtheosaurusRex warns about. I also use Spybot S&D and Avira for real-time protection.

And yes, one of the quickest ways to pick up malware is to use IE, so don’t; use Firefox instead.

AVG is great…....better than Norton or McAfee

AVG let me down and allowed me to get my first and only virus, so I don’t trust it. The reviews at AV Comparatives back me up when I say that it isn’t as effective as Avast or Avira.

Norton or McAfee are memory hogs. I would not suggest them if you’re looking for speed.

For anti-virus, I’ve been using Microsoft Security Essentials. It’s done an excellent job, surprisingly.

Maleware Bytes.If you want the full protection on it, you could get a keygen for it. But it has the basic scans and removal of viruses

What is the link to a free ccleaner ??

@Truth_and_Freedom http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/

Yeah! Like I said in two previously deleted ‘ON TOPIC AND CORRECT VOCABULARY’ comments…. I said Microsoft essentials is a great free virus protecting program. It got a 8/10 rating on Maximum PC. However it is good to have a fast accurate virus scanner. Malware Bytes got rid of all of my bluescreen virus’ that Microsoft Essentials missed.