Computer Help-Optimizing

All of my friends comes to me every 3-5 months stating they need computer help and that their computer is running sluggish. Go figure.
The fastest way to optimize your computer is to do it your self. If you are an expert at computers, there may be some tips further down the post that will help you, but as for all you beginners since you outnumber the pros... here we go.
The leading cause to computers running slower than they did out of the box is startup items. Startup items are programs that load every time your computer does, this can be anything from MSN Messenger, Weatherbug, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Myspace IM, Zongo, the list goes on. Some of these are pre-loaded on computers right out of the box, the majority of them are added by you, the user. Each time you install a new program they usually have those annoying check boxes asking if you want to "Read the README" and "Add X to the startup"
Well after adding many programs to the startup through this option, along with the programs you install that do not ask, your computer is likely running slower than it should.
How to fix it? Do you need computer help doing so? Well I can not do it for you, so I hope your ready to do it yoursef.
msconfig:
MSconfig aka Microsoft System Configuration Utility lets you customize how your computer boots to Windows and decides programs and services are loaded every time, and in turn optimize your computer. This will usually boost the performance of a computer 20-30% faster than it is already, assuming there are no malware on the machine.
Start msconfig by clicking on your the Start Menu and selecting Run. This will pop up the command box where you simply type: msconfig and press Enter. Now you should see the System Configuration Utility on your screen.
By default it will have Normal Startup selected, well we shall modify that shortly. Click on the Startup tab on the top right side, now you will see a list of programs loading up each time you turn on your computer.
In mine, I had 3 pages worth of items and each of them was checked... not good. These were slowing me down.. way down.
For beginners this will feel like foreign territory in unchartered waters, don't worry - the chances of you damaging your computer through this process are very unlikely if you follow the instructions.
Scroll down through the list and uncheck everything you do NOT need. How do you know if you do not need it? Well the left side usually has the Startup Item name, and the middle has the location of this program. Usually by looking between the two you can put together what program is starting up on your computer. If it starts in C:\Program Files\QuickTime it is more than likely QuickTime;-) But, if you get confused find the file name on the left side and type it on google to see what turns up. In the above example lets say I wanted to know what nwiz.exe is, well when you type nwiz.exe on google it tell us that it is the Nvidia Wizard of some sort(graphics card related). Well I do not really play any video games, so I do not care for it, uncheck!
Next, select the services tab and it is important to put a check in the box for "Hide All Microsoft Services.
In this screen I usually select "Disable All" but it is up to you. Some key items you may wish to leave would be Google Desktop, Touchpad Utilities, and Power Management services if you are using a laptop.
The easiest way to go about this would be disabling everything first, find out what is disabled now that you actually need, go back and re-check the box next to it. For these changes to take affect it will tell you that you are required to reboot your computer, after doing so you should be able to tell on your own if your computer is running faster or not now.
Cleanup:
This is a subject that many could go on for days about, deleting temporary internet files, clearing your history, emptying recycle bin, etc etc. The quickest and cheapest way I have found to do all of this is through 1 simple program: CCleaner.
Simply put, CCleaner stands for Crap Cleaner. It removes all the junk you do not need and leaves all the good stuff you do need. It is 100% free and with over 200million downloads it is sure to be a trusted program.
When you load this program there are only two options, one is Scan, one is Clean. This should be self explanatory.
It will find all the junk you do not need such as the list above(and more) and fix them accordingly. After a year of not doing this on your computer it will definitely be quite large if you browse the internet frequently.
So.. now you have optimized and cleaned up your computer as well. Enjoy.