Your computer will run better and faster if you clean your Windows system registry once in a while.

The registry is a database Windows uses to keep track of relationships between your hardware and software. So it stores all the settings for the PC's hardware, software, operating system, users and preferences.

Particularly on computers running Windows 95/98, it's not unusual for the registry to gradually grow very large. The result: the startup slows down and the PC can become unstable.

The effect isn't as bad on Windows XP or Vista, although if you install or remove programs often, you can end up with lots of unnecessary registry entries.

If you know what you're doing, the "regedit" command from the Run prompt allows you to view and edit the registry - but avoid this option if you're even a little unsure about it.

Instead there are numerous specialised programs that let you check out the registry, see if there are any discrepancies between what's in there and what's really on your computer, and delete or correct any errors.

You can try ToniArts EasyCleaner or Abexo Free Registry Cleaner, although there are many others.

(Please note that these two utilities were not made for Windows Vista, so rather don't use them if you have Vista on your machine.)

After running these applications, your computer should be starting up and running smoother.