1. Open your Internet browser. Go to a computer website that offers freeware listings, such as MajorGeek, PC World, PCMag or Softpedia. Navigate to the anti-virus or anti-malware section first. Look for an anti-virus program, such as SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware or Avast Antivirus. Click the download link and save the anti-virus freeware program to your hard drive.
2. Go to the 'utilities,' 'PC optimization' or 'all-in-one' section of the freeware-download website. Look for an all-in-one freeware program. Read the descriptions of each program and select one that has multiple utilities, such as a registry cleaner, system and junk-file cleaner, hard-disk cleaner and defragmenter. Examples of programs that contain such functions include 360Amigo System Speedup, PC Health Optimizer Free Edition by Retina-X Studios, the TweakNow PowerPack 2010, IOBit's IOBit Toolbox, GIGATweaker, RegToy and Glarysoft's Glary Utilities. Select a program and click the program's download link to save the freeware to your hard drive.
3. Double-click the anti-virus and all-in-one optimization freeware's installation file. Follow the onscreen prompts to select a hard drive folder for the program, create optional shortcuts on the desktop and install the program on your system.
4. Double-click the anti-virus software program to open it, or click on the program from the Start Menu's 'All Program' list. Select the 'quick scan' option, if available. Click the 'Scan' button and wait for the anti-virus program to check your system for viruses, trojans and spyware. Review the results of the scan and, since many anti-virus programs select the infected files automatically, click the 'Fix' or 'Remove' button to have infected files cleaned and removed.
5. Open the all-in-one or PC optimizer freeware program. Click on each of the modules or sections the program contains and select either the 'Scan,' 'Next' or 'Find Errors' button, depending on the wording of the program and the particular function you're running. For example, Glary Utilities contains a 'Scan Registry' button, while 360Amigos System Speedup contains a 'Find Errors' button in the registry section. Wait for the program to carry out the task or system scan. Click the 'Clean' or 'Repair' button to allow the freeware to optimize and finish the cleanup of your system.
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