Is your computer, well, slower than dirt? Does it take twice as long to open a program than it used to? That means it is time to clean up your pc!

These are instructions for Windows 2000 and Windows XP users. First, look on your desktop. Do you see the icon that says, “My Computer?” Double click on that. Now, on the top of the window, look for the word Tools. Click on that, and then go down and click on Folder Options. Click on the tab that says View. Look for the sentence that says, “Show Hidden Files or Folders.” Make sure that is checked, and then click OK.

Double click on c:\. Then, “Documents and Settings.” Do you see your name in there? It will be the name you use to log in to the computer. Double click on that. Now double click on Local Settings, and then Temporary Internet Files. Wait until all the files appear in the window. Now click Edit, Select All then File, Delete. Now we can close this whole window and move on to the next step.

Double click on “My Computer.” Double click on “c:\.” Look for the windows directory – it will either be called Windows or Winnt. Double click on that. Click on “show the content of this folder” if you need to. Scroll down to the directory called, “Temp.” Double click on that. Click on Edit, Select All and File, Delete. Close this window.

Look on your desktop for the Recycle Bin. Right click on it. Select “Empty Recycle Bin.”

Now connect to the internet with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Click on Tools on the top menu, and then click on Windows Updates. Follow all of the instructions to download and update your computer.

Finally, we want to look at what programs are starting up in the background when Windows starts up. There are two ways to look for this, depending on how your Start Menu appears. Look for “Start” on the bottom left hand corner of your screen. Click it. Now, if only one column appears, click Programs and look for the folder that says, “Startup.” If two columns appear, click on Start, All Programs and then look for the folder that says, “Startup.”

Look at what shows up when you are on “Startup.” All of these programs are actually launching when Windows loads. You want as little as possible in here. Highlight anything you want to remove and right click your mouse. Find “delete” and click it. Note – this is NOT deleting the program! It is only stopping it from running automatically when you start up your pc. The fewer things you have running when the computer boots up, the better. To finish this whole process, shut down your pc and turn it back on.

Now that you have your pc spic and span, it is time to look for spyware and blast it away! Read further for our article on removing spyware. Happy Computing!

It only takes one accidental click to completely infest your computer with spyware. And once it’s there, it is very difficult to remove! But have no fear, I am going to walk you through the process I use at work to clean spyware off of a pc.

The first thing you want to do is bring your computer up in safe mode. Print these instructions and shut down your computer. Now, as soon as you turn it back on, begin hitting the “F8” key several times until you get a menu with the option “safe mode.” Use your arrow keys to highlight “safe mode” and hit enter. It takes a few minutes to boot up this way, and you may even receive a message asking if you are sure you want to do this. Say OK or yes, depending on what it asks.

Once you are in safe mode, you need to bring up your control panel. Click on Start and then click on “Settings” and then “Control Panel” or just Start and “Control Panel,” depending on which operating system you have. Now double click on add/remove programs. Start reviewing the list of installed programs. You need to find the spyware that is installed, highlight it and remove it. Some examples are programs that offer coupons, that “optimize your pc,” speed up the internet, help you play games online and so forth. Also remove weather programs and any other “helpful” programs that you don’t actively use that look like spyware.

Once you have removed all of these, it is time to do some cleanup. Close the control panel and double click on the icon “My Computer.” On the top of that window you will see Tools. Click on that and then “Folder Options.” Click on the tab “View” and make sure “Show hidden files or folders” is checked. Now close that and double click on c:\. Now double click on “Documents and Settings.” Find the name you use to log into the pc. If you aren’t sure, double click on all the names and look for your documents to figure out which one is yours.

Once you have double clicked on your name, go to Start Menu, then Programs and then Start Up. Do you see any programs in there that look like spyware? Remove them by right clicking on them and selecting Delete. This will not remove the software from your computer – it will only stop that program from automatically starting every time you bring up your pc. It is important to look at the name, “All Users” as well as your own name. Again, under the “All Users” name, go to Start Menu, Programs and Start Up.

In the same area, under your name, you will see the folder “Local Settings.” Double click on that. Now you will see a folder called “Temp” and a folder called “Temporary Internet Files.” Double click on each of these, and then click “Edit” and “Select All” then “File” and “Delete” within both of those folders. Now close all of these windows. Right click the icon on your desktop that says Recycle Bin and select “Empty Recycle Bin.”

Phew, that was a lot of work!!! Now you can shut down your computer and then bring it up as you normally would. Go to the internet and find the site, www.lavasoft.com. Download the free version of Ad-Aware and run it on your pc. This is a wonderful free program that finds spyware and removes it.

If you are still plagued by spyware, you can follow the instructions for editing your registry found in our “Cleaning up your Slow PC” entry – but be careful, and good luck!

Is your AOL hanging on “Initializing Modem?” Then your phone lines are probably old enough that they cannot use the latest versions of American Online. But out of great frustration and plenty of tech calls, I have figured out how to get around the problem.

Uninstall your AOL software. Now, put the AOL cd in your computer. If it asks to install the software automatically, tell it no and close out the window.

Look for the icon on your desktop that says “My Computer,” or click on Start, Settings, Accessories and Windows Explorer. Double click on your CD-Drive, usually “D” but not always. If the AOL install program starts every time you click on your drive, then RIGHT CLICK the drive one time and then click “Explore.”

On the top menu, click on Tools, then Folder Options, then View. Click “Show Hidden Files or Folders” and say OK.

Once you have asked to look at all the hidden folders, you will see AOL’s special secret – many of the newer CD versions have the older versions hidden on them! Simply click on an older version of America Online and install it. The version 7.0 should work much better with your modem and will stop America Online from hanging on “Initializing Modem.”

If you are trying to sync your palm with Microsoft's Outlook, you will need a third party software such as Chapura's Pocket Mirror. However, when you sync for the first time you may encounter a common problem between the palm and your Outlook calendar - duplicate appointments. Nothing can be more frustrating - especially if you have a full date book! There is no easy way to fix this problem, but there are ways to minimize the cleanup you will need to do.

Disconnect your palm handheld device. Go into Outlook and open your calendar. You need to arrange your calendar view to display by appointments. The instructions for this can vary depending on your version of outlook - but you can probably find your way with Outlook 2003 instructions.

With your calendar open, click View, Arrange By and then Current View. Select Active Appointments. Your appointments will be in an easier format to view, and you can sort them by "starting date" by clicking on the column heading labeled Date or Starting Date. If you want to sort by a field that is not shown, you can right click the column heading, select field chooser and then select All Items. A box will come up with items you can drag up to your column heading and sort by.

Now you can easily delete duplicate calendar items. To select some but not all, hold down your CTRL key and click on the ones you want to delete. If you would like to easily view duplicate recurring appointments, you can click on View, Arrange By and then Current View. Select Recurring Appointments.

Once you have deleted all of your duplicate appointments, look up at your toolbar. You will see an icon that looks like a palm pilot. Click on that and you will see the options for your hotsync with Outlook. (Another way to find this is click Start and look under programs for Chapura's Pocket Mirror and go into the settings from there.) Select your calendar and set the settings to "desktop overwrites handheld" one time only. Do not make this the default. Close out of Outlook.

Connect your Palm and sync it. Your desktop will now overwrite your palm calendar, wiping out the duplicates. When you are done, go back into Outlook and into the Pocket Mirror settings to check that you now have "synchronize" rather than "desktop overwrites handheld" for your default selection.

Again, if you have a Palm Pilot and are trying to sync with Microsoft's Outlook, you will need a third party software such as Pocket Mirror http://www.chapura.com/pm_standard.php.

If you have children over 8 years old, chances are they have asked for a "My Space." And you have probably also heard all kinds of stories about how unsafe My Space is. Adult predators lurking, searching for young children to prey upon. Can this happen? Absolutely! But with continued supervision, you child's My Space can actually be fun, and a help to you as well!

But what is My Space? It enables both kids and adults to have their own "home page," and lets their friends attach to it and make comments back and forth. You can add pictures, videos and music as well as tailor the background to show your personality. If allowed to roam My Space alone, a child can get in to deep trouble and will be privy to pictures and writing that children should not see. But if a child's My Space is managed by an adult, it can be a fun way for kids to talk online.

To keep your child's My Space safe, help him or her set it up. You will be asked a series of questions, including whether the space should be private or not. Opt for private, and check every setting that asks if posts and friends must be approved before publishing. Once these settings are in place, no one in the general public can view your child's space or anything about him or her. However, if a friend knows your child's name, the friend can search for it. Once the friend finds your child's name, a page comes up explaining your child's space is private, and would they like to request permission to view it. This person needs to either know your child's personal email address or correct last name.

The next time your child logs in, he will see a message from his friend, requesting permission to become a "friend." If your child approves the email, he will get a new "friend" on his My Space. Now both of them can send messages back and forth, which will be posted on eachother's My Space.

Even though your child's space is private, be sure he or she knows not to list your city, school name or any other personal information on the page. I have my child listed as 99 years old, living in a completely different state than our own. I know that only friends can view his space, but you just can't be too careful.

Now let me tell you why I like this system. My son and I have an agreement. I know his login and his password. If he ever changes the password, he is off of My Space for good. I can view his space (and do!) at any time to read his messages from his friends. Then I go to his friends' spaces and look at all the posts they have as well. The benefit of this as a mother? Now I can see which of my son's school friends are innappropriate or disrespectful! They don't know I'm looking and write whatever they choose. Fortunately, 90% of the friends David talks to are good kids who are just having fun talking. Of course, there is always a bad apple in the bunch, but now I know which ones those are.

Word has it that some children make a space that only their parents can see, and then make another one in private with inappropriate images and messages on them. My answer to that? Do what I do - keep the child's computer in the middle of the living room where everyone can see what is on the screen. Keep track of how long your child spends on it, and make it a point to look behind your child every chance you get. If your child comes home before you do and you don't trust him or her, take the keyboard with you - or even better - the dsl modem!

And the best part? I made my OWN My Space. I've got a cool pink tie dye background, videos, pictures... and the whole page opens to the song "Melt With You!" But you can't see it - sorry - I made it private!

So you are the proud owner of Windows Vista, but can’t seem to get the sound working? Join the crowd! After working for over two hours on the issue, we found a fix that is to say the least, embarrassingly easy!

First of all, for those of you who have a cross over the sound icon, go to your device manager, remove the audio device and find a new driver from your manufacturer’s website. It may take three or more tries to find the right driver, but they are out there as long as you hunt.

Now, for those of you whose machines look like the sound should be working normally - look at the bottom right hand of your screen, near the time. Find the icon for sound and right click it. Then click on “playback devices.” If there are two devices shown, highlight the device that is currently not the default and then make it the default. The one that worked for us was labeled, “Sigmatel High Definition Audio Codec.” Quick, easy and ready for sound!

Yes, you read that correctly! Microsoft has released what some of us might call a “beta version” service pack 3 for XP.

According to Microsoft, this is the “release candidate” for the final Windows XP service pack. The release candidate allows XP to take advantage of quad-core and dual-core CPU’s.

Word on the street is that Windows XP sp3 will definitely speed up your computer’s performance, particularly if you have a dual/quad-core processor. Users with sp3 find XP tighter and quicker, comparing it to Windows XP after an energy drink!

Looking to speed up Windows XP? The Windows XP sp 3 Release Candidate can be found here!

Outlook has a helpful history feature that remembers the email addresses you have sent to. When you begin typing in the “To” field, outlook will provide a dropdown list of email addresses you have used in the past.

Unfortunately, if you have ever typed an email address incorrectly, Outlook will remember that too. So how do you remove a single entry in Outlook’s “To” history without taking away the full list? Actually, it’s easy. Start to type the name you are trying to remove, and then select the name in the “history” using the arrow key. DO NOT use the mouse to select the name. Then, hit your delete key. Voila! Name removed.

To delete the entire history list from the “To” field, navigate through Windows Explorer to c:\documents and settings\your-user-name\application data\microsoft\outlook\. Look for the file .NK2 and delete this file. If it is not clear which file is the correct one, right click the file and look at the properties to find the one with the extension “.NK2.”

If you would like to copy your “To” field outlook history to another machine, make sure all of your office programs are closed and copy the file to a disk or thumb drive. Then copy the file to the new machine in the same location.

How would you like to win a Kodak ESP-3 All-In-One printer? This is the great printer that has ink cartridges you can actually afford! 5 Minutes for Mom is holding this contest as one of their special Mother's Day events. To join, simply click on their link below, and good luck!: