Every owner of a Windows computer should have an essential software utility kit.  These utilities will help keep your Windows computer running faster, and smoother, for longer.  Disk defrag, registry cleaning, unused or orphaned files removal, a trusty anti-virus, and at least two anti-malware scanners.  With so many choices in each category we can’t possibly go over them all here, but I’ll give you a run down of the ones that I am using at this time.

For disk defrag, I like to use Defraggler by Piriform software.  It’s a small download of around 3 MB, like the size of an MP3 music file.  It’s light on system resources, so you can continue to work with the machine while Defraggler works in the background, if need be.  I usually schedule mine to run weekly, late at night when I won’t be using the machine.

For registry maintenance and cleaning, I like to use Comodo System Utilities.  Cleaning and maintaining your Windows registry is very important.  The reliability and performance of your computer is directly related to the health of the registry.  This software also helps maintain your privacy by cleaning up your digital trail in browser histories, cookies, and your browser’s cache file.  In addition, it is a smart disk cleaner, looking for duplicates and other unneeded files.  I schedule a complete scan with this software once a week.

For Anti-Virus I am using Comodo Internet Security.  This is a very complete security suite, including Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Bot Protection, Defense+, Auto Sandbox Technology, Memory Firewall, and Anti-Malware.  I schedule a complete scan with this software once a week.

Rounding out this essential kit is MalwareBytes Anti-Malware .  This has proven to be very effective software in cleaning out your computer of malicious software, well worth having.  Combined with the Anti-Malware in Comodo Internet Security we have a very good chance of remaining clean of these pests.

If you use these utilities, or others like them, on a weekly basis, your Windows computer’s health and performance will remain as close to “factory new” as possible, making your use of your computer far more enjoyable.  Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that all of these utilities are FREE for you to use.  Icing on the cake, what could be better?