By Gene Emery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Reuters) - You change the oil in your car every 5,000 miles or so. You clean your house every week or two. Your PC needs regular maintenance as well -- especially if you're using Windows and you spend a lot of time on the Internet.

Virus checkers need to be updated. Spyware or adware may have sneaked onto your PC and the clutter could be slowing everything down.

I have a checklist I follow at the end of every month for keeping my computer properly tuned. The steps may differ slightly, depending on your operating system. Clicking the "Start" button, going to the "Help" section and searching for a feature will show you how to adapt this list to your machine.
Here's my drill:

CLEAR THE DESKTOP: I look at my desktop icons to see if I can consolidate some of them in folders. To create a folder, put your cursor in a blank portion of the screen, click on the right mouse button, select "New" and "Folder." Click on the folder to rename it. Then you can drag desktop icons onto it. I had a friend who, until I taught him this trick, had a screen so cluttered with icons he could barely see his wallpaper.

CLEAR THE PROGRAMS: Next, I get rid of unused programs. But beware: Dragging their desktop icons into the Recycle Bin won't work. Instead, click on the "Start" button, select "Programs," find the program you want to remove, and look for an "Uninstall" option. If there isn't one, click on "Start," select "Settings," then "Control Panel," double-click on the "Add/Remove Programs" icon, look for the program on the list, and then click "Add/Remove." If that doesn't work, I insert the original disk that contained the program. The opening screen often has an "Uninstall" option.

UPDATE AND RUN THE VIRUS CHECKER: This should be done at least once a month. I've been using McAfee for years and, once you're connected to the Internet, updating is as simple as opening the main program and clicking the "Update" button. Once that's done -- the computer can appear to stall for many minutes, so be patient -- reboot the computer and run the virus checker.

By the way, if you keep your computer on all the time -- which I do not -- most virus checkers can be programed to run at specified times. I recommend 3 a.m. daily.

CLEAR THE CLUTTER: Running the "Disk Cleanup" program, found by clicking on "Start," "Programs, "Accessories," and "System Tools," will get rid of temporary files, empty your recycle bin and eliminate other junk.

UPDATE SPYWARE/ADWARE REMOVERS: Spyware and adware -- also known as scumware -- are programs that can sneak onto your computer via the Internet, slow your PC down, give you unwanted ads, and snoop on your Internet browsing habits. I use "Ad-aware" from http://www.lavasoftusa.com. Use the "Check for Updates Now" feature and let the updates install. But wait before you actually run the main program.

GO INTO SAFE MODE: I close all my programs and restart the computer in "Safe Mode." In my case, after the rebooting process has begun, I have to hit the "F8" key when I hear the beep. The process varies from computer to computer. In safe mode, the graphics look horrible, but it doesn't load programs that will interfere with what I do next.

RUN THE SPYWARE/ADWARE REMOVERS: They work more effectively in the "Safe Mode." For me, Ad-aware takes about 5 minutes to run.
The remaining steps don't need to be done regularly, but it's a good idea to do them once in a while. Again, make sure you are in "Safe Mode," and turn off your screen saver by going to "Start," "Settings," "Control Panel," "Display," clicking on the "Screen Saver" tab, and using the pulldown menu to select "None." Then click OK and close all windows.

RUN SCANDISK: (unless you have Windows XP. "ScanDisk" can be found by going back to the "System Tools" folder. It checks your hard drive for problems. Make sure the "Automatically Fix Errors" box is checked and do a "Thorough" scan. Don't plan on using your computer for quite a while. It typically takes many hours.

RUN DISK DEFRAGMENTER: This is also found in the "System Tools" folder. It consolidates the files on your hard drive, making things run smoother. I start this when I'm ready to go to bed. It takes all night.

When I'm finished, I reboot the computer and it brings me back to normal.