Within the Users folder, double-click first the folder for your particular username, and then the AppData folder (if you don’t see the AppData folder, you must not have selected ‘Show hidden files, folders and drives’ earlier), the Local folder, and finally the Temp folder. Next, navigate back to the C: drive, and double-click the Users folder. Be sure to delete only files within those two folders and not the folders themselves. Scroll down the list of folders and delete any files in the Prefetch and Temp folders. Open the C: drive again, and double-click the Windows folder. Depending on how much junk data is on your drive, this step may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.Īfter running the Disk Cleanup utility, you should clean out a few folders manually.

The Disk Cleanup utility should clear out outdated system files, temporary data, and other digital detritus.

In the dialog box that appears, click the Delete button then navigate back to the Disk Cleanup tab, confirm that all items in the Files to Delete list are checked, and click OK. Next, click the More Options tab, and select Clean Up in the ‘System Restore and Shadow Copies’ section at the bottom of the menu. The Disk Cleanup utility should take a few moments to rescan the drive. Select the Disk Cleanup utility in the lower-right portion of the menu, and select Clean up system files. Next, initiate a Disk Cleanup by opening the Start menu and selecting Computer right-click your primary drive (the C: drive by default) and open the Properties menu. In the Folder Options window, click the View tab and select Show hidden files, folders and drives then click OK. To do this, click the Start button, and in the Search field type Folder Options then press Enter. You should also download and store all of the drivers that your system needs to function-especially the network controller, which tells your network adapter how to access the Internet.Īfter backing up all of your drivers, clean out all of the temporary files and junk data that have accumulated in Windows 7 over the course of prolonged use.

You can always reinstall them after completing the repair process but since you’ll be initiating this process from within Windows, you need to remove any security applications that actively scan files. Though the repair process is unlikely to fail or to render any of your files unrecoverable, it’s always a smart idea to back up your data.Īfter you’ve backed up your system’s important data, we recommend uninstalling any third-party security software such as firewalls or antivirus applications. The first step is to back up all of your critical files to an external storage device. Before performing a repair installation, you should take a few precautionary measures to ensure that the process goes smoothly.

Windows 7 installing 100 updates