Slow Computer? Try Cleaning off the Desktop

Is the hard drive of your computer grinding constantly, essentially bringing your computing operations to a halt?   Cleaning up the computer's desktop may help.  This is especially true if your computer is more than five years old.

All of those little icons on your desktop are using system memory, taking up space that otherwise could be used by the web browsers, word processor and email client you're trying to use.  Too many things on the desktop, as in the photo above, may contribute to a memory shortage, causing your system to struggle with allocating memory space for the programs you want to run.  That's when the hard disk starts grinding away.

Files on the desktop can be moved into the My Documents folder.  Unused icons can be deleted.  Or, if your computer is running Windows XP, you can try using the Desktop Cleanup Wizard.

Links:
Some additional system maintenance tips
More system maintenence tips from Microsoft