These utilities have been included in Windows for years. I preferred the more powerful third-party programs I used to install, but the pop-up ads, promotions, and fake warnings got to be too much, even for me. These will get the job done, and won't try to trick you out of your money.

Once every three to six months...

1. Right-click CHECK SYSTEM FILES .BAT , then left-click RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR. The first time ever that you run it, you might get a Windows Protected Your PC warning; just click More Info, then Run Anyway... you shouldn't ever see the warning again. The batch file will check the critical system files to be sure they're not missing or corrupted, and replace any it deems necessary.

Once a month, or whenever...

2. Right-click MAINTENANCE.BAT , then left-click RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR. Click YES when asked about running the Windows Command Processor. 
The batch file will perform three housekeeping chores, then scan for outdated software, and start installing updates; give permission if asked. 
When it has finished, it will pause before automatically rebooting your computer to allow the changes to take effect. 
If your Internet was working okay before running the batch file, and no programs got updated in this step, you can skip the reboot until after you finish the Monthly Maintenance... in which case, just click the X in the upper right corner of the DOS window to close it without rebooting, then proceed to step 3. 
If you choose to reboot, just touch any key on your keyboard EXCEPT for CTRL-C... and after the reboot, come back to this folder, and...

3. Double-click DISK CLEANUP .
Click Clean Up System Files. 
Under the Disk Cleanup tab, put check marks next to every category EXCEPT Thumbnails. 
Under the More Options tab, in the System Restore and Shadow Copies box, click Clean Up. 
When asked, click Delete.
Click OK, then click Delete Files.

If you have a Solid State Drive (SSD), you don't need to run Defrag; in fact, it will shorten the life of the drive. BTW, USB 'thumb drives' are SSD... don't defrag them. For everyone else...

4. Right-click Defrag , then left-click Run As Administrator. Make sure drive C: is selected, then click on Optimize... the button will change from Optimize to Stop. It will take a while, and probably make several passes. Once the Current Status column header for the selected drive(s) says OK , and the Stop button changes back to Optimize, click on Close.

Notice the Backup and Restore utility, held over since Windows 7; it still works in Windows 11. You should do a full back every month or two, and a partial backup every few days. I don't, even though I should... and so should you.

...and you're done for the month, week, or whatever interval you decide to run this routine. The more often they run, the quicker they'll run each time, and the faster your PC will run overall.


AND... when you have nothing better to do, look in the Other Tools folder, and see if any of those utilities will help you with a problem or project. You're welcome. 


Note: steps 3 and 4 will do a more thorough job if run as Administrator, but will work fairly well - and possibly faster - if run without Administrator permissions; that's why I didn't make Administrator mandatory for these two steps. For steps 1 and 2, Administrator permissions are mandatory, and the first two steps won't run without them.


Another Note: the reboot after step 2 can wait till you've run all four steps, if you like... the PC will still run , even before the changes have a chance to take effect. To avoid the reboot after step 2, either press CTRL-C, then Y, then Enter... or just click the X in the upper right corner to close the command prompt window. Remember to reboot eventually to see if the changes improved your PC's performance.
