Pay attention to this word of advice! It is imperative that you make sure your data will be secure. Some of the procedures used to fix a slow computer may cause existing but as yet concealed problems to show up, which may either keep Windows from starting or even prevent your computer from starting.

The initial steps involve backing up your data files, but even prior to that, you have to get your files ready. Make sure all your crucial data files are stored in one, easy-to-find location.

Windows XP generates a personal profile for every user account, which consists of a set of subfolders in the Documents and Settings folder. Your profile holds your personal files, usually your photos, music and videos.

Your Outlook Express e-mail messages, Internet Explorer Favorites and cookies, and information about your settings and preferences are also stored in the My Documents folder. Move all data files stored elsewhere into the My Documents folder to make backing up easier. You could for instance move it to the "D" drive, where your other data files are stored. This is if either you have two hard dives or the one you have is partitioned.

After you have done your first backup, additional backing up and setting up a backup schedule is quick and easy and will take as little as ten minutes a week. Besides, you will be able to let Windows do nearly all the work.

Windows includes Backup, which does the backups adequately, although you may need to install it if you are using XP Home edition. If you use Windows XP Professional, the Windows Backup utility (Ntbackup.exe) should be ready for use. If you use Windows XP Home Edition, you will need to install the utility. Insert your Windows XP CD into the drive and, if necessary, double-click the CD icon in My Computer. On the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP screen, click: Perform Additional Tasks. Click Browse this CD. In Windows Explorer, double-click the Value Add folder, then Msft, and then Ntbackup. Double-click Ntbackup.msi to install the Backup utility.

To start Backup: Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup to start the wizard. Click Next to skip past the opening page, choose Back up files and settings from the second page, and then click Next.

Decide What to Back Up Don't check the All information on this computer to back up all the data on your computer. Think again prior to deciding on this option. If you've installed heaps of software, your backup could add up to several gigabytes. For most people, the My documents and settings option embodies a better alternative. This option preserves your data files (including e-mail messages and address books) and the personal settings stored in the Windows Registry.

If several people use your computer-as might be the case on a shared family PC-select Everyone's documents and settings. This option backs up personal files and preferences for every user with an account on the computer. If you know that you have data files stored outside your profile, click Let me choose what to back up.

Select the My Documents check box to back up all the files in your personal profile, and then browse My Computer to select the additional files you need to back up. If some of your files are on a shared network drive, open the My Network Places folder and select those folders.

This option also comes in handy if you have some files you don't need to back up.

Decide Where to Store Your Backup Files: On the Backup Type, Destination, and Name page, Windows asks you to specify a backup location. Your computer's hard disk. The easiest but not ideal backup location is a separate partition from the one you're backing up. If your hard disk is partitioned into drive C and drive D and your data is on drive C, you can safely back up to drive D. However, if this hard drive runs into a problem you may have difficulty in restoring the backups.

Unfortunately, the Windows Backup utility can't save files directly to a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. You can backup to the following; - A Flash memory stick or other removable media. This is an option if you don't have multiple gigabytes to back up. - A shared network drive. You're limited only by the amount of free space on the network shared drive. - An external hard disk drive. External hard drives have dropped in price lately. Consider getting an 80 GB or larger drive and dedicating it for use as a backup device. - You may be able to find a website to which they will let you backup for a nominal fee. After you've chosen a backup location, enter a descriptive name for the file, click Next to display the wizard's final page. You always have the option of copying important files to removable media. With CD-RW and DVD-RW drives, that's an attractive option.

In fact, just about any type of backup is better than doing nothing and hoping that your data will magically take care of itself. We make use of this system a lot because we can then delete older data files on the hard drive, which take up a lot of space. It also comes in handy if you need a certain file again for, say, a reprint.

Setting up a Backup Schedule: You can repeat the backup steps once each week and perform regular backups, but it may be better to set up an automatic backup schedule for Windows. When you get to the final page of the Backup Wizard, don't click Finish. Click the Advanced button, and click Next to open the When to Back Up page.

Choose Later, and then click Set Schedule to open the Schedule Job dialog box. You can set almost any schedule you want by looking at the options available in this dialog box.

After you click OK to save your changes, Windows runs the backup automatically. Don't forget to leave your computer on. You can back up 5 GB of data in about 10 minutes. In addition, you don't need to worry about shutting down running programs, either, thanks to a feature called volume shadow copy, the Backup utility can safely create a copy of any file, even if it's currently in use. Now that you have done the backup of your files, you can start with the process fixing your slow computer.

To really speed up your slow computer you need to: - Remove unused applications. - Clean your browser's history, temp data and your Favorite or Bookmark list. - Optimize the Windows Registry - Scan for and remove threats like viruses, malware etc. - Make the boot process considerably faster. - Kill all those superfluous startup applications. - Free your PC's memory whenever possible. - Schedule your cleanup programs to run automatically. - Place all your data files together in one easy to use location. - Defrag and organize your disks so that your most used files are in the fast lane. - Optimize, tune and tweak your PC for optimal speed and stability.

I have researched and tested several products over a period of several months and in order for me to get our slow PC's performance up to speed again, I made use of not less than 17 different products, each of which is designed to do a certain task on the computer. Eventually we ended up using 11 of these apps (all freeware) on a regular basis, which keeps our PC's performing clean and error free.

In forthcoming articles, I'll explain to you step by step, how to get rid of unnecessary startup programs, how to clear out forgotten programs, unused, unnecessary and junk files and how to clean and streamline the Windows registry.