It's springtime and that means it's the proverbial time to tackle the grime that's built up in our homes over the past months. Around the house, you may have cleaned out the gutters, wiped down the windows, and uncluttered the closets?.But what about your PC? Maintain your computer by putting these items, below, on your spring cleaning to do list.

• Sweep up spyware. If you're an Ad-Aware 2007 Free user, run a scan to rid your computer of any spyware or malware that has wormed its way in. Ad-Aware 2007 Plus and Pro users benefit from real-time monitoring that detects these deceptive applications before they integrate into PCs.
• Wipe away surfing tracks. Do a quick sweep of your browser cookies, cache, and history. Ad-Aware 2007 makes this cleanup task simple; with TrackSweep (a feature in the Free, Plus, and Pro versions) you can erase the tracks left behind while surfing the Web on multiple browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, with one easy click.
• Out with old documents. After you're finished using files that contain sensitive information (such as tax preparation documents), permanently remove them from your PC with a digital file shredder to ensure that your private information won't fall into the wrong hands. With software like Lavasofts File Shredder you can also easily clean up your computing history, including Internet activity and Instant Messenger chat history.
• Tune the registry. Over time, your computers registry, the database containing information about programs installed on your PC, can become bogged down with corrupt and unused data. You can increase your computers speed and stability with a registry scanner and repair tool. Try Lavasofts Registry Tuner to identify, clean, and correct these errors.

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