It doesn't have to be that way. With the help of free and low-cost downloads, you can turn your sluggish system back into the youthful, zippy machine it once was. Read on to find out how.

(For links to all of these tools in one convenient list, see our .)

Hands down, the single download with the most comprehensive set of tools for cleaning a PC and making it run faster is , which gives your system a thorough scrubbing and makes it like new. For starters, it gets rid of all the unnecessary files that programs, browsers, and Windows itself leave behind; it'll eliminate .tmp files, cache files, file fragments, history lists, and more, including detritus from apps such as the major Web browsers, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Flash Player.

If that's all it did, this program would already be a must-have--but it can do more, as well. You'll find a very good Registry cleaner for zapping outdated Registry files (see the Registry section below for more on that topic), plus a tool for deleting Internet cookies you don't want while leaving behind the ones you wish to keep. And if you don't want to use the Windows uninstaller, CCleaner has a built-in uninstaller, too. Sound overwhelming? No worries: CCleaner lets you select the tasks it should perform. For example, you can tell it to erase traces that Chrome and Firefox leave behind, but not to clean up after Adobe Flash Player or Windows Media Player.