Software : Roundup: How to spring clean your PC

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• Roundup: How to spring clean your PC
• Google Now will get you out of a jam, with new traffic updates from Waze
• Google Now for Chrome out of beta and officially in your browser
• UK tax law change could raise price of digital downloads

Roundup: How to spring clean your PC Posted: Just like the car sitting in your drive, your PC is going to benefit from a regular service and check-up. As the months and years go by, computers can show a tendency to get sluggish, cluttered and wheezy, but keeping your Windows machine factory fresh doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. No matter what the weather may say, we're into the months of spring, so there's no better time to wipe the virtual dust off your PC and clean out some of the apps, settings and files you're no longer using. By the time you've finished, you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier. Applications Keeping old, neglected applications installed on your computer may not seem like such a crime, but these redundant programs take up storage space, clog up the Windows registry and can interfere with the apps you're actually using. It's also a good idea to remove any useless 'bloatware' that came installed on your PC when you first bought it. Windows 8.1 gives you plenty of options for removing applications. You can follow the link in the Control Panel to uninstall a program, right-click (or tap and hold) on a tile on the Start screen, or head through the Settings charm to the Search and apps page. If you go via the Control Panel route, you can sort your apps by the last used date, which should highlight programs that are starting to show their age. Even if you don't want to remove programs completely, you can stop them from booting up at the same time as Windows and taking up precious memory unnecessarily. Run the Task Manager utility from the Search charm and switch to the Start-up tab to see everything that launches with Windows. Use the Publisher information or a quick Google search to see which of the entries in the list you can safely disable. Disk space Disk Cleanup scours your hard drive for files that are no longer required and carefully excises them from your system. Log files, downloads, archives, error reports and more are included in the search, and you have the option of reviewing each type of file before it's deleted. There are plenty of third-party applications around that will do the same sort of job in a friendlier interface: Glary Utilities is one of our favourites. It includes a '1-Click Maintenance' module for fast and convenient cleaning. As well as looking at redundant files, Glary Utilities can also tidy up the registry settings, spot any duplicate files that have appeared and remove empty folders for you. Web browsers Many of us spend a lot of computing time inside a web browser, and these apps can become bloated and sluggish in the same way as Windows itself. Look at removing unnecessary extensions and cleaning out temporary data to improve performance. The process will vary from browser to browser, but in Google Chrome you can use the 'Clear browsing data' button on the Settings screen to tidy up your browsing and download history, the temporary file cache, and cookies stored by websites you've visited. All browsers have similar tools as well as an extensions manager that you can use to disable toolbars, add-ons and plugins that aren't important to your day-to-day work. One of the best freeware apps for this job is the excellent CCleaner. It analyses a number of different desktop applications, including your web browsers, and erases any files and data that can be safely removed. You get the option to review all of CCleaner's findings before the relevant files are deleted, so you don't have to remove anything you're unsure about. The web browser part of the program covers your browsing history, file cache, cookies, download history and current session information. Restore and reset Since the arrival of Windows 8, cleaning up Microsoft's operating system has become a lot more straightforward. Reinstalling your OS is often one of the best ways to blow away all of the clutter that has accumulated, but nowadays this process can be launched in a couple of clicks, and you don't have to waste hours hunting for your original Windows discs. From the Change PC settings link on the Settings charm, choose Update and recovery. Under the Recovery heading you'll see two options: Refresh your PC, which essentially resets Windows without touching your files, and Restore everything, which cleans out your hard drive and puts everything back in its original state (which is handy if you're flogging your machine on eBay). If you want the cleanest results in the quickest time, then these two options are your best bets. By the time you've finished, you should be left with a tidy, optimised PC that's breathing more easily. What's more, just as a regular motor service reduces the risk of a catastrophe on the M6, so a regular tidy up of your computer's nooks and crannies can limit your chances of running into bigger issues further down the line. Now why not check out Best free antivirus software 2014

Google Now will get you out of a jam, with new traffic updates from Waze Posted: While the big news today is Google Now officially arriving within the Chrome web browser, the company has also taken the opportunity to announce a new feature for the Android Google Search app. On Monday evening, Google announced Waze data has been integrated with Google Search, bringing users automatic, live traffic updates for users. The idea is to give folks a heads-up, via a notification, if delays are being experienced on regular commutes before they hit the traffic jam. This, of course, will allow them to seek alternate routes. "You know the feeling," wrote the firm on its Google+ page. "You're just miles from home when all of a sudden you see brake lights ahead—a sure sign of an incident on the road. Starting today, you'll have a better chance of making it around the traffic. Cruising the back roads "With the latest update to the GoogleSearch app for Android, Google Now will send you a notification if you're likely to hit a traffic incident along your drive—without you even having to ask. That way, you can get off at that earlier exit and cruise through the back roads." Google acquired the crowd-sourced Waze app last summer for over a billion dollars. It's first act of business was to bring traffic updates within Google Now, but today's move makes the updates accessible for those users running older version of Android who don't have the personal assistant app baked into their devices. Android 4.4 KitKat review

Google Now for Chrome out of beta and officially in your browser Posted: The latest update to Google's Chrome browser has added official support for Google Now. This adds the same Google Now functions seen on smartphones, like predictive notifications and voice features, to users' desktop browsers, according to Google. Google Now has been available in the beta version of Chrome for some time, but unless you're the daring type, you've probably been unaware of its existence. Now that Now is in the latest official Chrome release, all users will see it arrive in the coming weeks. Show your cards Google Now for Chrome adds notification "cards" to your computer's notifications bar, system tray or taskbar. These cards can include everything from appointment reminders, flight and movie times, preemptive searches, weather and sports scores. It will even show location-based cards, though it will pull your location data from your smartphone rather than your laptop or desktop computer. And it wouldn't be Google Now without some voice search capabilities as well. Users need only sign into Chrome on their computers with the same Google accounts they use on their phones to take advantage of these new features. Looking for an internet speed test? TechRadar tried out five.

UK tax law change could raise price of digital downloads Posted: The UK is planning a change to VAT rules which could see downloads being charged for the first time. At the moment digital storeowners "are allowed to sell digital downloads through countries such as Luxembourg, where the tax rate is as low as three per cent." However as pressure mounts for countries to start collecting reasonable taxes from big companies like Apple and Google, it seems that the British are going to force e-tailers to pay up. End of a pound a song days It will mean that charging a pound for a song is over, and that the cost to consumers for books, apps, and other digital content will rise at once. The Guardian claims that the government could raise £300 million with the tax change which would meant that it could have paid for the Olympics if it had been charging VAT for downloads. The move will have some support from beleagued High Street retailers who feel that the online sellers are being given all the advantages and tax breaks, according to the Guardian's report. Others have claimed that the increased prices could depress the industry. Now read how the Internet of things will hit the supply chain

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