Although not the time of year normally associated with such activities, when it is your PC that needs a digital scrub down, and not your bricks and mortar, all year round is the best time. Unfortunately, XP does not come with any tools to perform a Windows Registry scan. Luckily, RegistryWare is a site that provides just such a tool.
If you are shrugging your shoulders at this point, imagine what life would be like if you were never able to forget anything. Simple tasks, such as writing in a foreign language would take longer to process, if you still remembered the words to every song you ever enjoyed. Your PC is not that different, at least in this respect… Over the years, as you remove and upgrade various applications on your computer, fragments of the old program’s configuration are left behind. Eventually, not only can this slow your PC down, in some cases it will even cause instability.
If you are not sure whether you would benefit from such a tool, check out the site’s helpful list of Signs Your PC is suffering.