`CLEANING' TOOLS WILL KEEP YOUR MAC HUMMING.

Byline: Charles Haddad Cox News Service

I know it's not spring, but let's clean the cobwebs out of your Mac. We'll unscramble the software that controls how your Mac looks and acts. Then we'll sweep out unused clutter, which slows performance and eats hard disk space.

For cleaning supplies, we'll use Clean Sweep and TechTools, both available as shareware from various on-line services and on the Internet.

Let's start with unscrambling what's called the Mac desktop. It's controlled by software called the Finder. This software works quietly in the background, creating things such as icons and the menu bar.

Over time, the Finder gets confused. The Finder forgets where it puts your files and how to paint the icons on your screen.

Luckily, the remedy is simple, if a bit of a pain. Restart your Mac, but this time hold down the option and command keys in the bottom left-hand row of your keyboard.

You'll eventually see a dialogue box asking whether you want to rebuild the desktop. Say yes. Now, be patient. If you haven't done this before, it could take a while.

You can speed up rebuilding the desktop with TechTools, a handy little utility. TechTools lets you do it without shutting down and starting over.

Now let's clean out the clutter. We'll start with Clean Sweep. This is a utility that finds unused bits of applications you've thrown out, empty folders and other such garbage.