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← Practice · October 22, 2026

Optimizing a Computer with AI: Granted Access, Got Things in Order

How an AI assistant cleared disk space, reduced background load and fixed Windows 11 errors while the owner replied from a phone — and where a person had to step in.

12 min readcomputer

Computer optimization often starts with frustration: storage is running out, the system is sluggish, and there is no time to sort through folders and settings. The owner of this gaming PC handed the job to an AI assistant and then replied from a phone: “yes,” “no,” item numbers. The assistant took inventory, proposed changes, carried out approved actions and checked the results.

The computer was reasonably modern: Windows 11 Pro, a 13th/14th-generation Intel processor, an ASRock B760M motherboard, 32 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA graphics card and Wi-Fi 6E. But free space was nearly gone: C had 80 GB left out of 874 GB, and D had just 58 GB out of 1805 GB. Games occupied about 1.8 TB, and CPU usage was 16–20% even at idle. Resting on paper, busy according to the readings.

Claude Code was the AI agent doing the work. The owner decided what happened to their data and stepped in where hands were needed. By the end, the disks had free space, idle CPU usage had fallen to 3–5%, the messaging app had stopped crashing, and the system had been updated. The assistant also made mistakes — we will cover those separately.

The Computer Is Slow: What Should We Do First?

We started with an inventory: folder sizes, large files, duplicates, startup items, services, scheduled tasks and the desktop. The vague complaint that “everything is slow” gradually became a task list: free up space, remove unnecessary background activity and find the causes of crashes.

Taking inventory of 2.7 TB took five minutes. The assistant collected folder sizes up to five levels deep, files of 100 MB or more and statistics by file extension. To find duplicates, it checked 8919 files of 5 MB or more and found 614 groups containing roughly 80 GB of extra copies.

We did not delete them automatically: identical content says nothing about the value of a copy. Someone may deliberately keep a personal archive that way.

The owner received a report in four parts: what was taking up space, which programs were running in the background and what could be changed. On a phone, that list is easier to work with than browsing folders — read a proposal, select the items.

Diagnostics set the direction for the entire job. A full disk, a stuck process and an application error require different actions. A cleanup button alone will not solve that puzzle.

How Does Remote Computer Configuration Work?

The owner ran a prepared connection script on the PC. The home ISP restricted direct connections to the assistant’s workstation, so we arranged access through a reverse SSH tunnel and an intermediary server.

OpenSSH Server on the computer accepted only local connections, used key-based authentication and had password authentication disabled. We will omit the exact commands, addresses and connection parameters here: this article describes the work we did, rather than remote access setup.

The assistant worked through PowerShell and used scheduled tasks running as SYSTEM for certain system operations. It had enough privileges to modify the system, so one rule was mandatory: propose the action to the owner first, then execute it.

Reports and lists arrived in a messaging app on the phone. The owner sent short replies, often item numbers. There was no need to stay at the monitor.

According to the records for this case, the model saw file lists, installed program lists and logs, but not document contents. Only logs and a CSV inventory were copied from the PC. The data available through another connection may differ.

The owner can close access with one command: the same script has a disconnect mode. Control over the connection remains with the owner.

How Do We Clean Up Junk and Speed Up a Computer?

The main rule: inventory → list of proposals → delete only after a “yes”.

The assistant added the size and consequences to each item. Deleting the installer for an already installed game frees space but removes the local copy of the installation package. Deleting the game itself is a separate decision. The word “junk” makes it too easy to hide that distinction.

We moved questionable leftovers from the user profile, drive roots and desktop into a quarantine folder for one or two weeks. Before deleting registry branches, we exported each one to a separate .reg file. Quarantine let us restore files; exports let us restore the previous contents of a registry branch. Actions still need checking, but mistakes become easier to fix.

We left personal archives to the owner. In particular, we kept 37 GB of duplicate USB drive contents: the assistant established that the files matched, but only a person could determine whether the copies mattered.

We also organized the desktop: of more than 60 shortcuts, 18 remained visible, with the rest placed in folders by topic. We did not undertake a bulk sort of personal documents across the computer — we organized the desktop specifically.

Where Did 500 GB of Free Space Come From?

After the work, C had 270 GB free instead of 80, and D had 373 GB instead of 58. We freed 505 GB in total: the two drives went from 138 GB free to 643 GB.

The biggest finds were familiar:

Downloads can easily become a museum of installers: the program has been running for ages, but its packaging still occupies a shelf.

Next came the less obvious buildup. The Windows search index occupied 8 GB, the hibernation file 12.7 GB and the NVIDIA UpdateFramework cache 4.1 GB. We deleted a 3.9 GB driver folder from a portable software collection and a 4.2 GB torrent download.

We also found a 2 GB AIDA64 HTML log that had been recording for years. The program had nearly written its memoirs. We disabled logging in the settings; otherwise, the log would have kept growing. We also removed Tor Browser, cleaned up Windows components through DISM, and dealt with temporary files and program leftovers.

Details are in our article on how to clean up drive C and find large unnecessary files.

That much space was freed because of these particular game installers and copies; promising the same to everyone would be odd. We checked performance separately: free gigabytes alone do not prove a speed improvement.

Why Did We Remove 360 Total Security and the ASRock Installer?

360 Total Security had taken over the antivirus role on the computer, and Windows Defender was disabled. A tray agent and a service ran at startup, and related branches remained in the registry. There is no basis for calling the program a virus in this case.

The owner uninstalled it through Installed apps. The assistant then removed leftover services, tasks, eight registry branches and CLSID entries, and enabled Windows Defender. The standard definition update returned an error, so we updated the definitions manually.

Another finding came with the motherboard: two ASRock Auto Driver Installer processes were constantly using roughly one and a half CPU cores. We uninstalled the utility and gave the owner instructions for disabling Auto Driver Installer in the BIOS.

This is a motherboard feature provided by the manufacturer: it can reinstall the utility when Windows is installed. That meant we also needed to address how it got there.

Both episodes explain why we look beyond the program list: what starts, how many resources it uses and which services it leaves behind after removal.

Why Did the MAX Messaging App Crash When Pasting an Image?

MAX crashed when pasting from the clipboard. The log recorded error 0xc0000409 in ucrtbase. Punto Switcher was the first suspect, but the hypothesis did not hold up.

Tests also ruled out NVIDIA Overlay and the Yandex Disk screenshot editor. We found the answer in the MAX log: while compressing an image, the app constructed a path to the temporary folder and lost the Cyrillic characters in the profile name. It could not open the temporary file at that path.

We pointed the account’s TEMP and TMP variables to C:\Temp. The owner tested pasting and confirmed that the problem was gone.

The first explanation looked plausible — Punto Switcher interacts with the clipboard. But testing ruled it out, so we restored the program and continued investigating the logs. This method helped with a specific temporary path error; other MAX crashes may have different causes.

How Do We Speed Up a Windows 11 Computer and Check the Results?

The main measured indicator was idle CPU usage: 16–20% before the work, 3–5% afterward. This let us verify the reduction in background load separately from disk cleanup.

Alongside ASRock Launcher, we found six NVIDIA Broadcast processes, nine Edge processes, a crashing VPN client service and Firefox, which was not being used at the time. Yandex Disk kept one core at 100% for hours: we removed it from startup while keeping manual launch available.

We reviewed startup entries for Gemini, Logi and AIDA64, IObit tasks and OneDrive for the second account. We disabled DiagTrack telemetry, CEIP and the advertising ID. These decisions were specific to this computer: another owner may need some of those programs running all the time.

We enabled some system features instead. We restored SysMain and Windows Search, with exclusions for cloud folders. We increased the shadow copy storage limit from 19 to 40 GB. In this instance, we actually allocated more disk space to the system.

We enabled hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling and optimizations for windowed games, and disabled Game DVR background recording. We selected the Balanced power plan, although we later had to fix its sleep settings.

The idle measurement shows that background activity decreased. We did not measure application launch times or frame rate gains in this case. We assessed the overall result using resource usage, resolved failures and the owner’s confirmation.

Why Check the BIOS and Network During Computer Cleanup?

The most significant finding took up no disk space at all. The motherboard was running a BIOS from 2022, without the fix for the degradation issue affecting 13th/14th-generation Intel processors associated with microcode 0x12B.

The assistant noticed this and prepared instructions for the built-in Instant Flash utility. The owner performed the flash: the BIOS was updated from 1.08 to 14.02, and we then verified microcode 0x133.

We also enabled XMP: the memory had been running at 4800 instead of its rated 5200. ReBAR was already enabled. A complaint about a full disk led to checks that mattered in their own right.

We checked drivers through Windows Update, without using driver packs. We updated Intel Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers and the NVIDIA graphics driver. We removed Driver Booster at the owner’s request.

The network had a delay of its own: resolving a new name took 400–600 ms. The DNS client log pointed to old entries in hosts and IPv6 requests to the router. The ISP provided no global IPv6 connectivity.

After the fixes and DNS configuration, resolving a new name took 17–115 ms. This measurement applies specifically to DNS; it does not describe file download speeds or the loading speed of every website. More details are in our article on optimizing Windows 11 from BIOS to network.

How Many Actions Were Left to the Computer’s Owner?

Over a day, the owner sent about ten replies: approval, refusal or item numbers. The assistant gathered information, prepared proposals, carried out approved actions and sent back the results. There was no need to sit at the monitor throughout.

The tasks left to the person were:

This applies especially to personal data. The assistant can see file sizes and matches, but it does not know an archive’s history. The disputed 37 GB and personal folders were therefore left for the owner.

Sometimes voice was enough. The owner asked from the phone: “Shut down the computer, I’m going to bed.” The assistant checked the open programs and shut down the PC without losing any documents.

That was the convenience: the person did not have to learn PowerShell, read Windows logs or search for leftover services. The owner set the direction and made decisions that depended on personal preferences.

About ten replies were enough in this case. Another PC may have more data requiring a decision or more complex faults — and require more involvement from its owner.

Where Did the AI Make Mistakes, and How Did We Fix Them?

A tidy story would end with the freed gigabytes. But the assistant made mistakes in both its hypotheses and its actions.

It terminated Edge background processes and probably interrupted a WebView2 update. The runtime version folder was left empty, and one application stopped opening in its own window. Reinstalling WebView2 Runtime after exporting the registry resolved the issue. The link between the failure and an interrupted update remained probable; we never established it conclusively.

It mistook paths containing spaces for broken registry references. The scanner produced false positives. Manual checks ruled them out, and nothing unnecessary was deleted. The “list first, action second” rule served as a safeguard here.

It got the initial cause of the MAX crash wrong. The suspicion about Punto Switcher was not confirmed. We restored the program and found the actual cause in the application log: corrupted Cyrillic characters in the temporary file path.

It did not immediately account for the VPN’s effect on the connection. The tunnel disconnected when the VPN was enabled. The working solution was for the owner to disable the VPN during maintenance. This was a limitation of the chosen access setup.

It did not check sleep settings after changing the power plan. The Balanced plan put the PC to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity. The computer took the suggestion to rest too literally. From the outside, it looked like a shutdown; we found three sleep transitions in the log and corrected the settings.

It could not determine the value of a personal archive. This is a limit of AI’s capabilities, rather than a technical error. We left the 37 GB of duplicate USB drive contents and personal folders to the person.

Approvals, quarantine, registry exports and result checks are needed for exactly these situations. The assistant requires oversight. Here, we investigated mistakes through their observable effects and corrected them, rather than hiding them behind the final numbers.

What Was the Result, and Can We Repeat It?

After the checks, we rated system health at 8 out of 10: the drives were healthy, the CPU microcode was current for this case, idle CPU usage had fallen to 3–5%, and the logs were clean. Questions remained about idle memory usage and disabled Secure Boot.

A second opinion from the GPT-based AI “Astra” also rated the optimization 8 out of 10. These scores assess the system’s condition based on the checks; they are not a standardized performance benchmark.

The practical result is clearer: we freed space, reduced background load, fixed pasting in MAX, and updated the BIOS and drivers. The owner needed to send short replies and perform a few actions at the computer.

We have already connected a relative’s second home PC using the same setup. We were able to repeat the workflow: access, inventory, approval, changes, verification. The amount of space freed and the fixes needed will be specific to each computer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Approve Everything from My Phone?

In this case, most communication went through a messaging app: “yes,” “no,” item numbers. Flashing the BIOS, restarting and some manual actions required going to the computer.

Does the AI See Personal Documents?

Here, the model worked with file lists, program lists and logs, without document contents. Only logs and a CSV inventory were copied from the PC.

Can the Assistant Delete Files I Need?

Yes, which is why its actions require oversight. Here, we deleted approved items, moved questionable files into quarantine and exported registry branches in advance. The owner decided what happened to personal archives.

Will I Also Free Up 500 GB?

That depends on what is on your drives. Here, we freed 505 GB, mostly from game installers, archives and extra copies.

How Do I Disable Remote Access?

In this setup, with one command using the same script’s disconnect mode. The exact commands and connection parameters are not published in the article.

Will the Computer Be Faster After Removing Junk?

You will free up space, but the causes of slowdowns need to be investigated separately. Here, we confirmed the reduction in load through measurement: idle CPU usage went from 16–20% to 3–5%.

Want the Same Order on Your PC?

At IKORG, we can take inventory of your computer, find unnecessary background load, propose cleanup actions and investigate Windows errors. The Claude Code AI agent does the work under the studio owner’s supervision. Decisions about deleting programs and personal data remain yours.

If you are running out of space, the system is slow or applications are behaving strangely, contact us. Describe what is getting in the way of your work. We will start by checking your PC and preparing a clear list of proposals that we can discuss from your phone.