Complacency, rather than bad hardware, is the cause of several PC slowdowns. Your system can accumulate background services, telemetry data, and temporary files, causing performance to degrade quietly. Some of the common cleaners we use aren't very effective, so I took the opposite route: using Linux tools to fix Windows. This is one of the habits I've carried over from years of using Linux.
These cross-platform tools, born out of core Linux philosophy, are minimal, ruthlessly efficient, and transparent. Surprisingly, they worked better than I expected—giving me leaner performance and none of the bloat common in most Windows apps.
BleachBit
The open-source system scrubber for paranoid desktop users
BleachBit is a Linux-born tool that has transitioned perfectly into Windows. It's my go-to disk space cleaner, privacy manager, and system optimizer whenever Windows starts getting sluggish. It works flawlessly even though the interface is barebones. There are no hidden ads or prompts for premium versions. Once I launch it with admin rights, I select cleaners for browsers, Windows Explorer, and system logs.
Compared to a tool like CCleaner, BleachBit gives a more elaborate preview of the files it will delete. This helps you avoid mistakes when deleting caches or temporary files. I constantly use its file shredder to erase my sensitive files before I recycle old drives.
When I want a deeper cleaning, I can run the tool from my Linux live USB on my Windows partition. This way, BleachBit removes files that Windows may otherwise lock. You just need to download its Windows installer or use the portable build to get this tool.
BleachBit
- OS
- Windows, Linux, macOS, Portable
- Developer
- Andrew Ziem
BleachBit is a software tool that you may use to clean disk space, delete cookies and cache, clear internet history, shred files, and wipe free disk space without installation.
Filelight
Show what’s hogging your disk, then get rid of it
Filelight was originally built for KDE on Linux, but its Windows port works perfectly. I first used it on Windows when I needed to know what was eating up my SSD space. When you scan a drive, it gives a colorful ring chart displaying how folders use space. This visual breakdown makes spotting bloated directories or forgotten installers easy.
Even though I like the built-in Windows Storage Sense, Filelight is more useful because it presents clearer, more detailed information. Hovering over a section allows me to trace large folders to their exact paths, and deleting cached data and redundant backups is easy.
I use it to clean external drives and home directories on Linux, and it serves the same purpose on Windows. It's remarkably consistent across platforms, lightweight, quick, and available on the Microsoft Store.
Filelight
- OS
- Linux. Windows
- Price model
- Free
The Filelight application allows you to visualize disk usage on a computer. It shows folders using an easy-to-understand view of concentric rings, allowing you to easily free up space!
dupeGuru
Cross-platform duplicate-file finder to reclaim space
I first used dupeGuru on an Ubuntu installation. However, its Windows version is identical and has saved me gigabytes of space on too many occasions. This tool uses fuzzy matching to scan, which allows it to identify identical content even when files have different names. Typically, after pointing it at my Downloads and Documents folders, I review all duplicates in its detailed result pane before deleting.
Its matching algorithm is one of the most efficient I’ve seen, and I hardly ever get false positives. It lets me preview or auto-mark older duplicates for deletion. Its picture mode groups visually identical photos side by side, which I find particularly useful when cleaning large image libraries.
The installation is straightforward; there is no telemetry, and it behaves the same on Linux and Windows.
dupeGuru
- OS
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Price model
- Free
dupeGuru finds duplicate files using the fuzzy algorithm. It works on Linux, Windows, and macOS, and can be used on all sorts of files, including documents, audio, and video.
Nmap (with Zenmap)
Scan your own network like a pro to fix security holes
I’ve used Nmap as my network scanner for as long as I’ve used Linux. It's commonly used to discover home router vulnerabilities. But on Windows, using its GUI, Zenmap, makes the tool surprisingly approachable. Every few months, I run a quick scan of local IPs just to see connected devices and the ports they’re exposing.
While Zenmap isn’t exactly a traditional cleanup tool, it provides insights—especially on exposed services and forgotten devices—that are critical for security cleanup. It’s easy to install via the official installer, and I run basic scans like nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 to detect active hosts. I also use the Intense Scan to discover open ports on my computer.
It gives me a level of awareness that helps my computer stay lean—especially when I discover background services I don’t need. Using Zenmap feels like applying Linux’s security mindset to keep Windows lean.
Nmap
- OS
- Linux, Windows (Zenmap)
- Price model
- Free
Nmap is an open-source command-line tool used for network discovery and security auditing. Zenmap is its official GUI, and it makes Nmap easy to use for first-timers.
The Linux way to stay lean
Most people wait for their PCs to slow down or for clutter to build up before cleaning them. But using these Linux utilities reminds me that maintenance can be proactive, transparent, and minimal. These tools typically don’t come with glossy dashboards, but they’re effective enough to show what’s happening beneath the surface.
The point isn’t to replace Windows with Linux; getting the best from both worlds is a real productivity and efficiency hack. Adopting the same mindset that has kept servers running for years will keep your daily PC running cleaner, leaner, and safer.