Windows 7 - Tweaking the Inner-Workings for Efficiency

Just like the title says

I'm talking clearing Java caches, things I do and don't need to be running on my laptop that takes up virtual memory and memory in general, etc.

There's just so much I don't know about my laptop that I don't want to make it go haywire

Programs' cache =/= Memory. That is just space on your hard drive.

Are there any problems you are experiencing?

Also, could you fill out your system specifications completely?

If you do not know, download and run this safe, free software that will tell you specs: www.piriform.com/speccy

Many users, especially techies, upon receiving a new laptop, will wipe the HDD and do a clean install of the OS to remove all the bloatware that ships with the unit. The added bloatware can easily drain a laptop of it's resources, making it extremely sluggish. A clean, default Windows 7 install is extremely efficient and requires no tweaking for optimization.

This line in particular just screams at me that you probably shouldn't be tweaking anything. Period. The golden rule for happy computing is "If you don't know what something does, leave it alone" Well its not, but it should be.

Honestly, if you want to keep your PC in good order, then yes I agree, uninstalling any bloatware (or better yet doing an install from a disk without any bloatware) would be the best thing. Other than that, I run a small program called "CCleaner" once a day to clear out my temporary files, and all is running like clockwork. Piriform - Download CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Speccy - Millions of users worldwide! Just don't use the "Registry" options with that program. They are totally uneccessary with Windows 7.

Besides it's excellent state-of-the-art Disk Cleaner, I clean up all of my installs with CCleaner Registry tab for 10 years without a single problem. Sometimes there are 200 or more registry shells needing cleanup.

If mborner has tempted you with a clean reinstall of factory OEM, I wrote up some tips on getting a perfect reinstall based on hundreds done: re-install windows 7

Or just to clean up a factory bloatware install: HP laptop has used up all four primary partitions

Thanks for the tip guys, I'll use them

Additionally, is there a way I can stop bloatware, as you guys put it, or anything else I can do to prolong the battery life?

I posted above tips on how to safely get rid of pre-installed bloatware until you can clean reinstall.