How to keep your computer running OK by Chronos
There are many versions of the Windows Operating System. I will try to cover the majority of tasks that you can do to keep your computer running smoothly and that are common to most operating systems.
Scan Disk
With everyday use, your computer's hard drive can become cluttered and messy. Files can become damaged, even the hard drive can be damaged by turning your computer off in the wrong way. Scan disk can fix most of these problems.
Scan disk has two options when you run it, standard and thorough. I would recommend running standard once a week, and thorough once a month. This way you can keep problems to a minimum.
How to use Scandisk:
Before you start to Scandisk, it is normally recommended to close all other programs down. The easiest way to do this is to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE and close every program running apart from SYSTRAY and EXPLORER. (This will save Scandisk from restarting over and over again.)
Click on the start button, choose Programs, Accessories and then System Tools. In this folder, click Scandisk. When Scandisk opens, select the drive that you wish to scan, (Normally C:) and select Standard or Thorough test. Click Start.
A brief look at what each option does:
The Standard test will check all the files and folders on the drive for errors. The Thorough test will do the Standard test, plus it will check your hard drive for any physical damage.
Disk Defragmenter
It's best to defragment your computer once a month, depending on your computer usage. What this does, is allow Windows to place your most used (favorite) software at the start of your drive allowing them to start faster. I personally would do this once a month after you have finished the Scandisk.
How to use Defragmenter:
First, turn off your screensaver: Right click on your desktop, pick Properties, Screensaver, change to "none". Click on the start button, choose Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter. Using the settings option, select both tabs and choose "Every time I defragment my hard drive." Then click OK. Choose which drive you would like to defragment, click OK and let the program run its course. If you have closed all the programs running in the background, and the Scandisk and/or Disk Defragment has finished, restart your computer to restore your normal settings.
Other Ways to Improve Your Computer's Performance
Clean out your temporary files
Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then click Disk Cleanup. This will automatically clean out your temporary files, empty the recycle bin, clean out your temporary internet files and do a whole lot more.
If you don't wish to use the Disk Cleanup, search your hard drive for folders with the name's Temp or Temporary folders and delete all files in there. Please note that not all the files can be deleted. Don't worry, this is normal.
Cleaning out your internet folders in Netscape
Open Netscape and click on Edit, choose Preferences. When the new window opens click on the + next to Advanced to expand it. Click on Cache, and choose the following Clear Memory Cache and Clear Disk Cache. This will clear out any files that you have stored on your computer.
Clean out your internet folders in Internet Explorer
Open Internet Explorer, and click on the Tools tab, choose Internet Options. Once the new window opens click on the Delete Files button in the Temporary Internet files section.
You may be wondering why I posted the information about using the Disc Cleanup utility and cleaning out your Internet files with using Internet Explorer. Don't they do the same thing? Yes, they do but you can clean out your temporary internet files using IE while you are surfing the internet without opening any other programs.
The other main thing to realize with improving your computers performance and making it run more trouble free, is the number of programs that start up with Windows. Things like instant messengers, Real Player, and hidden programs, all use memory on your computer. Before long, you run out of memory, cannot get other programs to run without error messages, or the worst thing, get the blue screen of death.
This can be cured by going to
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm and checking out the programs listed. I won't go into too much detail about what to do or what not to do because this site will help you to do this from start to finish. In my opinion, it is best to go through each individual entry and decide which you need to run.
