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Windows System Maintenance Tips

Periodic maintenance is essential to keep your computer humming along. Here are a few tips for your windows operating system.

Disk CleanUp

The Disk CleanUp is part of all versions of Windows 98 and higher. It does quite a few things to free up hard disk space including:

-- Deleting temporary Internet files.
-- Deleting downloaded program files.
-- Emptying the Recycle Bin.
-- Deleting files from your temporary folder.
-- Deleting files created by other Windows 98 or Windows Me tools.
-- Removing optional Windows 98 or Windows Me components that you do not use.
-- Removing installed programs that you do not use.
-- Removing all but the most recent Restore Point.
-- Compressing old files on the hard disk.

To use Disk Cleanup, double-click My Computer, right-click the hard disk on which you want to free space, and select Properties. Click Disk Cleanup on the General tab.

On the Disk Cleanup tab, click to select the check boxes of the files that you want to remove, click OK, Yes, and OK. When done, click the More Options tab. Here, you can remove Windows components that you do not use. On the More Options tab, you can also remove installed
programs and restore points, too.

Disk Defragmenter and Chkdsk

(Chkdsk which replaced ScanDisk, found in earlier versions of Windows) are important tools. They get the hard disk in tip-top shape.

Run these as a pair at least monthly, starting with Chkdsk. As its name implies, ChkDsk scans the hard drive for errors. It should be set to correct any errors automatically. The most common type is orphaned data located on the hard drive. This is most often caused by an improper shutdown or system crash.

To use Chkdsk, click Start and My Computer. Right-click the hard drive you want to check, and click Properties. Select the Tools tab and click Check Now. Check both boxes. Click Start. You'll get a message that the computer must be rebooted to run a complete check. Click Yes and reboot. Chkdsk will take awhile, so run it when you don't need the machine.

Next comes Disk Defragmenter. When you save a file, bits and pieces of the file can be scattered on the hard drive. Disk Defragmenter puts these bits in contiguous order, so the file can be more easily reconstructed. That speeds up opening files.

Disk Defragmenter shares the Tools tab with Chkdsk. Click the Defragment Now button.

The middle of the night is a great time to do maintenance on your computer. But you don't want to get up then to start Scan Disk or Disk Defragmenter. The answer is the Task Scheduler, at least in Windows 98 and ME.

To schedule an item in Windows 98 or ME:
--Double-click My Computer
--Double-click Scheduled Tasks
--Select the program you want in the window or click Browse
--Follow the wizard to schedule times and days.

The scheduling situation is a chore in Windows XP. ScanDisk is not present. Instead, XP uses a program called Check Disk (or ChkDsk). If you want Check Disk to fix errors automatically (and
you should), here's the best way to run it:

--Click Start>My Computer
--Right-click the drive you want to check and click Properties>Tools
--Click Check Now
--Check "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"
--Click Start. On the information window, click Yes. Reboot the computer.

Check Disk can take quite awhile to run. If you were planning to run it overnight, that should not be a problem. Use the process above when you have finished using the computer for the night.

When Check Disk completes its work, it reboots the computer. To schedule Disk Defragmenter, you need a password. So, when the computer reboots, it will ask for the password. Since you'll be
snoozing, you can't enter the password. The boot process will then stop until the next day, when you enter the password.

Unfortunately, you can't run Disk Defragmenter the same night as Check Disk, unless you want to get up at 3 a.m. and enter the password. So figure on running Disk Defragmenter the following night. It is
best to run Check Disk before Disk Defragmenter, so any disk problems will be fixed.

Registry

Another area that can stand an occasional scrubbing is the Registry. This massive database tells Windows how to run. As you install and delete programs, remnants are usually left behind in the Registry. Eventually, this debris can make Windows shaky.

The Registry is a critical part of Windows. Before cleaning it, back it up. Click Start and Run. Type "regedit" (without the quotes) in the box and click OK. In the Registry Editor, click File and Export. Select a folder in which to save the backup. Name the file Registry Backup and click Save. If cleaning the Registry leaves your computer unstable, double-click the Registry Backup file to restore it.

Despite regular maintenance, Windows XP can still misbehave. Here's where Dr. Watson can help diagnose the problem. Dr. Watson creates a log file that lists everything that happened. It is difficult for the everyday owner to understand, but could help a technician. Open Dr. Watson by clicking Start and Run. Enter "drwtsn32" in the box (without the quotation marks) and click OK.

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