The Senior Website

If you have no computer guru, and would at times like to toss your PC out the window, then read on.  You might find a bit of help here.

Do you take care of the hard drive on your PC?  Do you even know it’s a good idea?  It can help things run faster if you do.

It is quite easy actually.

There are three basic chores:  repel viruses etc., start on a diet, clean your room.      (That sounds like what one might say to a teenager.)

#1 Repel Viruses

Protection via spyware, and  anti virus programs.

There are many.  Some better than others..  I am not qualified to judge.  But, I will tell you what I use and have been very happy with.

For Spyware, I have used Spy Sweeper for several years with good results. There is a charge but it is reasonable.  www.webroot.com This can be set to run automatically.

I also use Avast, a virus protection.  Free at www.avast.com This one you have to remember to run, but it is super simple.  And effective.

Lately we’ve been subject to malicious malware.  There is free protection for that as well.   www.malwarebytes.com . Vista has its own.

#2 Involves how many programs are running at start-up.  This is where you diet!

Programs can put themselves on the start list.  You may not even realize it when it occurs.

To check, click on start.  Everything on the left  side list, lower half, is a program that runs when you start your computer.  It doesn’t mean that you can see it, or use it without clicking on it.  It basically means it is at the ready.

Left click on anything you don’t think you want or use often and on the pop-up list you can click Remove From This List.

This is way simplified.  But, if I try to get very technical I will cause a serious problem.!  There are internal windows files that run at start, but, I believe it best for most of us to leave those be. You can get good thorough advice  on this, from the “stump the pc club” at www.ocregister.com/link/pcclub

#3 is a bit more complicated.

By proper terms it is disk clean-up, disk error checking, and defragging.

To me it is cleaning up the file room.

I think of my computer as a big file cabinet.  Naturally, things get put into the wrong file folder now and then.  And things that don’t even belong, {child’s toy?} occasionally show up.  Of course there are the things I thought I wanted, i.e. news paper article, but no longer do.

Windows accumulates debris or what are known as temporary files for several reasons which can result in quite a bit of wasted hard drive space over time.

One source is due to how your Internet browser functions. Each time you visit an Internet site, the page that you are viewing is downloaded to your hard drive and it resides there until it is removed. These are called temporary Internet files and they accumulate over time. You don’t need them, as the next time you want to go to that site you would not try to find it on your hard drive, you would just type in the address.

These accumulated files can slow down your computer and should be removed periodically.

One good reason is that when an anti-virus program scans your disk, it wastes a lot of time scanning these junk files in addition to everything else.

One way to cleanup your drive is to use the built-in “Disk Cleanup” tool.

With Windows XP or Vista, go to “Start,” then “All Programs,” “Accessories,” “System Tools,” and then “Disk Cleanup.” If you have more than one disk drive, you can choose the disk to cleanup by clicking the drop-down box. Normally, you will only have one drive, the C-Drive.

A new box will appear and tell you what windows thinks could be removed (cleaned up). You have the choice to check or uncheck each item.  When you click OK the window will go away and the job is done.

These tasks should be performed in this order. You’ll want to clean up your hard drive prior to performing the other tasks so you don’t waste time processing unwanted files. Also, you will not be able to run a successful defrag if your drive has any errors on it — that’s why Disk Checking should be performed prior to defrag.

The easiest way to run Disk Checking is to open My Computer, right-click the drive you want to check, usually the C drive, and select Properties. Select the Tools tab and click Check Now.

When the next window opens place checkmarks in both boxes. Windows will inform you that this task will run the next time Windows starts up. If you want to do it now, close all programs and go to Restart.

As the computer restarts the checking will begin. You’ll get a black screen with white writing.

Allow some time for this to take place depending on your hard drive size and speed. For me it took over 2 hours. I have a 450 GB hard drive and am on the internet a lot.

Depending on your pattern of usage it is a good idea to clean disk every 3 to 6 months. The more you do so, the less time it will take.

Don’t go away. You’re not done yet! We still have to put all those miss-placed papers in the proper file folders.

If you are watching this whole process happen, you’ll like this part. It is more colorful!

You can start the defragging process by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. It will pull up a screen that has two wide bars across it.
One shows before defrag, the other after. So you can watch the process!

If you click the Analyze button first, another window will open allowing you to view a report. If the fragmentation is above 10 percent, it’s a good time to defragment your drive.

The directions above apply equally to Windows XP and Vista.

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. Or follow it in the Orange County Register.

Thank you to Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member, for his help with this article.