This is a step by step guide to maintaining your
computer.
General maintenance of your computer’s hard drive is
essential to continued smooth operation of your computer. General hmaintenance of your computer’s hard
drive is easy and, if performed regularly, can keep your computer in top
condition at all times.
In this guide we will be focusing on:
Section I
Maintaining your computer’s hard drive.—Page3.
A. Why maintain my computer’s
hard drive?—page3.
B. A general overview of disc maintenance
programmes included with Micro soft windows.—page4.
C. How to manually delete
unwanted files from your computer.—page4..
D. How to use disc clean up,
(.)—Page6.
E. How to use disc
defragmenter—Page7.
F. How to use scandisk—Page8.
G. How to use maintenance wizard,
(WINDOWS 98 ONLY.)—Page9.
Section II General information on virus scanning and firewall software for
use when surfing the internet.—Page9.
A. What is a firewall?—Page 10
B. Why do I need firewall
software and where can I obtain it?—Page11
C. What is virus scanning
software?—Page12.
D. Where can I obtain virus
scanning software?—Page13
A. Why
maintain my computer’s hard drive?
Your computer’s hard drive (hard disc,) is where all
the information is held that operates your computer. Any programmes you add or remove from this
drive either decreases or increases the amount of disc space available to you
for the storage of data. When a
programme is either installed or uninstalled, files are created by the
programme to help it perform various actions.
Although programmes generally try to remove all these “Temporary
files,” some do not manage to remove all
these files. Also, when a programme is
installed or uninstalled, it leaves a gap “A fragment,” in your hard
drive. While this is not detrimental to
your computer on a day to day basis, continual installing and uninstalling
without maintaining your computer will result in a “Fragmented hard drive.” This state will mean your computer will run
slower than it might if your hard drive was not fragmented.
In windows 95 and 98 and xp, there is a feature
called the “recycle bin.” This feature
means that when you delete a file from your computer, it will be stored in this
“bin” until it is removed from the
bin. This means that, if the recycle bin
is not regularly emptied, it will become full and you will not be able to
safely delete files from your computer.
C. How to
manually delete files.
Before you use any disc
maintenance tools, you must delete unwanted files from your hard drive. After you have deleted all unwanted work
related files, you will have to go to other directories to seek and delete
other files placed on your computer’s hard drive during normal operation. These files are found in the following
directories. The “Temp” directory holds
files generated by installing or uninstalling programmes, all these files can
be removed. The “Temporary internet
files” folder contains files that are put onto your computer when you surf the
internet. These can be removed. Recycle bin, this is where all deleted files
are stored, please make sure you no longer need these files before deleting
them. Deleting files from the recycle
bin is a permanent action and no files deleted from the recycle bin can be
retrieved. Once you have checked the
recycle bin and are sure you no longer need these files, delete them also. In the route directory of your drive, usually
the C drive, there might be files that Scandisk has previously created from lost
file fragments, these will be labelled with the suffix “.chk,” these can be deleted, but be careful not to
delete other files from the route directory.
The “Temp” and “temporary
internet files” directories are found in
the “Windows” directory on your hard drive.
To access these directories, from the desktop, press the start button,
point to programmes, point to windows explorer and then double click the
“windows” directory. In that directory
are directories named “Temp” and “Temporary internet files.” Select these directories and delete their
contents, deleting the contents of these directories will not compromise your
system. Then exit windows explorer.
From the desktop, press the
start button, point to settings, click control panel, and then click “internet
options. Click “delete temporary
internet files,” You will be asked if
you would like to delete all “off line content.” This is pages that have been automatically
saved to your computer’s hard drive while you surf the internet. Check this box to have all off line content
deleted along with your temporary internet files, then press okay. Then go to “clear history.” Click this and press okay. Go to okay.
Then exit control panel. Please
make sure your recycle bin is empty by returning to windows explorer and
verifying it is empty. To empty the
recycle bin, from the desktop, click the start button, point to programmes, click windows explorer
and then select recycle bin. Click the
file menu and select “empty recycle bin.”
Press yes and then exit windows explorer.
D. How to use disc clean up, (.)
From the desktop, click on the start button, point
to “programmes,” point to “Accessories,”
then to “System tools.” Click on
disc clean up. Disc clean up will then
check all available drives, such as your floppy drive and then present you with
a selection of drives to clean. Select
the drive and then select okay. The
[programme will then present you with a list of files it has found that can be
safely deleted from your system. Select okay
and then follow the instructions on your screen.
E. How to use
disk defragmenter.
To access the disk defragmenter, from the desktop,
click on the start button, point to “programmes,” point to “Accessories,” then to “System tools.” Click on disk defragmenter. A list will appear with the drives you can
choose to defragment. Select your drive
and press okay. Disk defragmenter will notify
you when it has finished defragmenting your hard drive. You can then exit the programme, or choose
another drive to defragment.
Defragmentation of media such as CD roms is not possible.
F. How to use Scandisk.
In windows 98
To access scandisk, from the desktop, click on the
start button, point to “programmes,” point to “Accessories,” then to “System tools.” Click on scandisk. The programme will present you with a list of
drives to scan, select the drive you wish to check for errors and press
okay. Scandisk will notify you of a completed
scan, giving you information about the drive scanned, bad sectors on that
drive, errors encountered, and whether scandisk fixed or was unable to fix the
errors. You can then choose to exit the
programme or to scan another drive.
Scandisk can be set to perform two types of scan, a standard scan, which
checks files and folders for errors, and a thorough scan, which checks the
surface of your hard drive for errors.
In both cases, scandisk can be set to prompt you for action when an
error is encountered, or fix the errors automatically. It must be noted that the default setting for
both the default standard and thorough scans are sufficient for disc
maintenance, but can be customised for your particular requirements.
In windows xp, the deep
scan can only be performed while restarting the pc, which you will be informed
of. To perform a scandisk on an xp
machine, go to my computer, then highlight the drive you want to scan, if the c
drive, the normal system drive is selected, nd a deep scan is needed, that will
be notified to you.
To do a scan of drive c,
open my computer, then highlight drive c, then right click, then select
properties, then tools, then check for errors, you can just hit ok, or if you
want a deeper scan, check the boxes then hit ok. If you check the boxes, you will be told that
the scan cannot be completed, as the disc check needs files used by windows,
and that a scan will be performed on the next reboot, click yes to skedual a
scan when you next reboot the pc. Other
drives, that are not the system drive, can be deep scanned with all options
without restarting the pc.
G. How to use maintenance wizard, (WINDOWS 98 ONLY.)
Maintenance wizard enables you to set a time
when maintenance is automatically performed on your computer. This could be during the early hours, when you
are not using the computer for other tasks.
Maintenance wizard streamlines cleaning up, defragmenting and scanning
your disc for errors into one easy step.
As maintenance wizard uses the same settings as scandisk, disk
defragmenter, and disc clean up, all that is needed to perform an automatic
maintenance cycle is to follow these steps.
From the desktop, click on the start button, point to “programmes,”
point to “Accessories,” then to “System
tools.” Click on maintenance
wizard. The programme will present you
with a selection box, select either “perform maintenance now,” or “customise each maintenance setting
myself.” If you would like to customise
your own maintenance settings, to select the time for automatic maintenance,
alter what each programme does during the maintenance process etc, select
“customise each maintenance setting myself,” and follow the instructions on
your screen.
Section
II General information about firewall
and virus scanning software.
A. What is a firewall?
A firewall is a programme that stops hackers
from accessing your computer while you are using the internet. Your phone connection to the internet can be
seen by computer users with the right software and then can be used to access
information held on your computer. This
means that personal files can be read, deleted or modified. You might not know if you’re being hacked,
and you might not realise it until it’s too late. Firewall software can advise you of attempts
to hack into your computer and prevent it.
If you hold personal information, such as credit card details, phone
numbers etc on your hard drive and you surf the internet, it is advisable to
purchase firewall software.
B. Why
do I need firewall software, and where can I obtain it.
Firewall software is essential for anyone who
is intending to surf the internet. Many
people now hold credit card details, phone numbers, addresses etc on their hard
drives and may not give a thought to the security of their files. With the prevalence of undesirable software
on the internet to aid hackers and other malicious persons, it is essential to
be protected. A firewall programme will
protect your files from unauthorised access.
You can purchase firewall software from
office supplies retailers, as well as computer software and hardware
retailers. There are many firewall
products on the market, some are even downloadable from the internet.
C.
What is virus scanning software, and why do I need it?
A virus is malicious code written by someone
to defile files on a computer. A virus
can be as little as every time the letter
I is pressed in a document, a man runs onto the screen and carries it
away, pinching all your I’s, to a programme that could seriously damage your
computer and spread itself to other computers via your e-mail software without
your knowledge. Virus scanning software
detects this code and destroys it. The
important thing is to keep this software updated regularly to keep your virus
protection up to date. Virus scanning
software is essential!
D.
Where can I obtain virus scanning software?
Virus scanning software can be purchased from
software retailers and office supplies stores.
Remember, viruses can seriously damage your computer, so make sure
you’re protected!
I, MARTIN WILSHER, here by assert and give notice of my right under section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of the foregoing article.
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© MARTIN WILSHER 2001
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