PC TLC
Sluggish? Bursting at the seams? In need of a facelift?
No, I'm not referring to the backlash of your summer indulgences. I'm talking about your PC!
Like us, our PC's are often over-worked and under-appreciated, and from time to time need a little TLC to keep them on track. So if, like you, your computer is struggling with the work load, here are a few suggestions as to how you can give it a much needed overhaul.
Defragment Your Disk
Fragmentation of your Hard Disk occurs as files are deleted and new ones are added. Picture your Hard Disk as a bookshelf. As you remove books from the shelf, gaps are left in between the remaining volumes. When you buy a new book, rather than attempting to slot it into an existing gap, you push all the books together, leaving space at the end of the shelf, where you can place your new volume. In essence, Defragmentation is this process of pushing all your existing files together in order to leave more free space on your Hard Drive. It enables your system to gain access to files and folders and save new ones more efficiently. The Disk Defragmenter tool within Windows enables you to carry out this procedure, simply and quickly.
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To open Disk Defragmenter, click Start, point to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and click Disk Defragmenter
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Click the volume that you want to check for fragmented files and folders and click Analyze. When the analysis is complete the Analysis Display appears and a dialogue box displays whether you need to defragment the drive
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Click View Report to view the analysis report, which displays more detailed information and a list of the most fragmented files
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Click the drive that you want to defragment and then click Defragment. When defragmentation is complete the results are displayed
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Click View Report to view the defragmentation report, which displays more detailed information about the drive you defragmented.
Remove Unneeded Files
Space on your PC's Hard Drive can be taken up with Windows components that you are no longer using, temporary internet files and programs which you no longer use. Windows Disk Cleanup searches your Hard Drive and displays all of these unneccessary files and programs, which you can safely delete, in order to create more free space.
- To open Disk Cleanup, click Start, point to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and click Disk Cleanup and use the Wizard to clear space on your hard disk
Clean Your Desktop
If your desktop is looking a little cluttered, now is the time to give it a bit of a Tidy Up. You can remove an individual icon from your desktop by right clicking the icon and choosing Delete. Alternatively, if you are running Windows XP or later, you can run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard which will display a list of desktop icons that have not been used for 60 days or more. This enables you to remove the icons you no longer require on your desktop.
- Click Start, Control Panel, and double click Display
- On the Desktop tab click Customize Desktop
- Under Desktop Cleanup click Clean Desktop Now
- Follow the directions in the Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Discard your unwanted files and folders
Now is a good time to have a quick flick through your existing documents and delete those which you no longer use or need to retain. Your e-mail folders deserve particular attention. Delete items from your Inbox and Sent Items which you no longer require.
- CTRL A highlights all items within a particular folder to delete
- Holding down CTRL and clicking individual items enables you to highlight specific items within a list to delete
- Holding down Shift and clicking to the end of a group enables you to highlight a block of items to delete
Empty the Recycle Bin
- On the desktop, double click the Recycle Bin icon
- On the File Menu click Empty Recycle Bin
