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SCANDISK
A CRUCIAL
UTILITY
to run on your computer for it's good
health:
1) Go to your desktop,
(L) click on MY COMPUTER, find your hard drive icon, usually C:, and (R) click
on it and choose properties.
2) The dialog box that
appears has a General tab and a tools tab at the top. (L) Click on tools,
and then find the box (there will be three) that says "error checking
status", click on "check now".
3) Next, be sure the hard
drive letter (C:) is highlighted, and click on "standard or thorough",
and you may also click on "automatically fix errors". Then
"start". This can take a long time or a short time (usually
standard
takes less time) depending on the size of your hard drive.
You should run
the thorough
at least every month. Your computer will thank you for it, by running
better.
For Windows 2000 and XP
Users: Here you click on tools, under error checking click check
now, check both boxes, and click start now. When a box pops up with
a long message basically telling you that scandisk will start when you
restart your computer, click yes. After you restart, There will be 5
steps for this utility to finish, and it will take a short 15- 30 minutes.
That's some improvement from Windows 98! Do this weekly for best
results.
Link to
7 weekly tasks
4) When the scandisk utility
is finished, it will pop up a menu that shows many facts. You should take
note of "bytes in bad sectors" (you want this to say 0 bytes in
bad sectors) , and if there were any errors on your drive and if they were fixed
(at the top). Then click "close" and OK out of there.
Your computer should work a
little better. One note, if you do notice that you have any bytes in bad
sectors, this is the beginning of the end of your hard drive. It could
last a long time, and it could go away in a hurry. In any case, back
up your important stuff. Bad sectors mean that your hard drive is starting to break down. If you
are experiencing any problems running programs, this could definitely have
something to do with it.
A tip:
For Windows 98 users:
Be sure to turn off your screensaver before you
scandisk. You can do this by double-clicking your "My Computer icon on the
desktop". Then, double-click on your "control panel". next double-click on
your "display icon", find "screensaver" in the display properties box, and click
on it. About the middle of the box, is a drop-down menu showing a
screensaver name, you want to click on this and find "none". Then click
"apply" at the bottom of the box, and then "ok". You have now turned off
your screensaver. To turn it back on, just do all the same except choose a
screensaver where there is "none" showing. (link
to Scandisk newsletter)
DEFRAGMENTING
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