|
Not
everyone that has a computer knows how to maintain it. If you are new
to computers and to the World Wide Web, one of the most important things
you need to know is how to keep your computer tuned up. Like a car, if
your computer is not kept tuned, it will break down on you and your experience
using your computer and the Internet can become a nightmare.
How and why to Defragment your computer
There
is a basic fundamental maintenance item on your computer, called defragmenting.
This is specifically for those with computers running Microsoft Windows.
First let me explain why we have to defragment. It goes to say that if
we need to defragment, that means your hard drive is fragmenting. That
is the data that is written to it. Every time you run a program, files
are taken from your hard drive and loaded into memory, then placed back
on your hard drive. However the computer does not put it back where it
found the file in the first place. It finds the first available space
and places it there. If it doesn't fit in that space the file is broken
or fragmented and saved in multiple places. After a while you have file
fragments scattered all over the hard drive. This means that your computer
has to search longer and work harder for each file it needs, to run the
program you are using. If your computer fragments too much your hard drive
can lock up. This is not good at all. Now let me explain what defragmenting
a computer does. Windows comes with a program that, when run, takes these
files and reassembles them and then places them back on the hard drive
in one continuous file. Now your hard drive is up and running like it
should, baring any other problems.
Before
you can Defragment you must close all your programs accept for your sound
icon, systray, and explore. To do this press CONTROL > ALT> DELETE, and
highlight each item and click end task. If another window pops up, click
on end task. Repeat this procedure until you have cleared all of the items
accept Systray, and explorer. NOTE: these two functions must not be removed.
If you do you will have to reboot and start from scratch. After closing
all the extra programs, turn off your screen saver so that it does not
come on while defrag is running. Then you go to START > PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES
>SYSTEM TOOLS> SCANDISK. Once the scan disk window comes up, follow the
instructions. After a successful scan, you are ready to defragment your
hard drive. To defragment your hard drive, click on START > PROGRAMS >
ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > DISK DEFRAGMENTER. When the window comes
up, choose your hard drive as the disk to defragment. That is usually
Drive C: physical drive. Then click OK. Once you have been notified by
your computer that the defragmentation of your hard drive is complete,
exit the Disk Defragmenter, and then reboot. If you have no other problems
on your computer, this will bring your computer up to speed. Don't forget
to enable your screen saver again.
|
