SPRING-CLEANING YOUR PC

(to keep it running in tip top condition)

Check List:

Important tasks:

  • Uninstall programs and Windows components you never use
  • Delete left over temporary files
  • Run Scandisk
  • Run Disk Defragmenter

Less important:

  • Empty the Recycle bin
  • Delete temporary Internet files
  • Delete downloaded program files
  • Delete old files created by Scandisk

menu
System Tools menu

The easiest way to carry out these tasks is via the Start menu:

Start / programs / Accessories / System Tools Listed among these tools are Disk Cleanup, Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Cleanup: This utility is designed principally to help users free up disk space. It brings together shortcuts to some of the different disk maintenance tools which come with Windows

The first screen: "Disk Cleanup" gives a number of check boxes which enable you to choose which types of unnecessary file you would like to delete. Choose the options you want by clicking in the checkbox to place a tick there and click on OK.

Temporary Internet files: These are downloaded and stored on your computer's hard disk when you visit web pages on the Internet. Some of them are the files you see when you are off-line and click on Windows Explorer's "History" button. They do not do any harm, but can take up a lot of disk space.

Downloaded program files: These are small ActiveX and Java applets downloaded from certain Internet web pages. Again they do no harm, but take up unnecessary space especially if you don't visit that web site again.

Recycle bin: This is the place where files go when you "delete" them. By default takes up to 10% of disk space.

Temporary files: Many programs create temporary files when you are working. These are normally deleted when you close the program. However when things go wrong and the computer "hangs" these temporary files may be left behind. This is particularly the case when printing or scanning. The presence of these leftover files not only uses up disk space, but can also create printing and scanning problems and even problems with anti-virus programs. It is advisable to delete them.

(Note: Diskcleanup does a partial cleanup. If you want to do a thorough clean-out of temporary files you must use Windows Explorer or My Computer.

  1. Make sure all you are not running any major programs (e.g. Word etc.)
  2. Open My Computer / (C:) / Windows / Temp
  3. Hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and press A ( this selects All the files and folders in the Temp folder. Press the Delete key to delete them all.)

The second screen "More Options" Provides shortcuts to Control Panel's Add/Remove programs. It is worth removing programs and Windows Setup components you never use because:

A Windows component to get rid of is Windows Scripting Host - Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs/ Windows Setup /Accessories / Windows Scripting Host. This component is rarely used by the average home user, but it makes your PC susceptible to certain types of viral attack. The Third screen "Settings" enables you to run Disk Cleanup automatically should the disk run short of space.

Scandisk:

The computer stores programs and documents as files on its hard disk. The disk is divided into sections called clusters and has an indexing system which numbers these clusters and keeps a note of which files are stored in which clusters using a table called the File Allocation Table (FAT). This indexing system can sometimes get corrupted. Scandisk checks for such errors and corrects them (Standard test). In a further test Scandisk can check the surface of the disk to make sure there has been no physical damage (thorough). It is advisable to run a Standard test once a week and a thorough test every year or so (or when you are getting "Error reading Drive C: " messages). Note: Scandisk may find lost pieces of information and save them as files in the root folder of the drive. These files will be named something like FILE0001.CHK. They very rarely contain anything useful so it is safe to delete them. You can prevent Scandisk from creating such files by clicking on the Advanced button and selecting the Free radio button under the Lost file Fragments section.

Disk Defragmenter

When information is written to disk then erased and then new files are saved, the information on the disk becomes fragmented. E.g. Say you save 10 small files then erase 5 of them at random. Later when you save a new large file it will be split up and stored as fragments in the small spaces left by the 5 erased files. Thus after a period of working many files become fragmented and the computer slows down since it has to hunt around for all the fragments which make up a file. Disk Defragmenter re-organises the information on the disk so that the files are contiguous (in one chunk). It is worth running defragmenter about once a month, or more often if you create and delete a lot of files. Defragmenter can take a very long time if you have a large hard disk. The version with Windows ME seems to be faster than Windows 98.

There is an option under Settings: "Rearrange files so programs start faster"

Here's Microsoft's blurb about this option: " When a program starts (loads), it typically reads an EXE (executable) file and various DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files. However, only portions of the EXE and DLL files are read during start. Furthermore, these reads are not sequential and jump back and forth, both within the same file and between files. Every one of these non sequential accesses translate to a disk seek and a performance penalty. Windows 98 Disk Defragmenter tries to place disk clusters in the order they are read, so these seeks are eliminated or greatly reduced, shortening the time needed to start the program. To record the disk access patterns of programs during their startup, Windows 98 uses a process called Task Monitor. Task Monitor automatically monitors programs you use and records their disk access patterns during their start. In addition to access patterns, Task Monitor also records the number of times you use programs. This usage information enables Disk Defragmenter to favour more frequently used programs in optimizing the disk."

It is questionable how much of an improved performance you obtain from these re-arrangements, but it seems to slow down the process of defragmenting.

IMPORTANT NOTE: re running of Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter.

These programs tune up the hard disk and cannot work properly if other programs try to write to the disk while they are working. Symptoms of this are when Scandisk or Defragmenter stop in mid-stream and start all over again. To avoid such problems you must clear the computer's RAM of all programs which might interfere with the disk before running Scandisk or Defragmenter. There are some small third party utility programs which can do this easily, but in the absence of such a utility proceed as follows:

  • Close all major applications
  • Right-click in the middle of the Desktop / Properties / Screensaver / ...select none / OK
  • Right-click in the middle of the Desktop / Active Desktop ...make sure it is off
  • Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys and press the Delete key. The Close program Dialog box will appear. You need to close down all the programs listed here except EXPLORER and SYSTRAY. Use the cursor arrow keys to highlight the program you want to close and click on End Task. The Close Program dialog box will disappear. Press CTRL+ALT+ Delete again to re-open the dialog box. Continue in this fashion until only EXPLORER and SYSTRAY are listed then click on Cancel.

Tips: An alternative method of running Scandisk or Defragmenter: My Computer / right-Click on the icon of your hard drive / Properties / Tools. If you choose Check Now under Errorchecking Status you run Scandisk If you choose Defragment Now under Defragmentation Status you run Disk defragmenter.

Christine Betterton-Jones May 2001