The end of a year is a natural time for wrapping up loose
ends from the year past and positioning yourself--and your
PC--for a smooth start in the new year. In fact, taking
a few minutes now to focus on some basic upkeep for your desktop
hardware and software can pay off, big time, for months to
come.
So here are the tasks you’ll want to accomplish for
you and for your computer to safely take you both into the
new year:
1. Run SCANDISK and CHKDSK on each of your hard drives.
2. Update your anti-virus software; ensure it is set to be
running whenever your computer is on; and run it now.
3. Remove other threats that may be lurking in your computer
like ‘adware’ and ‘spyware’.
4. Get rid of junk files and other files you don’t need
that are just taking up space.
5. Defrag all your hard drives. This will make your
computer actually run faster.
6. Make sure your windows (Operating System) is up-to-date.
(Start/Help and Support/Keep your computer up-to-date
with Windows Update/).
7. Get your important files copied and removed from the computer!
Print this page out FIRST. Then close all running programs.
Then, here’s how you do it:
1. Run SCANDISK/CHKDSK. Scandisk is used to check the file
system for any problems. This utility is found on Window 95,
98 and ME systems. On Windows NT, 2000, and XP you can use
Chkdsk. The ScanDisk utility is located here...Start
> All Programs > Accessories > System Tools >
ScanDisk. Chkdsk can be run by running a command prompt,
then typing in 'chkdsk' and the drive letter... for example
' chkdsk c: '. This will check the drive in read only mode,
to fix any errors add a ' /f ' to the end, and then reboot.
(chkdsk c:/f).
2. Most Anti-virus software like Norton has an ‘Auto
Update’ function. Use that to ensure your antivirus
files are up to date.
3. ‘Spyware’ is software that has been installed
on your computer without your knowledge. It may have
come along with some free software (like a cute Screen saver)
you installed. It literally ‘spies’ on your
computer and periodically SENDS information to another computer.
This information may be passwords, or VISA numbers, or ?
Anyway, I use the free SpyBot at (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd)
to look for and remove these horrible little programs.
So download it or another one and run it now!
4. To get rid of files you have that you don’t
need you need to do two things. First: Start >
All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk
Cleanup, for each of your disk drives. After it reads
each drive it will give you options as to what files you want
to get rid of. At least choose – ‘Recycle
Bin’ and ‘Temporary files’. Second,
run the find command: Start > Find, you want to find
all these files: ‘*.tmp’ and ‘*.bak’.
Delete them since you don’t need them.
5. To defrag your hard disks: Start > All Programs
> Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
If your hard drives are very fragmented, you will really notice
a huge difference after you defrag – your computer will
run faster!
6. Get any updates to your operating system. Go
to http://www.windowsupdate.com/. It will search your
system and let you know of all the updates that are available.
Download and install them! Do this monthly.
7. BACK UP your data.
So, now you can sit back and relax knowing that your computer
is safe and will work for you into the new year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Link of the day: http://www.onlinehelp-uk.com/guide/health.htm
covers (in more detail) all that I have mentioned above).
Have a question or problem? Write me at BaliPCAdvisor@Gmail.com.
I’ll try and answer as soon as I can.
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