I’ve explored and written about Windows Registry Keys, which is as we know by now is part of all Windows operating system’s software package. With that said let’s turn our attention to the tangible elements of the computer; its hardware components, and Windows system utilities. A computer’s life is prolonged if maintenance is performed periodically to keep it running efficiently.
Some retail stores offer a service package which takes the burden off the consumer to perform these tasks for a price. But to perform system clean ups isn’t difficult or time consuming as you might think and on top of that you may even find it rewarding taking matters into your own hands.
Windows Disk Clean Up:
View Temporary Internet files
Delete Temporary files in Internet Explorer
Windows Defragmenter
How often should I defragment my system?
To Analyze
To Defragment a Disk:
System Configuration Utility
System Restore – Windows 7
To Open System Restore
How to Create a Restore Point
Disclosure
Computer hardware consist of the mouse, keyboard, monitor, hard drive, sound and graphic cards, CD / DVD drive, memory chips, etc. It’s basically anything tangible…anything you can physically touch / hold in your hands.
Learning how to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your system puts you ahead of the curve. It’s really easy to learn how to diagnose problems, which can save you lots of time and money. I remember when I purchased my first personal computer; it was a NEC X86 and I was afraid to touch it.
But as time passed I learned I couldn’t hurt the thing; it did my bidding. As long as I didn’t’ knock it over, drop it, or spill coffee on it everything was Gucci. From then on it was easy for me to learn how to upgrade, install / uninstall software, and defrag. It was more fun than work. The following are step-by-step common tasks I use to keep my computer working efficiently:
Windows Disk Clean Up:
To help your computer fun faster and regain hard disk space Disk Clean up is a Windows utility that will remove temporary files, empty the Recycle Bin, and unused system files.
- Click the Start button > In the Search programs and files type cleanmgr.ex
- In the drive list click the hard disk you wish to clean and > click OK.
- In the Dialog box on the Disk Clean up tab check or uncheck the files you want to delete or omit for the cleanup process > click OK.
- In the message box click > Delete files.
View Temporary Internet Files:
Removing IEs temporary Internet files will delete previous viewed webpages and speed up the computer.
- Click Start >In the Search programs and files type iexplore > click Tools on the menu bar > the General tab is displayed > under Browsing history > click Settings
- In the Website Data Settings Dialog box > click View files
Delete Temporary Files in Internet Explorer:
Click Start > In the Search programs and files type iexplore > Click Tools on the menu bar > the General tab is displayed > under Browsing history > click Delete
Beware: If you check the Cookies and Website data box and have a shopping cart stored per se at Best Buy or Amazon it will delete your visited website preferences and shopping basket.
Windows Defragmenter:
Over time files are added to the hard drive and they become fragmented, in other words the clusters making up the files are no longer adjacent to one another. Fragmented files slow down a computer in basically two ways:
1. The system has to keep track of all the scatters clusters.
2. The hard drive’s read/write head assembly has to move around to different locations on the drive’s surface to consolidate a single file.
As we request information from the computer by clicking links or typing on the keyboard sometimes it takes awhile before we get a response. This is happening because files are scattered across the hard drive and the read/write heads are moving inefficiently joining the files needed to produce our requests. In other words, the files are discontinuous and need to be continuous clusters.
This is when a utility created by Microsoft comes into play and it called Disk Defragmenter. It collects and rejoins files to their associated clusters. After defragmenting the hard drive is becomes responsive and runs more efficiently. This task also can prolongs the life of the hard drive because the mechanical movements are reduced.
How often should I defragment my system?
Users who like myself delete files often and constantly revise should perform defragmentation. Although I sometimes take advantage and use the Analyze feature and check the View Report button to see if my drive actually needs a defrag. Defrag can also be scheduled to run when ever you like. I would suggest to defrag your system at least 2 times a month.
How to open Disk Defragmenter in Windows 7:
1. Click the Start button > In the Search programs and files field type dfrgui.
To Analyze:
This process will display the percentage of the disk is fragmented; if the disk is above 10% it should be defragged.
1. Select the disk and click the Analyze Disk button.
To Defragment a Disk:
Select a disk > click Defragment Disk button. Just in case you want to stop the process you have the option of aborting by Stop Operation.
When completed > Click Close.
System Configuration Utility:
System configuration a/k/a MSCONFIG is used to identify and troubleshoot problems which prevent your system from starting properly. The Dialog box has tabs and each one represents a specific type of configuration. The following is a description of each System Configuration:
The General tab: It lists your choices for startup.
1. Normal startup: It starts up Windows normally.
2. Diagnostic startup: Starts basic services and drivers only and is used to rule out basic Windows files as the issue.
3. Selective startup: Start basic services and drivers and applications you choose.
The Boot tab:
1. Safe boot– Minimal: At startup opens the Windows command line in safe mode starting only critical system services without Networking.
2. Safe boot – Alternate shell: Opens the command line on startup in safe mode running only critical system services without Networking and our friendly graphical interface.
3. Safe boot – Active Directory repair: Opens in safe mode with our user-friendly graphical interface with critical services and Active Directory.
4. Safe boot – Network: At startup opens with the user friendly interface in safe mode with critical services and Networking.
5. No GUI (Graphical User Interface) boot: Skips the Windows Welcome screen on startup.
6. Base log: The %SystemRoot%Ntbtlog.txt contains data from the startup process.
7. Base video: At Startup the user interface is opened in minimal VGA mode.
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