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New Year’s Resolution - Clean Computers

With the amount of information available for download on the internet, it’s easy to quickly fill up your valuable hard drive space and turn your computer into a sluggish, unresponsive monster. Keeping your hard drive clean is essential to the high performance that the latest computers can achieve. Fortunately, it’s a simple process; one that can easily be performed on a regular basis and, with some organization, keep your computer running like a well-oiled machine.

You can discover how much hard drive space is available on your computer by accessing the properties of your C: drive (STEPS: Start> My Computer> Right Click on C: Drive Icon and Click Properties from drop down menu). A pie graph will show you the amount of used and unused space for each of your drives. Check this often to keep an idea of how much space you are using.

There are six simple steps to clearing up your hard drive:

• Uninstall unused programs. Many times a new program will come along that looks fun to have or play with, but after a week or two you simply stop using it. You must use the uninstall function of Windows for the program to be removed safely and completely. (STEPS: Start> Control Panel> Add or Remove Programs)
  
  
• Clean out temporary files. When your computer is not shut down properly, it will pass information from memory into fragmented files. Also, while you are running programs, your computer will write information that it does not immediately need into temporary files. You can delete these temporary files safely by using the Disk Cleanup option in your System Tools. (STEPS: Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Cleanup)
  
  
• Empty your internet cache. As you surf the internet your computer stores web pages and images into a temporary internet cache so that it can quickly recall and access information when you move back and forth between pages. This backup information can quickly add up and eat hard drive space. (STEPS: Start> Control Panel> Internet Options> Delete Files)
  
  
• Empty your mail programs of clutter. It’s easy to browse through your email and leave old messages there, promising yourself you’ll sort them out later. One or two messages don’t take up much space, but hundreds certainly do. Make it a habit that when new emails come in, they are either filed immediately or thrown away. Set your email program to empty your deleted items folder each time you close your mail program.
  
  
• Empty your recycle bin. Once you’ve emptied your drive of cluttering, unnecessary programs; empty your recycle bin to remove what has been placed there in the process. (STEPS: From Your Desktop, Right Click On The Recycle Bin Icon> Click On Empty Recycle Bin)
  
  
• Scandisk and Defrag. When Windows installs programs, it will put the files it needs anywhere that it finds free space, and not directly after the last program installed. As a result, your hard drive has patches of empty space on it that are not big enough to fit a full program, and will result in a drive space error if you attempt to install something new. Scandisk your drive to check for lost file fragments and to fix any errors it finds, then Defrag to pack all of the program files together at the beginning of your drive. This will clear out those empty patches and move all of the free space you’ve just created to the end of your drive. (STEPS: Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter)
  

Remember that the cleaner your hard drive is, the better your machine will respond! In order for your computer to be user friendly, it must have a friendly user. Be your computer’s best friend and clean out the cobwebs regularly.

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