A computer is just like your car, there are things that you should do to it periodically to keep it running in pristine condition.  If you don’t maintenance your computer, and you start to see signs of sluggishness or errors, running these commands will help.  Some may take a while, so pull up a chair or start it before you go to bed.

1) Run a Disk Clean-up – A disk clean-up cleans un-necessary space from your computer.  Every time you install files and surf the internet, files are placed on your computer.  This takes up space and makes your computer slow.  This action should be done at least once a week or sooner depending on how much you browse the net.  This option can be found at, Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools

2) Run a Scan of your Anti-virus Software – Open up your virus program and run a scan to check for viruses.  If you don’t have any software installed, you can get a free version at http://www.avast.com.  All you do is register to get a code every 6 months.

3) Run a Disk Defragmentor – Defragging is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file.  Basically everytime you install a file or create a data file, it creates fragments.  Running a defrag puts everything back were it should be.  This helps make your computer run faster. This option can be found at, Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools

4) Run a Scandisk – Running a Chkdsk or Scandisk is a tool that looks for problems on your hard drive.  It scans and fixes any issues.  Go into my computer, locate your C: drive, right click your mouse and go to properties.  Click on the tools tab and click on check now.  Make sure that you check the two checkmarks for automatically fixing errors and checking bad sectors.

5) Uninstall Programs – When you first buy a computer, sometimes it comes with a lot of un-needed programs or over the years, you have’t deleted anything.  To uninstall a program correctly, go to your, Start Menu > Control Panel and Add and Remove Programs (For Vista, Programs & Features).  Be sure you know what you are uninstalling.  Google it if you have to.  If you are unsure, leave it alone.

6) Delete Files – Browse through personal files and backup and/or delete any that you don’t need to clear up space.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 1:26 am and is filed under Computers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.