With so much in our lives depending upon computers it only makes sense that we do all we can to keep their systems running as smoothly as possible, like every thing else computers require regular maintenance to help then keep our lives running smoothly. As Benjamin Franklin said well over two hundred years ago; “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” What follows are a few simple steps of prevention that will keep you computer running smoother and faster as well as longer. A bit of proof is my eleven year old Compaq Presario that’s still up and running a number of my desktop publishing programs.
Each time we sign on to the internet, look up an article or photograph, listen to a sample of music, or create an e-card a temporary file is made. Over time thousands of these temporary files build up and slow down our hard drives. Depending on how much surfing you’ve been doing, you could have accumulated a real chunk of these files on you computer. A good habit to get into is to utilize a program like “Clean Sweep” or ‘Sweep Disk” to clear out these useless files. Many Windows based systems already have the utility or a similar one installed. Check in your programs under “Accessories” or “System Utilities.” The program will scan your hard drive for temporary files and clear them out for you. It may also archive old or unused files by compressing them. You’ll be surprised by how many bytes you’ll be able to free up with this simple task. I find a bit of weekly sweeping really makes a difference in my computers performance.
Eventually there comes a time when even a good sweeping won’t clear up a sluggish computer, that’s when it’s time to really deep clean your hard drive. As we delete files or unused programs we create disconnected chunks of information on our hard drives. These fragments or rather the gaps between the fragments slow our computers down each time information is read by our systems. As more and more gaps accumulate our computer loses more speed. When that happens it’s time to defragment the drive. Once again many systems already have a disk defragmenter in the “Systems Utilities” folder.
This process takes a bit of time so it’s not a good idea to perform this task when you’re in a hurry. I wouldn’t do it to kill time when the boss is expected shortly to go over those plans with you either. You need to set aside about twenty minutes to a half hour to run this maintenance task, depending on the speed of your system.
Defragmenting your disk will clear up all those gaps and get your computer running a bit more like it did when it was new. A “Techie” friend advised me to run the program at least once a year, and every six months would be better. Chances are your system will tell you it isn’t necessary since your hard drive is only one to five percent fragmented, but even one percent is thousands of bytes that will zap your speed and performance.
Remember that ounce of prevention adage, this is one of those instances when it really makes sense.
