Maintenance
From TSG Library of Knowledge
I'd like to include basic information here about regular computer maintenance, including:
- How to run Defrag and Scan Disk
- Installing Windows Defender
- Using Disk Cleanup
- Physical cleaning of dust (including warning about static electricity)
- Programs to avoid (LimeWire and other P2P programs that bring spyware)
(We'll also want to include how often it is recommended to do each.)
Contents |
Defragmenting
When you are saving and creating files, data is often thrown across the actual hard drive platter. This means parts on a single file are physically on different parts of the disk. When data is spread out like this, it takes longer to read and write files to the disk, so opening and saving files takes sightly longer. When you defragment your drive you reorganize it to ensure that individual files or folders are not broken up by free space or parts of other files and folders, as these would otherwise need to be skipped over and cause delays. You also bring the files close together, so there is a section of free space and a section of data. This helps to ensure that when you add new data to the disk it does not fall into several small holes and thus create more fragmentation. Depending on how many files you save and how large they are, you should defregment anywhere from every week to every few months. It is also a good idea to defragment after removing software or big or numerous files.
Windows Vista
The Vista defrag tool is automatically configured to run on a schedule, which may be edited in Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. If left alone it will generally get the job done silently. However at times a user may wish to force a defrag. For example more Climate Concious Users may object to leaving their machine drinking up electricity all night to make sure it defragments properly, or a defrag may be needed after an uninstall. Under such conditions one should click the Defragment Now button, and select the drives to defragment.
To some great vexation to many people Defrag in Vista has two little quirks. Firstly, it gives practically no information about how fragmented a drive is, or how effective the process has been when finished. Secondly, files with fragments larger than 64MB will not be defragmented, because Microsoft believed the time lost in reading and writing those files to be insignificant compared to the time lost in defragmenting them. The solution to both of these problems is found in launching defrag from an administrator Command prompt. The syntax is "defrag driveletter:", and those two problems can be solved with the -a or -v and -w modifiers respectively.
Windows XP
- Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
- Select the drive to be defragmented.
- Click Defragment
OS X
Apple recommends against defragmenting your drive, partially because OS X automatically defragments some parts (more information) . If you still want to defragment your disk, you will have to use a third-party program like iDefrag.
Security
Though covered in greater depth elsewhere, it is important to recognize that system security and system maintenence are inseperable. Regular updates for and scans with antivirus software, good settings on a firewall, downloading windows patches, and common sense with regards internet browsing and removable drive use may even be more critical than regular defragmentation. After all any computer which spends most of its processing power sending spam for a remote hacker can reasonably be considered in a very poor state of repair, as can one with a virus-infected opperating system that randomly deletes information.
Registry Cleaners
Many third party developers have produced automatic Registry Cleaners (such as RegCure or Piriform CCleaner's registry cleaner. The idea is that as unneccessary information including file extensions and references to software become obsolete, they cause the system's registry scanning to slow. Therefore these products will scan for and automatically remove such records, to help speed up your system. A lot of users use such cleaners as part of their regular maintenance. This is the wrong thing to do. Though the theory sounds very logical, in practice registry cleaners often do more harm than good. Many are misconfigured and remove necessary information, such as wiping the records used by Add/remove programs of what software is already installed. Their removal of unneeded records also causes the registry to become fragmented, causing greater slowdown than leaving the records in. Furthermore the good itself is often scarcely noticible. It is a bad idea to consider such programs a part of your maintenance toolkit.
