PERFORMING STANDARD MAINTENANCE
ON YOUR HARD DRIVE

There are two tasks that you can perform for standard maintenance on your hard drive. They are Error Checking and Defragmentation. Two Techs recommends that these programs be run consecutively and in the order listed.

Error Checking - is a program built into Windows that checks your hard drive for any areas that are flawed and not stable enough to hold data. This program will identify any areas that meet this description and mark them as unusable, assuring that your computer will never place any data in these areas. Two Techs recommends that you run this program before Defragmentation to eliminate the potential of placing data in a damaged area of your hard drive that may result in lost data.

Defragmentation - is a program built into Windows that reorganizes the files on your hard drive in a more orderly fashion, allowing them to be opened faster. Two Techs recommends that you run this program after Error Checking to avoid the potential of losing data.

To Run Error Checking:

Prior to actually running this program it is helpful to turn off every unnecessary program. If this is not done it is likely that one of the programs running will interfere with Error Checking and prevent it from completing. Once these programs have been turned off the computer is ready to run Error Checking.

Turning Off Unnecessary Programs:

Simultaneously press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys on your keyboard. A window titled Windows Security will open. Click on the button titled Task Manager to open a window titled Windows Task Manager that shows all non-system programs that are currently running on your computer. You will want to turn off everything listed in this window. One by one, select any item in this list and then click the End Task button located on the bottom left corner of this window. When you click End Task the window will close. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and repeat this process repeatedly until no items are listed in this window.

Running Error Checking

Open the My Computer icon on your desktop and locate the icon for your hard drive, usually Local Disk (C:). Right click on this icon and left click on Properties. This will open a window titled Local Disk (C:) Properties. You will see six tabs across the top of this window. Left click on the Tools tab. At the top of this window you will find a section titled Error Checking. Left click on the button titled Check Now. In the window that opens, Two Techs recommends that you leave Automatically fix file system errors unchecked and place a check mark in Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. The reason we recommend that you leave the Automatically fix file system errors unchecked is because typically Error Checking will not find any errors, and the program will run without interruption to completion. But if there are errors it is important for you to know how many errors there were. If there were just one or two errors then your drive is likely okay, but if there are more than two there is a strong chance that your hard drive may be on the verge of failure. Knowing this will allow you the opportunity to back up any pertinent data you may have on your computer so that you won't lose anything important should the drive fail. Left click on Start to begin the process. When you see the message Disk Check Complete click on OK. This completes the Error Checking process.

If you have any questions using Error Checking just email or call Two Techs. We will be glad to help you with any problems that may occur.

To Run Defragmentation:

Open the My Computer icon on your desktop and locate the icon for your hard drive, usually Local Disk (C:). Right click on this icon and left click on Properties. This will open a window titled Local Disk (C:) Properties. You will see six tabs across the top of this window. Left click on the Tools tab. At the bottom of this window you will see a section titled Defragmentation. Left click on Defragment Now. In the window that opens simply select the drive you want to defragment (probably C:\) and then click Defragment. This program will run automatically, reorganizing your files more efficiently which will increase your computer's performance.

If you have any questions using Defragmentation just email or call Two Techs. We will be glad to help you with any problems that may occur.

Let Two Techs come to you and provide a professional assessment of your computer in the St. Charles and St. Louis counties. We can help reclaim a crashed system, enhance the performance of your computer, update and resolve conflicts with hardware or software, as well as provide printer support and supplies. Contact Two Techs today and get everything your computer can offer you!

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