How to Fix Your Computer Hard Drive
By
Corey Sandler from
Fix Your Own Computer For Seniors For Dummies
The hard disk drive in your computer has a limited life
expectancy. If you’re unlucky, your drive will die suddenly. If you’re lucky,
it will break down slowly over a long period. Make no mistake, though: Someday,
your hard drive
will die. That’s why it’s important to check
its health regularly and keep it in the best possible shape. Fortunately, you
can do several things to check and maintain your drive:
Defragment the hard
drive with Windows’ defragmenting tool
For most users, the main hard drive is designated the C: drive;
it contains Windows, your applications, and your data. This drive has the most
storage. Here’s how to defragment your hard drive:
1.Choose
Start→All Programs→Accessories->System Tools→Disk Defragmenter.
The Disk Defragmenter dialog box appears.
2.Select the drive that you want to defragment.
Most people will choose the C: drive. You may also see a much
smaller D: drive, which likely contains the files to restore your computer to
factory settings. You don’t want to alter anything on this recovery drive.
3.Click Defragment (Windows XP) or Defragment Disk (Vista and
Windows 7).
The defragmenter analyzes the disk for degree of fragmentation
and then begins the defragmentation process. In Windows XP, you see a graphical
display that represents the hard drive before and after defragmentation. In
Vista and Windows 7, you see a countdown of the percentage of defragmentation
completed.
4.Choosing
File→Exit (Windows XP) or click the Closebutton (Vista and Windows 7).
The Disk Defragmenter closes.
Tidy up computer space
with Disk Cleanup
How often you should run the Disk Cleanup utility depends on
your habits. If you do a lot of Internet browsing, and disk space is running
low, run the utility. Otherwise, every few months is probably often enough.
1.Choose
Start→My Computer or Start→My Computer.
The My Computer/Computer window appears.
2.Right-click the drive you want to check and choose Properties from the
shortcut menu.
The drive’s Properties dialog box appears.
3.Click
the General tab, if it isn’t already open. If you want, check the Compress This Drive to Save Disk Space check box.
This option compresses old files that you haven’t used for a
while.
4.4.Click
the Disk Cleanup button.
The system churns away for a while, examining your drive and
calculating how much garbage it can locate. Finally, the Disk Cleanup dialog
box opens, indicating how much junk is sitting around in places like the
folders for downloaded program files, temporary Internet files, and the Recycle
Bin, and suggesting files to delete.
5.Clear
the check boxes next to any files that you want to keep; check the check boxes
next to any additional files that you want to clear off the disk.
For most users, it’s best to delete only the recommended files.
If you choose to go further, click each file and read its description before
proceeding.
6.Click
OK.
Windows asks you to confirm that you want to delete these files
permanently.
7.Click
Yes (Windows XP) or Delete Files (Vista and Windows 7).
The files are deleted.