Windows XP Maintenance

 

If your Windows XP system is running slow it may be due to the fact it requires some maintenance work. Before embarking, on such a task, it is also worth remembering that a slow system may also be the symptom of a Virus, Trojan, Worm or even Adware.

 

There are various ways in which the above can be detected and consequently removed and it is suggested your system is checked for any of these before you start the tasks below otherwise you will be wasting your time!!

 

It is also advisable to remove any application software you may have installed and which are no longer required. Removal of such applications will free-up disk space and generally make the system faster.

 

Removing Applications

 

There are several benefits to removing applications that you don't need. One is that you free up hard disk space. Another is that removing an application often removes entries from the Registry, and when the Registry is smaller, Windows loads more quickly. Finally, if the application being removed was set to run in the background, removing it prevents it from running there, further freeing up system memory for running other things.

To remove an application, follow these steps:

Open the Control Panel, and then select Add or Remove Programs. The installed programs appear.

 
Notice that different programs have different buttons. Some have a Change/Remove button, others have both Change and Remove buttons, and others have just a Remove button. These options depend on how the software was written. If the program has a Change button, you can alter how the program is installed.

Click the Remove or Change/Remove button for an application you want to remove. Follow the prompts that appear.

If prompted to restart your computer after removing a program, do so if you're done removing programs. Select No if you still have more programs to remove.

 

Clearing the Internet Cached Files
 

Open Internet Explorer.

 

Goto "Tools", "Internet Options".

 

In the dialogue box which appears, click "Delete Files". Another pop-up box will appear. Tick the "Delete All Files" and press "OK".

 

When this has completed, you could also clear your History files. This action has does not affect your Favourite Links. Click on the "Clear History" button. Click "OK" when prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete your history of visited web sites".

 

Disk Cleanup

 

The Disk Cleanup utility searches your disk for unneeded files and deletes them. These files may be old temporary files that were not automatically deleted during a previous shutdown, expired Internet cache files, Recycle Bin contents, and others. (Don’t worry—Disk Cleanup does not consider your data files or program files, only specific types of files that the system may have created but no longer needs.) To run Disk Cleanup, do the following:

• Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, then click Disk Cleanup.

• The Select Drive dialog box appears.

• Click the drop-down arrow and then click the drive you want to clean up. (Your PC’s primary hard disk is usually labelled as Drive C.) Click OK.

• The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears.

• On the Disk Cleanup tab, scroll through the Files to delete list and see which kinds of files Windows has targeted for removal. To see a description, select the category; a description appears below the list.

• Select any additional file types you want to delete, or deselect any file types you wish to keep. (Selected files are indicated with a check mark.)

• Click OK. When Windows prompts for confirmation, click Yes.

   

 

In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, the More Options tab lets you delete other kinds of files from your hard disk, such as programs you no longer use. We’ll cover these advanced options in a future Get Practical feature.

 

Check Disk

You can use Check Disk to “scrub” your hard disk (or a floppy disk) to search for lost file fragments, cross-linked files, and bad areas of the disk’s surface. Check Disk can free up disk space that contains unusable fragments or cross-linked files, and can mark bad disk areas so they are not used again. If Windows finds data in a bad disk area, it attempts to move the data to a good area before marking the bad area as unusable.

 

Check Disk can correct some problems automatically; you also can set it to report errors, so you can decide how to fix them.

To run Check Disk, do the following:

1. Close all running applications.

    

2. Launch Windows Explorer, then select the icon for your primary hard disk. (The disk should be labelled Drive C.)

    

3. Right-click the icon. When the shortcut menu opens, click Properties.

    

   The Properties dialog box opens for the disk. The General tab should appear on top. (Note that you can launch Disk Cleanup from this tab, if you want.)

4. Click the Tools tab.

    

5. Under Error-checking, click the Check Now button.

    

   The Check Disk dialog box opens, with two options:

   • Automatically fix file system errors. Check this option if you want Windows to fix any problems it finds in the file system.

      

   • Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. This option checks the disk for “bad spots”—sectors that may be corrupt or have actual physical damage. Data stored in bad sectors may itself be corrupt. If Windows finds bad sectors on the disk, it can try to recover any data stored in those sectors. If you check this option, Windows automatically fixes file system errors.

      

6. Select both options, then click Start.

    

   Windows displays its progress as it checks your disk. The process can take some time, especially if your disk is large. Be patient and don’t interrupt Windows as it scans the disk.

7. When the disk check is complete, follow any instructions that Windows displays, and close all open dialog boxes.

    

Disk Defragmenter

The Disk Defragmenter utility searches your disk for fragmented files—files that have been stored in non-contiguous sectors of the disk. The utility rearranges the data on the disk, so that files and folders are “lined up” in contiguous sectors.

 

As Disk Defragmenter realigns data, it updates the file allocation table, so the operating system can find the data in the new locations.

 

 

This is a valuable process because the computer can find and read data faster if it is stored in contiguous sectors. As a result, Disk Defragmenter can help your programs run faster—noticeably faster if your disk is nearly full and you work with very large data files.

 

To defragment your hard disk (or a floppy disk), do the following:

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, then click Disk Defragmenter.

    

   The Disk Defragmenter window opens.

2. Click the drive you want to clean up. (Your PC’s primary hard disk is usually labeled as Drive C.) Click Analyze.

    

   Windows analyzes the disk to determine whether it needs to be defragmented. A dialog box appears, enabling you to view a report about the disk’s condition, proceed with defragmentation, or return to the Disk Defragmenter window.

3. Click the View Report button to see the disk’s status. If you want to go ahead and defragment the disk, click the Defragment button.

    

4. Windows analyzes the disk once again, and then defragments it.

    

   The defragmentation process can take a long time—more than an hour if you have a large disk containing a lot of fragmented data. For this reason, it’s best to defragment only when you don’t need to use the computer for a while.

5. When defragmentation is completed, close all dialog boxes and open windows.

 

Here’s a tip. Defragmentation is a complex process. The more resources your system can devote to the process, the better (and faster) it will work. For this reason, be sure to defragment only when you don’t need to use the PC for a while, and allow the process to finish before you use the computer again.

 

Before you launch Disk Defragmenter, make sure all running programs are closed. It’s also a good idea to disconnect from the Internet. If your PC is connected to a network, disconnect it; that way, defragmenting won’t be disrupted by constant network traffic. It’s also a good idea to stop any processes that may be running in the background, such as your virus scanner. Just be sure to restart these processes when Disk Defragmenter is finished.

 

If you need to stop Defragmenter in the middle of the process, no damage will be done. This is because Windows continuously updates the file allocation table as each block of data is moved. That way, no data goes unaccounted for in case of a power failure.

 

The Scheduled Task Wizard
 

Windows XP also features a utility called the Scheduled Task Wizard. As the name implies, this tool allows you to schedule tasks so they run automatically. For example, you can set Disk Cleanup, Disk Check, and Disk Defragmenter to run automatically every Friday evening at 9:00 PM. You can add other tasks to the list, as well. For example, if you use an antivirus utility that can automatically check for updated virus definitions over the Internet, you can use the wizard to run the check automatically at a time you set.

 

Is your system still running slow?

 

If your system is still running slow after performing the above actions, then more specialist tuning may be required.

 

 

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