PC Performance
Health Check
by Webmaster
Ok strictly speaking
Computers do not come under the umbrella of
Alternative Medicine, however, I am constantly
surprised by the number of people I meet who
are having problems with their machines either
running slowly or experiencing lock-ups and
virus issues. So I decided to write a brief
article to help those people to overcome some
of the more common day to day problems and get
some decent pc performance improvement.
Free
Up Cluttered Disk Space
Space on your hard disk can become cluttered
over time, by freeing up some of the clutter
you can help to improve the performance of your computer. There
is a utility in windows called the
'Disk Cleanup' tool, which can be used to free up space on your hard disk. This utility
identifies files that you no longer need and can safely delete, it then lets you to choose
whether you want to delete some or all of the files identified.
The
Disk Cleanup utility can be used to:
.
Remove temporary Internet files.
. Remove unwanted downloaded program files
which are temporarily stored.
. Empty the Recycle Bin.
. Remove any Windows components that
you don't use.
.
Remove Windows temporary files.
Where to find Disk Cleanup
Click on the Start menu, go
to All
Programs, then to Accessories,
then System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you
might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean. It does'nt matter
which drive you choose here, they can all
be cleaned in turn.
Defrag your hard drives
A process know as 'disk fragmentation' over
time will slow down the overall performance of your system. When files
on the disk become 'fragmented', the computer has to search the hard disk when the file is opened
to piece it back together. The result is that response times for general computer
processing takes longer and longer as the
disk fragmentation increases.
Another windows utility 'Disk Defragmenter'
can be used to 'de-frag' the disks and put
the stored files back into neat storage
for faster retrieval. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading
and writing to the disk becomes much faster.
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How do I know when my disk needs
Defragmenting?
The best policy here is to run Disk Defragmenter
at regular intervals, say every couple of
months. Other times when it's a good idea
to run a defrag:
. When you install a lot of new programs or a new version of Windows.
. When
your free disk space is getting low (ie.
nears 10-15 percent free).
.
When you add a large number of files to your computer.
.
When you forget to run a defrag for a long period of time!
Where to find Defrag Utility
Click on the Start menu, go
to All
Programs, then to Accessories,
then System Tools, and click Disk Defragmentor. If several drives are available, you
might be prompted to specify which drive you want to defrag.
 Tip: Select the
Analyze option first to see if the disk actually needs to be degragmented.
Protect Your Computer Against Hackers
Firewalls provide solid protection from hackers
and intrusive software that could otherwise
create serious problems on your Computer. It
is imperative that you install and run a firewall
programme BEFORE you first log onto the Internet
with your new computer. There are many Firewall
vendors on the market, many of them offering
free basic firewall applications, click here
for Zone
Alarm firewall protection and information.
Protect Your Computer Against Viruses
Computer Viruses can have a serious impact
on performance and functioning on your machine,
it is vital to install good quality Virus software
as soon as possible after purchasing your Computer.
Make sure your Virus protection is running BEFORE
you log onto the Internet, othewise you will
be vulnerable and run the risk of downloading
something potentially dangerous for your machine.
There
are many Virus protection software vendors on
the market, many of them offering free basic
protection, click here for Avast
virus protection and information.
Protect Your Computer Against Spyware
Another resource clogger, Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without
asking for permission. The type of information that spyware collects ranges from a list
of Web sites that you visit to usernames and passwords. As well as invading
your privacy, spyware can very much hamper your computer's performance.
There
are many Spyware protection software vendors
on the market, many of them offering free basic
protection, click here for Lavasofts
Ad-Aware spyware software and information.
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