hardware PC : Cleaning and Organizing Your Computer

It's a good idea to think about your PC as an office. Store files, programs, photographs. This can be compared to an actual office files, equipment and decorations. The operating system is the boss. With this picture in mind, consider that you have visited an office that is slow and inefficient. There are probably many different reasons for the inefficiency. This is the same with a computer. There can be many elements that slow down your computer. Perhaps the most commonly overlooked is disorganization and disorder.

Disk Cleanup

An office can accumulate a large amount of unnecessary files, machines, equipment and decorations. This is the same with your computer. One of the best ways to control this disorder is a utility to perform periodic cleaning. Windows cleaning utility called Disk Cleanup. " It removes a wide variety of files, depending on the options you have selected.

To perform a clean Windows XP disc, you can simply click on My Computer in the start menu. Right click on your "C drive" or "hard drive" and select Properties. Click "Disk Cleanup" and follow the instructions. When selecting files to clean or delete it, Windows will give you information to help you decide. Looking at the list of file types, simple click the name of the file type and read the description below in the description area. This lets you know if the files can be deleted. To select the file group just check the box next to the name of the group. When finished selecting press "OK" to finish.

Now, do a disk cleanup is not much time, only a couple of minutes and can save more time at the end by making your computer run faster. However, a disk cleanup be performed regularly and not just once in a while. One way to make this run periodically to make it a scheduled task. This will allow your computer to start automatically with intervals of the day and time determined by you. However, you can run by itself without a regularly scheduled task.

Add or Remove Programs

The information above can help you get rid of some unnecessary files, but you may also need to clean some and unnecessary programs. This can be done using the "Add or Remove Programs" utility in Windows. This is located on the control panel and lists all programs currently installed, along with an option to uninstall them. It'sa good idea to navigate through the Add / Remove programs utility from time to time just to make sure that all programs are useful.

If there are programs that are no longer used, just highlight the program and click uninstall. Windows to start the process to uninstall the program. In most cases, to finish uninstalling a program, you should restart your computer. This dump file and that are held temporarily.

The Add or Remove Programs utility is very useful, but not all programs are listed in advance. Programs that come preinstalled on the computer and the Windows operating system can also be removed. For example, Outlook Express is a default email program that comes with the Windows XP operating system. If you do not use this e-mail program can uninstall it. Click "Add / Remove Windows Components" in the Add / Remove Programs utility and follow the instructions.

Defragment

Many offices contain a large number of files and programs that are valuable and can not be thrown away. In fact, they may contain files that are not used yet, but have yet to be withheld for any reason. Although these files must remain in the office, they must be organized. This is why we create file folders that hold groups of files that are related. What you save on cabinets that are arranged in alphabetical order.

In a computer, saving files placed on your hard drive. However, they are placed in terms of time saved. Therefore, if you open a Word document and save the file as "file A" and to open another document and save it as B, which has a "file A" next to "file B. "This is fine, but if you open a" file "and then save it again, adding that the information is stored next to" file B. "

When the files are divided in this way is called a fragmented file. This means that the team must find the first part of the file, and then find the second part of the file to open a Word document. This may make your computer run slower. However, Windows has created a utility that is designed to rearrange the files so that they are no longer fragmented, but sit next to each other.

You can run Disk Defragmenter by selecting "all programs" on the start button. Then select "accessories" and "system tools" and you will see "Disk Defragmenter." In fact, this is also an alternative way to select the Disk Cleanup has been mentioned above. Before you start defragmenting your hard disk can be analyzed to see if Windows recommends defragmentation. Ie, whether or not you should defragment at this time.

If you need to defragment your computer, simply click the Defragment button. It may take a while for the team to finish this task depending on the speed of your computer and the number of files defragmented. It could take about 15-30 minutes or more. However, you can still use your computer while Disk Defragmenter is running.