Tip O'Tex Computer Club

January 2005 Newsletter

Year-End Maintenance

You have lists for weekly and monthly routine maintenance. Now there comes Year-End Maintenance, and here's where we do what used to be called Scandisk.

During the last few days of each year and the first few days of the new, when the normal press of events usually slows down a bit, those of us who use our PCs every day have a wonderful opportunity: We can use the slack time to perform a little simple PC maintenance in order to avoid some preventable PC headaches later on.

For example, hard drives have gotten so reliable that we tend to take their health for granted. But that can be dangerous, because we may miss the early warning signs of trouble. Instead, take a few minutes to check on your drive:

Open "My Computer." Right click on the C: drive, and select Properties/Tools, and then click "Check Now" in the "Error-checking status" dialog area.

In Windows 2000/Windows XP, a "Check Disk" dialog will open. In that dialog box, select "Automatically fix file system errors." Also select "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" if you have or can make the time for this more lengthy test; otherwise leave that box unchecked. Click the dialog box's own Start button to launch the disk check tests: You usually will then get a warning dialog telling you that Windows can't complete the tests until you reboot; and asking if you want to postpone the test until that time. Select "Yes." Repeat this process for any other disks or partitions you have in your PC; and when all have been scheduled for a disk check at reboot, manually restart your PC. One by one, Windows will then check each disk or partition to whatever level of thoroughness you selected, and will repair any correctable errors it finds.

In Win98/ME, when offered a choice of the type of test to run, select the "Thorough" test if you have or can make the time; otherwise select the "Standard" test. In either case, check the "Automatically fix errors" box. Windows will usually be able to complete the tests without a reboot. Repeat this process for any other disks or partitions you have in your PC.