PC Maintenance Tips

Disk Cleanup can eliminate some performance and disk space problems. The feature frees up space on your hard drive by eliminating unnecessary program files (it won’t delete data files) and clearing out your Recycle Bin. Some of the files it deletes are temporary files (including temporary Internet files). If these files are allowed to accumulate, it will actually slow down the performance of your computer…so deleting them on a regular basis (at least monthly) is a good idea.

1. Click Start
2. Click Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Click System Tools
5. Click Disk Cleanup
6. Select the drive you want to cleanup. (It should default to the C: drive)
7. The next screen will show the folders/files to be cleaned up, click OK
8. You will be prompted "Are you sure you want to delete files?"
9. Click OK

As you surf the Internet, files and cookies are being stored in your Temporary Internet Files folder on your hard drive. This allows previously viewed pages to load more quickly the next time you view them. Also, shortcuts to the pages you have viewed on the Internet are stored in your History folder. If a large amount of files, cookies and shortcuts are allowed to build up in these folders, your IRESis functionality can be affected. In addition, storing large amounts of these items simply uses up a lot of your computer’s disk space

We recommend emptying your Temporary Internet Files and History folders at least once a month. Even if you run Disk Cleanup (see above), only files are deleted during that process, not cookies or shortcuts, so you will still need to go through the following steps to completely clear out the folders.

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click Tools
3. Click Internet Options
4. Click the Delete Files button (located in the center of the window).
5. Check the box that says "Delete all offline content"
6. Click OK. Your temporary internet files have been deleted.

Continue on to delete Cookies...

1. Click the Settings button (located to the right of the Delete Files button).
2. Click the View Files button. Cookies will display in the window that appears.
3. Click Edit
4. Click Select All
5. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
6. Click Yes if you are prompted: “Are you sure you want to delete the selected Cookie(s)?”
7. Once the cookies are deleted, close the window by clicking the “X” in the right hand corner of the window.
8. Click OK to close the Settings window.

Continue on to delete Cookies...

1. Click the Clear History button (directly below the Settings button)
2. Click Yes at the prompt: “Are you sure you want Windows to delete your history of visited Web sites?”
3. Click OK to close the Internet Options window.

Files and folders on your computer can become fragmented (broken up into separate pieces and scattered in different places on your disk), as a result of the normal process of saving and deleting files and folders. When there are a lot of fragmented files and folders on your disk, your computer takes longer to access files and create new ones. The overall performance of disk operations suffers.

Disk Defragmenting, more commonly known as Defrag, will find and consolidate fragmented files and folders, allowing your computer to run more efficiently.

You can first have the Defrag tool analyze the disk to see if you need to run defrag. The actual Defrag process can take a while to run, depending on the size of the disk, the number of files, how much is fragmented, and how often you run Defrag.

1. Click Start
2. Click Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Click System Tools
5. Click Disk Defragmenter
6. Click Analyze
7. The system will produce a report and prompt you either to Defrag or that it is not necessary.
8. If you want to Defrag, click Defragment

Microsoft frequently releases updates for their software called Windows Update and Office Update. Performing Windows Update is critical as it will include fixes that Microsoft has created to fix bugs or patch security issues, without which you may be susceptible to viruses. You must be connected to the internet to perform these updates.

Windows Update:

1. Click Start
2. Click Windows Update
3. Microsoft will scan your computer to find the updates you may need.
4. At the very least, select the Critical Updates and download them, following the directions on the screen.

MS Office Update/Fix & Repair:

1. Open the Microsoft program you use on a regular basis.
2. Click Help
3. Scroll down to Check for Updates in Windows XP or Detect & Fix in older Operating Systems.
4. Microsoft will scan your computer to find the updates you may need.
5. At the very least, select the Critical Updates and download them, following the directions on the screen.

In Windows 2000, the process of checking for file system errors and bad sectors is called Error-Checking. In previous versions of Windows, the process is referred to as ScanDisk.

You will need to close out of all programs and files before running Error-Checking, and while it is running, you will not be able to run other tasks.

1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop.
2. Click on the local disk you would like to error-check (usually C: drive)
3. Click File
4. Click Properties
5. Click the Tools tab
6. Under Error-checking, click Check Now
7. Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box

General Computer Help