Services for accommodation-providers and travellers

Issue #006

Computer Maintenance - 1

Cleaning your hard disk drive

My neighbour came in breathlessly the day before yesterday. She had come to see my wife to book her visitors from USA into our B&B. “I've been fighting with my computer for hours” she announced in a raised voice. Clearly the pitch of her voice was intended to penetrate the closed door of my office and attract my attention. The tremble in her voice conveyed a cry for help to which I chivalrously responded. (I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress.)

“What's the problem?” I asked. “It's been slowing down for ages”, she explained, “and now it's stopped working”. After I discovered the machine was only 4 years old I ventured that it was probably not ready for the breaker's yard yet. “What maintenance has your computer had since you bought it?” I enquired. “Maintenance?” she intoned and gave me a telling look which showed what she was thinking - that the man's a complete idiot as she always suspected. “Yes, maintenance”, I confirmed. “Just like your car loses performance between services so does your computer. And your car will break down completely if you don't service it at all just like your computer has.” “Well I sweep it for viruses if that's what you mean”. It wasn't what I meant of course and I volunteered to go and help her husband solve the problem [husband's name withheld to protect the innocent]. It seemed easier than try to explain any more.

When one first buys a new computer it usually seems to work pretty fast (that is if you haven't been sold one with the latest over-the-top operating system and free 1-year subscription to an all-singing-all-dancing anti-virus which uses up all the smallest memory that the manufacturer can get away with ). After you start using it, your operating system, anti-virus and every other programme starts bunging it up with temporary files, log files, cookies, history and all sorts of junk which you won't need and probably never needed in the first place. For example, I helped a friend a couple of weeks ago with the same issue. I cleaned 2 Gb of junk off it, equal to twice the size if the hard disk on my first computer!

It's easy to do. For example Windows gives you a basic tool, Disk Cleanup. It's better than nothing:

Start > All programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk Cleanup
or
Start > Run > [then type] cleanmgr

I use a freeware program called CCleaner which is whizzo. The four million other users think so too. This is the publisher's description:

“CCleaner is a system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It cleans: Internet Explorer (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat); Firefox (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history); Windows (Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files, and Log files); Registry cleaner (Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, and Invalid Shortcuts. So comes with a comprehensive backup feature.)“

Download from here: CCleaner from download.com

The program has always done the business for me and never caused me any grief. I suppose it seems sensible, though, to create a system restore point before use, just in case.

Start > Help and support > Pick a task > System restore > Create a restore point

Four and a half million people swear by this alternative freebie, Advanced Windows Care available from here: Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal from download.com