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BOOT CAMP 120
SPRING CLEANING YOUR PC, PART 2
Remember when you first brought your PC, all those months
ago? Those were the days, when you switched it on the virginal Windows desktop
appeared in less than a minute. The disc usage pie chart in My Computer was
mostly purple, applications and files opened faster, Windows shut down in a
tenth of the time it takes now and it never crashed, well, hardly ever. If that
sounds familiar then it’s time to clear out the clutter!
There is actually a good argument for starting over once a
year, by backing up all non-replaceable files and data and reformatting your PC’s
hard disc drive. It’s not that difficult (see Boot Camp 54, January 7th 1999),
it’s a tedious business though and it can take ages to get Windows and your reinstalled
applications back to how you like them but it’s the only way you’ll restore your
machine to anything like its original performance. Nevertheless a thorough
spring clean can work wonders, but you’ve got to be ruthless, and systematic,
and once you’ve done it invest in a good disc housekeeping program, like
CleanSweep, Nuts & Bolts or McAfee Utilities etc., to keep your system
running smoothly.
Before you begin make sure that all of your backups are up
to date, just in case. Start by removing any programs that you no longer use, especially
all those demos and magazine cover disc freebies. If you haven’t got an
uninstaller utility on your PC there are only two ways to do it safely, either from
Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, or by using the program’s own
uninstaller; if it has one you’ll find in the program’s folder on Start >
Programs. Never delete program folders from Windows Explorer, as this will not
remove the multitude of files and Registry entries that most applications write
to your hard disc during installation.
Only remove one or two programs at a time, afterwards exit
Windows and re-boot the PC every time. If a problem occurs try reinstalling the
last program you’ve deleted. You may find that some desktop shortcuts remain; they
can be deleted by right clicking on them. Some programs may still be listed in
Add/Remove programs. It does no harm but they can be zapped with the Windows
user’s friend Tweak UI. It is included on the first release of the Windows 98
CD ROM (Tools > Reskit > PowerToy). The Windows 95 version can be downloaded
from the Microsoft web site.
Tweak UI is also included with all of the other PowerToys
utilities on a lot of PC magazine cover mount discs. The Windows 95 version of
Tweak does work on Windows 98, apparently there can be problems but we’ve never
had any difficulties with it.
Windows 98 it has it’s own rudimentary disc cleaner utility.
Go to Start > Programs > System Tools > Disc Cleanup and click OK to
select Drive C. Select the Disc Cleanup tab. This will give you the option to empty
Recycle Bin and folders that Windows and your Internet browser uses to
temporarily store information. If you’ve upgraded from Windows 95 make a point
of selecting the item ‘Windows 98 Uninstall Information’ as this can recover up
to 80Mb of wasted hard disc space. This is supposed to let you revert back to
Windows 95, but if you upgraded to the FAT 32 filing system (as you should have
done) then it no longer serves any purpose since it is impossible to go back.
If you are using Windows 95 you’ll have to clear out those
Temporary folders manually. Shut down all running applications and use Explorer
to open Windows and look for a folder called Temp or Temporary. You can safely
delete all files with the extension *.tmp, anything you’re not absolutely sure about
leave alone. Remember, one step at a time, so carry out another shut down and
re-boot to make sure you haven’t removed anything vital. If something does go
wrong you can use Undo Delete in Recycle Bin.
Temporary Internet files can be emptied from within Internet
Explorer. Go to the View or Tools menu (depending which version you are using)
and select Internet Options. On the General tab look for the item Temporary Internet
Files and click on Delete, while you are there you can reduce the amount of
space used by clicking on Settings and moving the slider to the left – 100Mb is
about right unless you rely on cached Internet pages. Personally I’m happy to
clear this folder out completely, including Cookies, little files that contain information
about sites you’ve visited. You can do this from Windows Explorer. If you want
to keep any, for sites that you visit frequently, or may contain passwords etc.,
click Select All on Explorer’s Edit menu hold down the Ctrl key and work your
way down the list and deselect those you’re not certain about or want to keep,
then click on Delete.
Now for all those email messages. On Outlook Express the
option to ‘compact’ all of the messages in your inbox and outbox folders, to free
up some space, is on the File menu under Folder. If you want to make a clean
start you can use Select All on the Edit menu and hold down Ctrl to deselect
any that you want to hang on to. Don’t forget to right click on the Deleted
Items folder and select Empty Folder to remove the files to make the freed up
space available.
Finally, you should consolidate all of that free space by defragging
the disc. Exit Windows and re-boot and do a final check on your key
applications to make sure they’re all still working properly. Close all running
applications, switch off any screensavers and virus checkers and empty the
Recycle Bin. Now go to Start > Programs > Accessories and System Tools.
Click first on ScanDisk, to give your hard disc a quick health check then if
all’s well select Disk Defragmenter. If you are using Windows 95 click Settings
and check the item ‘Rearrange program files so my programs start faster’; this
will take a little longer but it’s usually worth it.
Next week – booklet printing
JARGON FILTER
DEFRAGGING
Over time the files on a PC's hard disc drive become
disorganised, 'defragging' the drive restores order and speeds up reading and
writing data
SCANDISK
A Windows utility that checks the integrity of data stored
on a hard disc drive, identifies problems, and where possible, puts them right
TEMP FILES
Temporary files, ending in '.tmp' are created by Windows and
other programs and normally deleted automatically though some will remain if
Windows crashes or is not shut down properly
TOP TIP
Windows 98 users, if Dial Up Networking (DUN) won’t save your
password every time you log on to the Internet or access your email here’s a
couple of things to try. You may not be properly logged onto Windows. You can
confirm this by clicking on the Start button, if you don’t see ‘Log off ….’ go to Passwords in Control Panel, on the
Change Passwords tab click on Change Windows Password. If you want to use a ‘null
password’ leave the Change Windows Password and Confirm New Password fields
blank and click OK.
Removing and reinstalling Dial Up Networking is also worth
trying. Go to Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, select the Windows Set Up
tab, double click Communications, check Dial Up Networking and click OK to
remove, then go back and check DUN to re-install.
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