Netstratix is Simply I.T.

So now it is time to get your hard drive in line, organize it a bit. You see when a computer writes data to the disk it does so in a circular motion. As the disk spins the computer writes the data where there is space available. On new hard drives this is no problem as most data is continuous; however on older or smaller drives where there are a lot of read/writes and deletions, this is much more of a problem. So let’s fix the problem!
First we need to open the disk defragmenter, and to do this we follow the same path as the disk cleanup from before.
• Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> Disk Defragmenter
• Once the program is up it will show a list of all your available hard drives or partitions.


• Select the drive/partition you want to test and click “Analyze”
• The results of this analysis will display on your screen.\


• As you can see the system recommends I defrag because of the number of fragmented files on my hard drive.
• Defrag is a long process I recommend you do this step at night when you are done for the day and just click defrag and turn off the monitor. Some defrags can take HOURS, so no need to sit and wait. Just turn off the monitor and check it again every few hours, or when you wake up.
• Once done click OK, and reboot the machine!
That’s it. Defrag complete. You can repeat the last few steps for each drive/partition you have and defrag them all. Again this just speeds up hard drive performance, and it is a good practice to do it once every few months.
Again, as always if you need any help with a project like this please feel free to contact me and I will do all I can to get you on your way!
Until next time!
~Geoff

admin Computer Maintenance

Ok so clearly you know how to use a computer, as you are already here .  (That is presuming you are on a PC not those nifty super devices such as Iphones etc.) However, owning a computer comes with much more responsibility than that.  There is maintenance that needs to be done!  Over the next few posts I will cover topics such as: Running a system sanity check, Defragging your hard drive, setting up security, and doing a backup to prevent the worst from happening.

In this post I want to cover something simple.  Let’s go over a simple clean-up.  Programs, emails, and the internet all use files that are invisible to the naked eye.  These files build up somewhere on your hard drive, and can slow down performance over time.  Let’s take a few steps to prevent this.

1. Desktop cleanup and organization
   1. This is a simple step where you can clean files you no longer need off your desktop.  You do not have to delete them (but if you will never need them again go ahead and delete them), so if you want to store them in a simple “Archive folder” that would be fine.  Just right click and select “new” then select “folder”.  Then you can dump all your unused files you need to keep into the archive folder.  Once you are done be sure to visit your Recycling Bin and select File > Empty Recycling Bin to clean them off your PC permanently.

1. Application cleanup
   1. This one is a bit more technical so let’s get to the main page first.
      1. Go to Start >> Control Panel
      2. Open “Add or Remove Programs”

      

      3. This is going to open a new window with a list of all your installed applications.  The list may take a few minutes to populate, but it will get there.

      

      4. Once you have your list carefully read through it and look at each program.  ***WARNING*** If you do not know what something is, DO NOT remove it.  It could be a file required by the system.
      5. Once you have looked over the programs go back and click on the first one you want to remove (Old programs, old games, etc) and it will open a more detailed display of that program.  Click the “remove” button and the system will start the applications removal.
      6. Repeat this last step for each program you want to remove until you have completed this process.

1. System driven cleanup
   1. This is the easiest step, because the system does it for you!  Just follow these easy steps.
      1. i.      Click Start
      2. ii.      Open Accessories (In XP or Vista you need to open All Programs first.)
      3. iii.      Open System Tools
      4. iv.      Click Disk Cleanup
2. This is going to open up a simple menu for you to make a selection.  Select the drive you wish to clean up and click “Ok”.  (I recommend doing this on every partition you have on the hard drive. Starting with the first, typically C:.)



3. Once you select the drive, Click “Ok” and the system will scan the drive and see what it can clean up for you.



4. The last step will bring up a list of file locations that can be cleaned.  Default boxes are already checked, but you can add and remove if you want to keep or delete more, then just click “Ok”.

That’s it for this post.   If you have any questions or comments please feel free to share or contact me directly.

Until next time!

~Geoff

admin Computer Maintenance

I hope you will join me in welcoming the newest face of Netstratix.  The Netstratix Blog will be the forerunner from now on.  I will be offering assistance on the back end to those who need it, but hopefully I can get this blog to take care of all the issues I would ever be called upon to take care of.

This post probably wont be here long as I will remove it once I get some content, but until then please be sure to check back often or feel free to contact me with your needs today.  I will do all I can.

Until next time!

Geoff

admin Uncategorized