Defragmenting Your Hard Disk is Not just a Drag by Sheldene Chant Rebooting solves the problems some of the time but more often than not it's a case of Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter to the rescue.

ALTHOUGH I'll admit my overloaded PC works overtime, I still object to the little quirks it develops on a regular basis. Rebooting solves the problems some of the time but as a rule it's Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter to the rescue. It never fails to amaze me that some people never carry out these simple maintenance tasks - and their computers are apparently still operating!

Originally I relied on the Task Scheduler to run Scandisk and defragment my hard drives while I was sleeping - but all I achieved was a series of error messages so I was forced to do it myself - but with encouraging results.

To get to these two tasks click on Start->Programs-> Accessories->System Tools. In the drop down menu you will find both Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter but always run Scandisk first.

It sounds simple - and it is - providing you turn off almost everything else which may be running on your PC - with or without your knowledge. And I mean almost everything - including your virus scanner and screen saver, and only excluding Explorer and Systray.

At first I thought I was the only one who had to go to these lengths to run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter successfully but judging by the many letters I see in PC magazines, I'm not.

Start off by right clicking on the icons nestling in your System Tray (bottom right on your screen) and close these programs.

Then do Ctrl->Alt->Delete (together) and you will see a list of programs that are still in action (what a surprise). Highlight them one at a time and click on Shut Down, until only Explorer and Systray remain on the list.

Finally close your Screen Saver by clicking Start->Settings-> Control Panel->Display->Screen Saver. Select (None) from the drop down menu in that dialogue box, then select Apply and OK.

This may sound like quite a mission but it's worth it. Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter will run without hiccups and afterwards your PC will behave itself beautifully - for a while.

And DON"T forget to re-enable your virus protection program as soon as the tasks are completed. You'll have to reinstate your screen saver but don't worry about anything else because the programs you accessed and closed via Ctrl/Alt/Delete will take care of themselves.

Copyright 2002 Sheldene Chant

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