Chapter 5: Maintaining Your Computer

To check the hard drive for errors:

1Click (Start) then click Computer. The Computer window opens.

2Right-click the drive that you want to check for errors, click Properties, then click the Tools tab.

3Click Check Now, then click Start. Your drive is checked for errors. This process may take several minutes.

Important

Error checking cannot scan a drive while the drive is being used. If you try to check your hard drive for errors, you see a prompt asking you if you want to scan the hard drive later (the next time you restart your computer). If you see this prompt, click Schedule disc check.

After Windows has finished checking the drive for errors, it provides a summary of the problems that it found.

4Correct any problems that are found by following the on-screen instructions.

5Click OK.

Help

For more information about checking the hard drive for errors, click Start, then click Help and Support. Type checking for disk errors in the Search Help box, then press ENTER.

Defragmenting the hard drive

When working with files, sometimes Windows divides the file information into pieces and stores them in different places on the hard drive. This is called fragmentation, and it is normal. In order for your computer to use a file, Windows must search for the pieces of the file and put them back together. This process slows the hard drive performance.

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