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Friday, March 23, 2007
The hard drive to disaster
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s a large walk-in closet in my bedroom. The mess inside provides a good argument for proper hard disk maintenance.
Let me explain what my closet and your hard disk have in common.
My closet ends up being a place to stash things I’m too lazy to throw away or properly store. Getting to my shirts and pants involves an obstacle course of suitcases, camera bags and bags of clothes headed to the cleaners. The more of that kind of stuff I throw in there, the longer it takes to get to the clothes I need.
When your PC’s hard disk gets cluttered, the same thing happens - it takes longer to retrieve data. More ominously, a cluttered hard disk increases the difficulty of retrieving data if the disk crashes.
This slowdown is significant, but it is not irreversible. If your hard disk is a mess, you’ll notice the speed increase after following my tips.
Clearing the clutter
Windows comes with a decent program that tries to rearrange the clutter: Disk Defragmenter, more popularly called Defrag. Since the path to that tool - and even the way to use it - varies in small ways depending on the version of Windows you own, just enter the word - defragmenter - in the Help section of your copy of Windows. That’ll take you to Defrag, in the System Tools folder stored inside the Accessory folder.
Run Defrag about once every two months, more often if you frequently add and remove programs and data from your PC.
Did you notice that I called Defrag a “decent” program when I first mentioned it? That’s because it works OK but isn’t the best defragmenting program around. Microsoft’s free Defragmenter is a dumbed-down version of a commercial program called Diskeeper. The home version of Diskeeper costs $30 and can be obtained here. I think the free version is adequate for most home users. But there’s no doubt that the commercial version is superior.
I wish I could tell you that your hard disk will never crash or die if you defrag regularly. Instead, I can tell you that - if you own your PC long enough - the hard disk will die.
Putting stuff away
It’s important to prepare for that inevitable death. Windows Vista comes with an excellent backup program that can save your neck when your hard disk dies. Windows XP also includes a backup program, but it is just barely adequate. There are some excellent commercial backup programs that make life a lot easier, including Norton’s Back-Up & Restore (about $60).
Norton also makes a program called Ghost (about $70). Instead of just saving your files, it creates a complete copy, a virtual image, of your hard disk. I have expert techie readers who swear by Ghost. I think Vista owners are well-served by the free backup program and those running XP should consider Back-Up & Restore or another commercial backup program. But the true wireheads amongst you might want to consider Ghost.
Backup copies can always be made using CDs or DVDs. These are especially good options for photos, as they also allow you to show your collection on other computers. But I use an external hard disk and like that system a lot. The disk connects to my USB 2.0 port. When the backup is done, I disconnect the external drive. That way if my computer gets fried by a lightning strike, the external drive and the data it stores are safe.
You can take that safety to the next level by storing your backup copy at a remote location - just as businesses do. A fire or other disaster would destroy backups stored at the business - just as they would at your home.
There are many commercial services that offer online backups, usually for a price. Some offer free accounts with limited storage.
Here are some Web addresses for some of the popular ones: XDrive can be found here; Or look for @Backup here and check out Carbonite here. There are also numerous online photo organizing programs, such as Snapfish or Shutterfly here, where you can upload and store your shots.
Throwing out the trash
So far we’ve found ways to defragment your disk and offered various options for making backup copies. But we really haven’t cleaned up the mess. That is especially important if your hard disk is more than 70 percent full. You are reaching the point where the performance of your computer is taking a hit.
I’ll bet there are at least three programs installed on your computer that you don’t use. Why not zap them right now and get some space back?
Just go to the Control Panel and then to the Add/Remove software icon and send them to the trash heap. Be ruthless. If you have the installation CDs for these programs, you can easily change your mind later.
Windows also has a tool called Disk Cleanup that can help finish the job. Again, I recommend using the Windows Help tool to find the program - that way I don’t have to explain the route for each version of Windows.
Once you run Disk Cleanup it’ll find files that you can safely delete, including temporary Internet files.
You can also scan folders that contain digital images, videos and music files. You’ll probably want to keep all family photos and music files that you’ve purchased. But you may run into stuff that you no longer want or need.
Once you’re done, you’ll have an uncluttered hard disk with lots more space. I wish I could say the same for my bedroom closet.
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