Category: Taking Care of Your Computer

If your computer system ever crashes or freezes, your best course of action is to run the System Restore utility. This utility can automatically restore your system to the state it was in before the crash occurred and save you the trouble of reinstalling any damaged software programs. It’s a great safety net for when…

Any time you run an application, move or delete a file, or accidentally turn off the power while the system is running, you run the risk of introducing errors to your hard disk. Fortunately, you can find and fix most of these errors directly from within Windows XP, using the ScanDisk utility. TIP Scanning and…

If you notice that your system takes longer and longer to open and close files or run applications, it’s probably because little fragments of files are spread all over your hard disk. You fix the problem when you put all the pieces of the puzzle back in the right boxes–which you do by defragmenting your…

Even with today’s humongous hard disks, you can still end up with too many useless files taking up too much hard disk space. Fortunately, Windows XP includes a utility that identifies and deletes unused files. The Disk Cleanup tool is what you should use when you need to free up extra hard disk space for…

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is a bit of a cliché, but it’s also true especially when it comes to your computer system. Spending a few minutes a week on preventive maintenance can save you from costly computer problems in the future. To make this chore a little easier, Windows…