Using Disk Cleanup to Improve Win XP System Performance

This article discusses three ways to use the tools included with the Windows XP operating system to more effectively maintain computer performance.

First, free up disk space

By freeing up disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup Tool is a utility included with Windows that helps you free up space on your hard drive. The utility first identifies files that can be safely deleted and then allows you to choose which files you want to delete partially or all.

Disk Cleanup Tool Features:

• Delete temporary Internet files.
• Delete the downloaded program file.
• Empty the recycle bin.
• Delete Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that are not in use.
• Remove programs that are installed but are no longer in use.

Tip: In general, temporary Internet files take up most of the space, because in order to speed up future access, the browser caches every page you visit.

Using the Disk Cleanup Tool

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If you have multiple drives, you will be prompted to specify which drive to clean.


The Disk Cleanup tool calculates the amount of disk space you can free.

2. In the Disk Cleanup (Drive) dialog box, scroll through the files you want to delete. "The contents of the list.

Select the file to delete

3. Clear the check box corresponding to the file you do not want to delete, and then click "OK".

4. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified file, click "Yes".

After a few minutes, the process is complete and the Disk Cleanup dialog closes, giving your computer a cleaner, better performance.

Second, speed up data access

Disk fragmentation can reduce the overall performance of the system. If the file is stored on a different shard, when you open the file, the computer must search for the hard disk to patch the pieces together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that combines files and folders stored on different pieces of computer hard disk so that any of these files and folders occupy only the disk. A space. When the files are stored neatly and without fragmentation, the disk read and write speed will be faster.

When to run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis (preferably once a month), in addition to the usual monthly routine, if something happens The utility can also be run for specific events.

Disk Defragmenter should be run under the following conditions:

• A large number of files have been added.

• Only about 15% of available disk space.

• A new program or a new version of Windows is installed.

Using Disk Defragmenter:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter ".

Clicking "Analysis" will start the Disk Defragmenter

2. In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drive you want to defragment, and then click "Analyze" button.

After analyzing the disk, a dialog will appear telling you if the drive being analyzed should be defragmented.

Tip: Before defragmenting a volume, you should analyze it to see how long it takes for the defragmentation process.

3. To defragment one or more selected drives, click the Defragment button.

After defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter will display the results.

4. To display detailed information about defragmented disks or partitions, click View Report.

5. To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.

6. To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

Third, detecting and repairing disk errors

In addition to running the Disk Cleanup Tool and Disk Defragmenter to optimize computer performance, you can also run the error checking utility to check The integrity of the files stored on the hard disk.

Bad sectors may appear when using a hard drive. Bad sectors can degrade hard drive performance and can sometimes make it difficult or impossible to perform data write operations (such as file saves). The error checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors and scans for file system errors to see if certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer every day, try running this utility once a week to help protect you from data loss.

Run Error Check Utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the error checking utility.

1. Click "Start" and then "My Computer".

2. In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for for bad sectors, and then click Properties.

3. In the Properties dialog, click the Tools tab.

4. Click the "Start Check" button.

5. In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and try to recover bad sectors check box, and then click Start.

In most cases, check "Scan and try to recover bad sectors"

6. If you find bad sectors, select Repair.

Tip: If you think the disk contains bad sectors, select the "Automatically fix file system errors" checkbox.