by Neville Silverman
Posted on September 9, 2009
When you first get your brand new PC - it starts off by being very frisky. Are you hopeful that somehow, the computer will just automatically keep on working as efficiently as the day you bought it? Sorry to tell you, but this is very, very wrong! After a few years, or depending upon usage, a few months, response times will ALWAYS degrade. And the slower it gets, the more likely it is for something to go wrong.
The fundamental weak link in any computer system is the Disc drive. Performance tuning mainly involves reducing the number of files on the Disc drive.
Free Space
The C: Disc drive should never be more than 70% full. Even between 50% and 70% full is unhealthy. This means lots of wasted gigabytes, but that is the price that needs to be paid for good response times. Anyway, Disc drives are cheap - much cheaper than the cost and hassle of buying a new computer.
Here are the Free Space guidelines:
15% Free Space is needed for the Disk Defragmenter to run
30% Free Space is the minimum for reasonable response times
50% Free Space provides optimal performance.
In Windows Explorer, right click the "C:" Disc drive. Then click Properties. You will see a colourful pie graph that will quickly show how full the drive is.
If you have multiple RAID Disk drives, these Free Space guidelines can be relaxed.
Remove Junk files
On the same Windows Explorer tab, you will see a button "Disc Cleanup". Click it, and it will calculate how much junk can be deleted. This will include Internet files like Cookies (you can easily accumulate a megabyte each time you access the Internet), Temporary files, Setup files, the Recycle bin, etc.
There is not much to gain from Compressing old files. There will be little improvement in the available free disk space, and the compressed files will be slower to open. Any space saved will come from text-based files, but the real space hoggers like music and video files, are usually already compressed. Use the compress option if the files are large, seldom used, and on a separate Disc drive.
Click the "OK" button to remove the Junk files.
Search for Old Files
Do a search using Windows Explorer's search facility, of all files (use *.*) which are more than 2 years old. Delete most of them - you have not used them for 2 years! Warning - delete only your own files, not system files.
All deleted files are sent to the Recycle bin. You can recover any file if inadvertently deleted, so it is best to wait a few weeks before emptying the Recycle bin.
Search for Large Files
Do a search using Windows Explorer again, listing all files of more than say 1,000 kilobytes. Keep only the files that you really, really do want online. Those files that you do not want immediate access to, and which are more than 2 years old, should be stored offline. To sort the files in Date order, click the "Modified" column.
One culprit is often Outlook.pst - where your Outlook emails are stored. You may need to delete attachments to messages - pretty pictures and videos and music can be several megabytes in size. When you have finished the deletions, you will need to compact Outlook.pst - otherwise it will stay the same size. When in Outlook select File/Data File Management/Settings and click "Compact Now".
Delete Temporary files
Use Windows Explorer to open the folder C:WindowsTemp. The files in this folder can accumulate quickly. Delete all files older than one week.
Add another Disc Drive
You will get much better throughput from two Disc drives. The advantages are:
It increases the free space on your C: drive.
It allows you to split the files logically into system and user files.
It allows simultaneous access to both Disc drives, providing better throughput.
When upgrading to a new operating system, there is less chance that your personal files will be lost.
Whatever you do, don't be talked into a single large Disc drive instead of two smaller Disc drives. There is little throughput advantage in having three or more Disc drives.
Remove unused Programs
Use the "Add-Remove Programs" routine to see what programs have been installed on your system (you will find it in Start/Settings/Control Panel). Uninstall any software no longer in use.
Files relating to the uninstalled program frequently remain, so open the Program Files folder, search for the uninstalled Program name, and delete the folder and contents. Make sure that program has been uninstalled before any deletions with Windows Explorer.
Defragmentation is essential
After a while, the data files that reside on a Disc drive get spread further and further from the centre of the Disc. The files that reside furthest will have slow access times - up to 10 times slower than a centrally placed file. Also, files are frequently split into smaller parcels (extents in computer jargon) to allow them to slot into the available, scattered free space. The time to access multiple extents is slow.
Right Click the "C:" drive, select Properties/Tools then click the button "Defragment Now".
Regular Maintenance
The suggested Disc maintenance steps should be carried out regularly. You will be amazed at the difference to your computer. Response times will return to that of a new PC (almost!).
The fundamental weak link in any computer system is the Disc drive. Performance tuning mainly involves reducing the number of files on the Disc drive.
Free Space
The C: Disc drive should never be more than 70% full. Even between 50% and 70% full is unhealthy. This means lots of wasted gigabytes, but that is the price that needs to be paid for good response times. Anyway, Disc drives are cheap - much cheaper than the cost and hassle of buying a new computer.
Here are the Free Space guidelines:
15% Free Space is needed for the Disk Defragmenter to run
30% Free Space is the minimum for reasonable response times
50% Free Space provides optimal performance.
In Windows Explorer, right click the "C:" Disc drive. Then click Properties. You will see a colourful pie graph that will quickly show how full the drive is.
If you have multiple RAID Disk drives, these Free Space guidelines can be relaxed.
Remove Junk files
On the same Windows Explorer tab, you will see a button "Disc Cleanup". Click it, and it will calculate how much junk can be deleted. This will include Internet files like Cookies (you can easily accumulate a megabyte each time you access the Internet), Temporary files, Setup files, the Recycle bin, etc.
There is not much to gain from Compressing old files. There will be little improvement in the available free disk space, and the compressed files will be slower to open. Any space saved will come from text-based files, but the real space hoggers like music and video files, are usually already compressed. Use the compress option if the files are large, seldom used, and on a separate Disc drive.
Click the "OK" button to remove the Junk files.
Search for Old Files
Do a search using Windows Explorer's search facility, of all files (use *.*) which are more than 2 years old. Delete most of them - you have not used them for 2 years! Warning - delete only your own files, not system files.
All deleted files are sent to the Recycle bin. You can recover any file if inadvertently deleted, so it is best to wait a few weeks before emptying the Recycle bin.
Search for Large Files
Do a search using Windows Explorer again, listing all files of more than say 1,000 kilobytes. Keep only the files that you really, really do want online. Those files that you do not want immediate access to, and which are more than 2 years old, should be stored offline. To sort the files in Date order, click the "Modified" column.
One culprit is often Outlook.pst - where your Outlook emails are stored. You may need to delete attachments to messages - pretty pictures and videos and music can be several megabytes in size. When you have finished the deletions, you will need to compact Outlook.pst - otherwise it will stay the same size. When in Outlook select File/Data File Management/Settings and click "Compact Now".
Delete Temporary files
Use Windows Explorer to open the folder C:WindowsTemp. The files in this folder can accumulate quickly. Delete all files older than one week.
Add another Disc Drive
You will get much better throughput from two Disc drives. The advantages are:
It increases the free space on your C: drive.
It allows you to split the files logically into system and user files.
It allows simultaneous access to both Disc drives, providing better throughput.
When upgrading to a new operating system, there is less chance that your personal files will be lost.
Whatever you do, don't be talked into a single large Disc drive instead of two smaller Disc drives. There is little throughput advantage in having three or more Disc drives.
Remove unused Programs
Use the "Add-Remove Programs" routine to see what programs have been installed on your system (you will find it in Start/Settings/Control Panel). Uninstall any software no longer in use.
Files relating to the uninstalled program frequently remain, so open the Program Files folder, search for the uninstalled Program name, and delete the folder and contents. Make sure that program has been uninstalled before any deletions with Windows Explorer.
Defragmentation is essential
After a while, the data files that reside on a Disc drive get spread further and further from the centre of the Disc. The files that reside furthest will have slow access times - up to 10 times slower than a centrally placed file. Also, files are frequently split into smaller parcels (extents in computer jargon) to allow them to slot into the available, scattered free space. The time to access multiple extents is slow.
Right Click the "C:" drive, select Properties/Tools then click the button "Defragment Now".
Regular Maintenance
The suggested Disc maintenance steps should be carried out regularly. You will be amazed at the difference to your computer. Response times will return to that of a new PC (almost!).
Neville Silverman is a Microsoft software developer, based in Sydney Australia, and has been involved in Visual Basic programming, Microsoft Access programming and Website design for many years. As an I.T. Manager, his department was regarded as a centre of excellence. He reduced the expenses of his department to .9% of income, where the industry average was 2.5%.
Programming Website: http://nev.romtech.com.au/
SEO Website: http://www.nevsseo.com/
Email: nev@romtech.com.au
Print This Article|
Send To A Friend|
RSS Feeds|Read More Related ArticlesCOMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE...
Post them now in our forums for quick, helpful advice from thousands of members!
Temporary Internet Files
When, Why, and How should I reformat my Hard Drive?
5 Simple Ways to Speed Up Your PC
When, Why, and How should I reformat my Hard Drive?
5 Simple Ways to Speed Up Your PC
SEO Articles
Internet Marketing Articles
Development Articles
General Articles
And also in our Archives
Internet Marketing Articles
Development Articles
General Articles
And also in our Archives
Drive traffic to your business and get recognized as an industry leader by sharing your knowledge on Site-Reference. Authors are given a wide range of exclusive benefits here at SR; so checkout what we can offer to those that
Were always on the lookout for new writing talent so even if havent written for the web yet, feel free to contact us anytime
Were always on the lookout for new writing talent so even if havent written for the web yet, feel free to contact us anytime
tjenarvi writes: The best if using Linux, no need defragmentation !!
21:13:07 Sun Sep 13 2009 CDT
1-Clan writes: Nice little read, very basic but easy to forget to do so I will be going over this on the weekend again to make sure my pc is all sorted to run a little faster for my online gaming :)
5:25:04 Fri Sep 11 2009 CDT
Pages: 1