I like cleaning out my hard drive. It’s like getting a brand-new start: No old files collecting dust, no outdated software to get in my way, no memory-eating programs that I never got around to deleting.ahh, yes, spring cleaning!
So, what’s all this hard drive cleaning crap about, anyway?
There are many different ways to clean and re-organize your hard drive. Sometimes you do a partial clean - getting rid of outdated files and programs that you no longer use, and rearranging what’s left to optimize your newly-available disk space.
Sometimes you get sick and tired of it all, so you wipe the entire thing and start all over. Some computer geeks recommend that you do this at least once a year(yeah, right!) to keep your hard drive clutter-free. It’s sort of like burping a baby, or so one geek told me: You have to get rid of the excess. Yeah, I’ll clean my hard drive once a year when Hell freezes over, dude, but.anyway.
To clean your hard drive, you have to have a certain knowledge about how things work. You can’t just run the DOS prompt and type FORMAT C: \s - if you do, you most likely won’t be able to re-load your operating system without the help of a computer geek. So, that’s where third-party software comes into play. CleanSweep or Uninstaller Deluxe are both great programs to install on your computer. I prefer Uninstaller, myself. It works like this:
Load the software and give it some information about your computer. It makes a sort of map: It records information about all of your files and such, as well as configurations and settings that are critical to maintain the integrity and functionality of your system. Then, the next time you try to install software, Uninstaller saves the configurations and settings that were in place BEFORE your new program was put onto the hard drive.
That way, when you get tired of the new program and want to delete it, do so through Uninstaller. It will restore ALL of the previous settings: This way you won’t have extra files cluttering up your hard drive, and you won’t have to manually change the settings that the installation program re-configured for you.
It’s fast, fairly easy, and only a bit expensive. I personally enjoy having this software around because it makes my job a LOT easier! I’m the ’’official geek’’ of the family, which means I clean up after my mother and younger siblings. They put all kinds of stuff on the hard drive, then want to get rid of most of it less than a month later. If I had to keep up with all the various configurations and settings by myself, I’d get swamped! But, this software makes it easier!
Another method of cleaning the hard drive is, of course, formatting it entirely. You will lose ALL OF YOUR DATA if you do this! EVERY LAST BYTE! Your operating system, your personal files, and even the drivers for your CD-ROM and diskette drive will go down in flames, so you’d better be prepared! You must have the following in order to pull this stunt off:
A copy of your operating system - on CD or diskette.
An emergency boot or rescue disk - preferably the 1.44 diskette type.
Knowledge of the computer’s BIOS so that you can set it to boot the diskette drive first(this is necessary for you to be able to re-load your operating system).
I recommend that less experienced computer users take their system in to a professional if they want to have this done: The ’’full-time geek’’ knows what he or she is doing, and can resurrect your operating system for you. It will cost you a bit of money, but it’s a LOT less frustrating than trying to figure out what to do should your re-installation go wrong, as it tends to do eight times out of ten. Trust me, when the recovery disk doesn’t boot, you’ve got problems, and odds are you won’t be able to do anything about them on your own.
There is also the matter of partitioning your hard drive to make it more efficient. There are programs such as Partition Magic that will make this a very simple task, but I prefer to do it ’’by hand’’ through DOS because I can then configure it to my exact needs. Remember, you have to give your operating system a certain sector, and it has to have a certain amount of space. Different operating systems have different requirements, so call up your PC tech or ask a more experienced user if you’re not sure of what’s going on with partitioning.
Better yet, just get a new hard drive! Yeah! For less than a hundred dollars you can get twenty gigs of hard drive space - that means you don’t have to use your older drive anymore! Sometimes you can set up a dual drive system: Designate your current drive as the Master drive(and keep just the operating system and related files on it), and use the other, larger drive for the rest of your data - MP3s, Web browsers, et cetera. It’s a bit tricky to pull off, as in most cases there are jumper settings that have to be adjusted, but it can be done.
If you want more information on any of the procedures I’ve discussed, you can visit your local library and check out some great books that will tell you more. The computer section of the library often has ’’For Dummies’’ books, but I don’t recommend them. We aren’t morons, are we? Of course not! We’re just new to all of this, and being called a dummy doesn’t help us out at all! So, look for a less derogatory title and start reading! I personally enjoy the hell out of computer books, and read them almost as much as my favorite - fiction and horror novels!
Or, if you don’t feel like going to the library, search the Internet. There are chat rooms, message forums, and Web sites dedicated to PC maintenance, repair, and upgrade. You’ll be surprised at the wealth of information you can uncover - for free!