Questions

[ungkb]

To Fonzie,

I use a 40GB HD and the space in use is less than 10 GB.

Question :

1. What's the frequency for Scandisk & Defrag ?

2. Should I do it in Safe Mode since I've an AntiVirus & Firewall?

Tq. in advance.

[fRaNkY]

My rule of thumb is. How often you use your PC/NB? Everyday?
Then once a month is reasonable or whenever you feel the PC/NB is slowing down

[Dops]

Just make it once a month...i think it's enough for you... :rolleyes:

[fonzie]

Sorry, ungkb for this late reply....very busy nowadays...

Scandisk and defrag tasks are usually a user's choice, there's no hard and fast rule. The only "rule" I follow is when I detect my PC running sluggishly and that I have installed programs, deleted/copied big files, done heavy net surfing and not emptying the temporary internet files after use.

I'll do that after clearing all the temporary internet files, clean the registry, clear spyware etc. Do a clean reboot, disable my antivirus program, then do a scandisk. Reboot again, and then defrag. 40 gig is a lot. Do you partitioned your hard disk?

Doing it in safe mode....? I don't know why you do that. If you find that your defrag takes a long time, you have some programs running in the background. Do a control-alt-delete and see the programs running in the background. I am not too sure to leave what program running though...sorry..it depends on which version of Windows you're running and your PC specs. XP is quite ok...other versions, you may like to take out the usual "suspects" - antivirus apps, firewall, icq, screensavers, net programs like messenger etc...

Cheers!
FonZie

[ungkb]

Thanks for your answer.F.y.i I don't partition my HD.What you mean is to disable my antivirus & firewall before I run defrag & scandisk in normal mode.

[kwchang]

I find that the defrag application in Win98 is very slow. Hence it is adviseable to do it in safe-mode where no applications are running in the background.

In WinXP, there is really no need to do defrag in safe-mode.

As for disabling the antivirus and firewall - I don't think they will disturb the defrag process in WinXP. If you are on Win98, you do it in safe-mode and under that mode, background apps like antivirus and firewalls are not operational anyway.

One thing to have in addition to the antivirus is an anti-spyware like Ad-Aware. I find that due to our browsing of the Internet, we pick up a lot of spywares that can slow down the PC very much. Do use an anti-spyware to clear your system occassionally.

[ungkb]

Hi K.W Chang,

To answer your question ; I don't use anti-spyware.Tq. for your answer.

[Dops]

Nowdays, there are lots of anti-spyware..but one I recommend to you is Ad-Aware. The latest version of this software is 1.05..you better check it out...Besides that, try to use System Mechanic. So i think, with Antivirus,Ad-Aware and System Mechanic installed on your PC, everything will run smoothly, further more try to remove unnecessary thing from your startup..it will give 'TURBO CHARGE' to your machine...haha... :D

[ungkb]

Hi Dops,

Thanks for your recommendation.F.y.i I'm right now using Ad-Aware

[Dops]

So how is the progress?
Still slow???
:rolleyes:

[flaminJ]

Ad-Aware has come out with the SE version which is quite good. It scans for threats and the normal ones which remembers the passwords to sites like this...

Another thing is that your RAM might not be enough...

[Dops]

Hrm....if yr RAM is not enough than just increase your Virtual Memory
Simple and works at no cost !!!!

-Lets Rock Baby!!!-


:D

[RolyPoly]

How does one remove applications from the startup?

I am having low Virtual Memory problem. A window always pop up on me lately alerting me of this.

Can anyone pls advise how I could rectify this problem?
Thanks a lot.

[kwchang]

Virtual memory is the harddisk space in C: used to act as RAM for processes running in Windows. RAM is never enough, hence the space on C: is used to act as a spare RAM, hence "virtual" memory.

Low virtual memory could mean that you are running out of harddisk space on the c: drive. Find "My Computer" which should exist as an icon on the main screen. Double-click on the icon and then right-click on [drive c:] and then click on "properties" in the popup window. After that you will be shown how much harddisk space you have left on C:

It depends on which Windows you are using. If you have Win98 for example, I suppose any thing less than 3 MB can be considered low. In WinXP, you will need a lot more spare harddisk space.

If you are really running out of C: space, please consider deleting unnecessary stuff from C:. You should backup stuff you want (to a writeable CD if you have a writable CD drive) and deleting them from C:. Another thing to do is to run the safe cleanup application on Windows - that will clear up space taken by temporary files as well as the data cache accumulated by your web-browser.

Some people also tend to save data directly into C: (the root directory). That is a no-no. All data should be saved into folders like "My Documents". This is because the root directory has only a limited directory listing for files. Once the limit is exceeded, it will also cause problems to the smooth running of Windows. The directory listing for folders is actually "limitless", so it is better to store data into folders (or previously known as directories).

[ceo684]

To Fonzie,

I use a 40GB HD and the space in use is less than 10 GB.

Question :

1. What's the frequency for Scandisk & Defrag ?

2. Should I do it in Safe Mode since I've an AntiVirus & Firewall?

Tq. in advance.

Normal mode would suffice. The more "stuff" u have, the more often u need to defrag. Once a week or twice doesnt hurt, and would help to keep it tiptop

[ungkb]

Thanks ceo684 for your solution & welcome to usj.com.my .