Has your computer slowed down? Does it take forever for a file to open or a program to start? Don’t stress out, it probably just needs some simple maintenance or a good tune up. There are some simple steps all computer owners should do regularly to help prevent troubles.

The following information lists some necessary steps and an explanation of Fragmented Files. For further steps and links to tested, free protection programs and firewall software, get your guide from the link above.

Start with the basics, check your hardware, then clean out your temp files and defrag the hard drive.

Hardware failures: look and listen, hardware problems are usually obvious. First, look: if you see lots of dust or grime you should do a physical cleaning. Do you get the Blue Screen of Death or other error messages, does your PC randomly reboot? (Note: these can be hardware or software related).

Next listen: Are there new strange noises? (eg. rattling, scraping or grinding). Have some normal noises stopped? (eg. fans). If you are experiencing hardware problems you should shut down your computer and consult a tech. Remember, you need to regularly check out your hardware devices, it WILL help you to avoid problems.

If your PC is running slow, it is usually for reasons other than hardware. Most non hardware problems can be remedied by taking a little time and doing proper maintenance.

The most used operating system (OS) in the world is Microsoft's Windows (multiple variations) and Windows needs regular maintenance or you WILL have problems and slow downs.

Your OS spends more time accessing files on the hard drive than anything else. As the drive fills up and files are written to and deleted from the disk, the OS may not be able to put a file all in one section. Many times the OS will break up a file and write different parts of it in various locations on the disk and create a list of where and in what order they are stored. If files are written contiguously (all in a single section written in a row) they can be retrieved with less work and time as the hard drive heads need only to read a single section. If the file is not contiguous (it is fragmented) the heads will reposition several times before retrieving the entire file. Thus increasing the time to retrieve the file and decrease the life of the hard drive. As more files are written in fragmented format the access time gets longer and longer, therefore it is necessary to rearrange the files so they ARE contiguous. This is easily done with a disk defragmenter program. A decent free one is JkDefrag; it is a nice compact program that does a good job defragging all your drives with one click. Using JkDefrag as a regular part of your computer maintenance will speed up the operation of your computer.

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