Steve................"The Old Sea Dog".................(retired)
Windows 98

 
Basic Housekeeping...Part 5

Ok...You have mastered Parts 1 to 4 Of Basic Housekeeping.

This Part Five should be done immediately after parts 1 to 4 inclusive
have been carried out.

I carry out this on a weekly basis.

This part deals with the SCAN DISK program.

The next Part (Six) will deal with the DEFAG Program.


Before we start.
A WARNING.


Here I will ask you to do a three finger keystroke.

This is known as CTRL/ALT/DELETE and is achieved by
holding down both the CTRL & ALT Keys using two fingers
and the pressing the DELETE key simultaneously.

Here you must have patience and wait for the result.

If you repeat the CTRL/ALT/DELETE twice in succession.
Your computer will automatically shut-down in the RESTART mode.

I will also be asking you to shut-down all the running programs.
But you must NOT shut down EXPLORER or SYSTRAY

Both EXPLORER and SYSTRAY are required
to ensure your computer operates correctly.
If you accidentally shut either one down
your Computer will crash.



First a word about screen savers.

They are necessary in the business world as you are called
to a prolonged meeting leaving your computer on. 
Here an automatically set screen saver will protect the screen
from "Burning" with a static screen display.

In my private computer world, I personally find them of little use.
If I am attending my computer I will be working with it.

If I am to leave my computer unattended
for a long time as I will with a SCAN DISK,
I switch the monitor OFF...Not the computer just the monitor

The computer will continue to run the program
very happily without a Visual Display Unit.

Switching off the monitor is the very best kind of screen saver
as the electronic components are not energised and therefore cool down. 
I save on power consumption and the life of my monitor is extended.

However if you have a screen saver set to operate automatically,
it can interfere with the SCAN DISK program
and therefore it must be disabled before continuing

If you forget to do this SCAN DISK may not complete its scan.

To disable your screen saver, right click on the desktop background
and select PROPERTIES, then select the SCREEN SAVER tab

Ensure you select NONE as seen below
Hit the APPLY button and select OK
 
  Now we need to shut down all the programs
that are running in your computer.

WARNING

Your computer should not be on-line, as we are going
to shut-down everything including
your anti virus protection program

This will ensure that no program will interfere
with the correct operation of SCAN DISK

So we shut-down the easy ones first
Right click on individual program Icons
on your task bar next to the clock
and shut each one down in turn
as seen on the picture below.

Some programs cannot be shut down in this way.



So now we will see just what is left running
And you may be surprised at the number
that you did not even know about.

Holding down both the CTRL & ALT Keys using two fingers
and then press the DELETE key simultaneously.

Here you must have patience and wait for the result.

WARNING
If you repeat the CTRL/ALT/DELETE twice in succession.
Your computer will automatically shut-down in the RESTART mode.


This screen (as seen below) will appear
showing all the programs currently running.

WARNING
Both EXPLORER and SYSTRAY are required
to ensure your computer operates correctly.
If you accidentally shut either one down
your Computer will crash.


Select a program to Highlight and hit END TASK

 

Some programs will be reluctant to shut-down
and then this screen below will appear.
Hit the END TASK button and the program will shut-down.



Repeat this operation until only
EXPLORER and SYSTRAY remain.

These MUST stay.

At this point hit CANCEL
 
 
Now select START then PROGRAMS then ACCESSORIES
Then select SYSTEM TOOLS and then SCAN DISK
The screen below appears.

Here you can see my C Drive is selected
and the THOROUGH box is checked, also ticked is
AUTOMATICALLY FIX ERRORS box

If you also have a D hard drive, this will need to be repeated
on completion of this procedure To check your D drive
 


But before we hit the start button, hit ADVANCED

Below are my settings which I have always found to be OK
Copy mine if you wish
 
 
Hit OK then START and your disc is being scanned
 
 


On my computer a THOROUGH scan will take 4 hours
So I switch off the monitor and go shopping.

When I return I switch ON the monitor to see this...
NO ERRORS
 
 
There is one other very useful bit of information here
Notice ..16,384 bytes in each allocation unit

The number will be different depending upon the
specification of your computer, but will enable
a better understanding of the DEFRAG program,
which will be covered in Part Six. When I get to writing it.
 


Now I personally set SCAN DISK for a STANDARD check.
This is a fast check & leaves the program set to STANDARD

This ensures that if your task scheduler runs SCAN DISC
at any other time, the quick scan is done, reducing your frustration.

So here ends the Fifth Part of Basic housekeeping.

But we still have a little more to do before your computer
housework is completed.

Link to Basic Housekeeping Part 6

Home Page

Link to tips and tricks Index Page

Steve................"The Old Sea Dog".................(retired)



Site Meter