Most people go to great lengths to ensure that their files, desktop and general running of the computer is keep in good order and functions efficiently, but only a small percentage would take as much interest and organization with their hard drives. Keeping your computers efficiency level high, is determined by how well you manage and keep your hard drives in order.
Here are a number of techniques that you can apply to attain improved performance and usability ranging from partitioning your drives to arranging your hard disk for improved performance.
One of the major questions when upgrading to a larger hard drive is how do you move all that data and make sure it does not get corrupted? More hard disk space is commonly needed among computer users who purchased a computer 2-3 years ago. Manufactures are now starting to include disk-to-disk copying utilities and Data Lifeguard Tools with each of its drivers, but often they can only be used with the drive they are sold with.
"Keeping your computers efficiency level high, is determined by how well you manage and keep your hard drives in order." |
Data Lifeguard software is currently used by Western Digital. It allows you to confirm the condition of the drive to see if there are any problems or if the drive is faulty. The Data Lifeguard service is a free utility available from the Western Digital website and is written specifically for Western Digital EIDE hard drives.
If you are copying from one disk to another it is a good idea to keep the old one around for at least a month just to make sure the new one is not corrupted or has any faults and to give it time to settle in. Make a backup copy in case your new hard disk does become corrupted at some stage.
There are two basic types of partitions: primary and extended. Primary partitions are partitions on a hard drive that can contain only one logical drive, whereas extended partitions allow you to create logical partitions or sub-partitions on your drive. The mere thought of drive partitioning use to scare and confuse people, but nowadays it is a commonplace method making hard disks more resourceful.
The main reason people choose to partition their drive is organization. In most cases it is a requirement especially if you are thinking of having two operating systems on your computer. If that is the case you must place both operating systems on different partitions. If you do not there is a possibility that the system files will become intermixed and may cause one or both operating systems to become unusable.
Partitioning a disk can be done a few different ways. The easiest option is to partition from within your operating system if you are adding a partition to a disk that already has partitions. If you are using Windows 2000 or XP this is done through a management console, which can be accessed by right clicking on My Computer select Manage and click on the Disk Management tool. There you will see any existing partitions and will be able to create or reformat any existing partitions.
Third party software for partitioning and disk-to-disk management can be bought off the shelf and for users who do not know exactly what to do or are unsure of how to partition these applications are fantastic. The great thing about these applications is that they can rearrange your partition safely. In the past if you wanted to change the partition size you would have had to reformat it. These programs allow you to change it without deleting anything, but always remember to back up your information before you try any of these programs.
Over time, the files on a computer's hard drive become disorganized. Running a defragmentation program restores order and speeds up the reading and writing of data.
Almost all PC users know that defragmenting their computer will increase system performance. Although the majority of people use the in built defragger in Windows there are numerous third party Defragmentation programs that are able to defragment your system more efficiently and accelerate your system. The techniques used by each of these programs are different but at some stage they simply group together files strategically on your hard disk and by doing so free up more space.
If you are still using Windows 3.X with DOS 6.2 your Defrag.Exe will be found in the DOS subdirectory. Exit Windows and run it from the DOS prompt. The reason why so many people defragment at least every month is that if you leave it for too long the hard disks work harder, which reduces its life and becomes less efficient for you. So try and defrag at least once a month to keep things running smoothly.
To keep your disks in good shape you should run a scandisk and CHKDSK every so often. Scandisk is used to check the file systems for any problems. CHKDSK is similar to Scandisk as it also creates and displays a status report for a disk based on a file system and lists and corrects errors on the disk. Often if a program crashes certain files will be marked as occupying space even if they are not or the system could become damaged in some way. Leaving these problems alone and adding to them with additional program and system crashes can cause some unreliable system behavior.
Keeping your hard disk in good working condition may be boring and sometimes tedious, but just think what would happen if you simply neglected it and did not do it. Taking care of your hard disk and the system is like preventive maintenance, it will help prevent or reduce the severity if computer disasters were to occur, and at the same time speeds up your computer and makes it more efficient to use. It may take a while but it is definitely worth it in the end.
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