Maintenance Part 2: Scan disk to Fix Errors

In this part of my series I will look at how to keep your computer running error free and happy with scan disk. This is a very simple process but can take a lot of time depending on how big a hard drive is and if there are any errors. The way I show you does require you to restart your computer and it could be down for a hour or so.
Scan disk is important because if you have errors it hangs your computer up and can even stop programs from running altogether. The scan disk tool that I will show you how to use on Windows scan the disk for errors and tries to fix them. I would say unless you are seeing a lot of errors or having serious hard drive read issues a scan disk might only need to be done every few months.
So lets get into to it From XP on the process is almost identical to what I am fix to say. You can open "My Computer" on XP or just "Computer" on Vista and beyond, from either you start or windows button or from a icon on your desktop if you have it. Next find the hard drive icon that has a little windows logo on it, this is the hard drive your system file are on most computers, and right click it bringing down a drop down box and click properties. This will bring up a small window with some tabs. Find a tab that says tools and click on it. The top tool says error checking on that page and you can click check now. That will bring a window up with 2 check boxes and a status bar. Go ahead and check the bottom box by clicking on it. Then click "Start". It will then bring up a message that it need to be able to access all the disk and will have to schedule a check the next time the computer starts. Click OK and then when you are ready to begin the check just restart your computer and it should do the rest.

This should get your computer's hard drive error free and will help eek out some more speed if you have errors on your drive. The thing I am covering by the way is what your local Guru guys will do to your computer and charge you who knows how much to do these simple things that you can do on your own. As always thank for reading and my next piece I will cover the dreaded virus problem.