General PC Maintenance & Troubleshooting

2. Check the Hard Disk(s) for errors

Files are stored randomly on your hard disk and an index entry exists at the beginning of each disk to allow fast retrieval of these files. Occasionally this index entry gets corrupted and causes the retrieval of these files to slow down. This can also cause other problems such as saving files and printing documents. A major cause of this problem, is by the machine NOT being shutdown properly. This can happen as a result of a lockup of the computer, but more often than not, it is caused by users simply turning off the computer, rather than using the shutdown option.

On Windows 2000/Windows NT 4.0 PCs:

> Go to the START button
> Select RUN
> In the open dialogue box, type CMD then hit the OK button

You will see a (usually) black coloured window with a flashing C:\> prompt

> At this prompt type CHKDSK/F (will look like C:\>CHKDSK/F )
> Then hit the ENTER key

You will then see something similar to:

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

> at this prompt, type Y
>Then hit the ENTER key

You will then see:

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

> Close this Window, then shutdown and restart the computer.

Once the computer restarts, it will run through a disk check during startup. This check can take up to 30 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of the computer and the size of the hard disk.

On Windows 95 /98 /ME PCs:

> Go to the START button
> Select Programs menu
> Select Accessories menu
> Select System Tools menu
> Select ScanDisk
> Select Standard for Type of Test
> Select the Automatically fix errors tick box
> Select START

> Select CLOSE, once the test has completed
> Then Close the ScanDisk Window

[ more [4] [5] [6] ]