Computer Runs Slow--Hard Drive May Need repair?

The hard drive is an extremely important component of your computer.On the hard drive all of your programs,data and the operating system are stored. If your hard drive should have any serious problems the computer will not run very well if at all.

There are various different utilities which can scan your hard drive for problems and then attempt to correct those problems. Some of the most used applications with windows XP include1. Disk defragmenter 2.Disc cleanup. 3.Error checker Tool.

1. As you use the computer over a period of time the files stored on the hard drive tend to become fragmented with parts of a file written to different areas of the drive.

The disk defragmenter will take all these file fragments and bring them together so that a complete file is all located at one point. This greatly speeds up access to the file.

The fragmented data increases the work the drive must do thus increasing the load on the drive and can in fact sometimes cause serious and permanent damage.

To correct file fragmentation and to keep it at a minimum DISC DEFRAGMENTER should be run regularly so that the hard drive will remain in good operating order. The disk Defragmenter is found by clicking on START->ALL PROGRAMS->ACESSORIES->SYSTEM TOOLS->DISK DEFRAGMENT.

2.The Disc Cleanup application allows you to erase unwanted temporary internet files and program setup files from your hard drive. This frees up hard drive space and helps the computer to run more efficiently.

You can find DISC CLEANUP by clicking on START->ALL PROGRAMS->ACCESSORIES->SYSTEM TOOLS->DISC CLEANUP. This tool if run at regular intervals will also help to keep your computer running smoothly and efficiently.

3.Error Checker will scan your hard drive for errors in the file system and bad sectors on the hard drive. To locate ERROR CHECKER bring up your Start Menu by clicking on START then click on MY COMPUTER, next RIGHT click on the hard disc volume you want to run error checker on and then click on PROPERTIES.

Go to the TOOLS tab and click on CHECK NOW in the ERROR CHECKING section. Next in the CHECK DISC dialog box click on SCAN FOR AND ATTEMPT RECOVERY OF BAD SECTORS and click START. This may take some time as it checks a large hard drive for bad sectors.

Finally find the maker of your hard drive from the user manual or by looking inside the computer. Most hard disc manufacturers offer downloads of tools to test the hard drive for problems.

If your computer runs slow after you have done all of these things you should look for problems elsewhere. One of the most common reasons for a slow running computer is a bloated corrupt registry.

The registry is a very large data bank which holds all the files used by the operating system to run the computer as well as much other information.

A large number of data fragments will build up in the registry over a period of time as the computer is used. All windows operated computers are susceptible to this problem uunfortunately and it cannot be avoided.

The operating system encounters difficulty in locating the data it requires to run the machine when the registry is bloated. This greatly slows down operation of the machine and can also cause freezing and crashing.

The best solution to this problem is to use Windows XP registry repair software which can be downloaded from the internet. The top registry cleaners will first offer to give you a free scan to determine if you have registry problems. You can check the results of this scan before deciding to repair your registry.

We ran tests on a number of Windows XP registry repair tools and found that some were clearly better than others. One in particluar found up to 50% more errors than some other registry repair tools and was clearly superior.

We recommend that you use a windows reg cleaner and do not try to personally edit your registry. There are many essential entries in the registry and if you mistakenly remove even one of them you can completely disable your computer. Do your registry repair the safe way and use a top registry cleaner to do the work quickly and safely.