Windows 2000 / XP Maintenance

As a Group manager it is important to keep your computer in top condition.  There are things you can do to keep your computer in top condition. We recommend you do the following things at least once a week. If you are not comfortable doing this alone please ask for help on the message board. Someone can meet you in the chat room to walk you through it.

Cookies are little files that are stored on your computer that allow web sites to personalize the Internet experience. Almost all commercial sites use them as do quite a growing number of personal sites. For the most part they are either harmless and  helpful. MSN uses a cookie, when you sign in a small file is created. This tells the web site who you are from page to page so you don't have to sign in to every page.
Some cookies are harmful and can be used to track your movements on the Internet. Since we can't tell for the most part witch ones are OK and what ones are not ,it is best to delete them all.
To delete your cookies
                          a.Click on Start then My computer
                          b Double Click on C drive in My computer
                          c.Double Click on the Windows' folder on C drive .
                             You may have to click show contents of this folder if this is your first time.
                          d. Double Click on the Cookies folder 
                          e  In the Cookies Folder Click on edit and then Select all
                          f. Click File then Delete
                          g. If a warning pops up asking you if you want to delete the cookies click
                             yes or OK.
                          h. Click the up folder icon or the back button on the Cookies window if you
                             are  going to proceed to the next step. Close the window if you are not

Windows XP is set up to hide some files from you . If you come accross a page asking if you want to really view the files click yes or show files.

Temp files are files that programs create to store temporary data while you are working on a document or other type of file. They can also be left over files from installing a program. The computer will not let you delete any temp files that are in use so it is safe to delete every other file. 
                         a. Click on start, then My Computer
                         b .Double Click on Local Disk (c:)
                         c. Double Click on Documents and Settings
                         d. Look for the name you log in with and click on the  folder with that name
                         e. Double click on the Local Settings folder
                         f.  Double click on the Temp folder
                         g. Click on Edit , then select all
                         h. Click on File then Delete

Your Browser stores web pages in a folder on your hard drive. It does this so you don't have to download everything again if you go back to a page.  It includes the text, any sound , and the pictures. They should be manually deleted.to clear space.
                         a. If you are in the Temp folder click the back button and go to Local Settings.
                         b  Double click on the Temporary Internet files folder
                         c  In the Temporary Internet files folder Click edit and Select all
                         d.Click File , then delete.
                         f. If a notice pops up asking if you want to delete the cookies click yes.
                         g. Close all windows

Since you have just deleted a lot of files the Recycle bin will be full. It should be emptied at least once a week.
                        a Double click on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop 
                        b.Click on Empty the Recycle Bin 
                        c. If a window pops up asking if you want to delete the selected files click yes
                           or ok

You should defragment your hard drive. This will organize the files on the disk so they may be loaded faster.
                     a. Click start
                     b. Click programs
                     c. Click accessories
                     d. Click System Tools
                     e. Click Disk Defragmenter
                     f.  Click start
If this is your first time defragmenting or you havent done it for some time it may take an hour or more. I recomend doing Defrag at night while you are sleeping if this is the case.

Last step is running Check Disk on your had drive. In Windows Xp they have hidden the location of Check Disk a little.

a. Click Start
b. Click My Computer
c. Right Click on the C: drive icon
d. Click on properties
e. Click on the Tools tab
f. On the tab you will see the Error check box. Click on the Check Now button
g. A small box will pop up Check the Automaticly fix errors and Scan and attempt Recovery of bad sectors.
h. Click Start
I. A box will pop up asking if you want to run check disk when you restart. Click ok or yes.
j. Restart the computer.

The computer will start up in a special mode and run a check disk on your hard drive fixing errors as it goes. If you have a large drive or have not done this before expect it to take a long time. Windows will start when the check is done. If you have more than one hard drive repeat the steps above for each drive.

KURD IT GROUP

KURDITGROUP@groups.msn.com

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