Instructions for Windows 95,98,ME

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 Double Click on My computer
                          b Double Click on C drive in My computer
                          c.Double Click on the Windows' folder on C drive . If you have Windows 98
                             or above you may have to click show contents of this folder.
                         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

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. From the Windows folder locate the Temp folder and double click on it 
                             to open it.
                         b .In the Temp window Click on Edit then Select All
                         c. Click File then delete   
                         d. If a warning appears asking if you want to delete the files click yes or OK.
                         e. If windows warns you that a file can not be deleted ignore it and delete 
                             the rest.
                         f. Click the up folder icon or the back button on the Temp window if you are
                            going to proceed to the next step. Close the window if you are not.
a

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. Go  to  the  Windows' folder on C drive
                         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
a

Scan disk will repair errors on your hard drive. It is recommended you run it once a week.
                        a. Click start
                        b. Click programs
                        c. Click accessories
                        d. Click System Tools
                        e. Click scandisk
                        f. Check repair errors automatically and click ok
Please just let this program run and do not use the computer while it is working as it will restart the program each time. It is a good idea to turn off anti-virus programs while scanning your disk as they may conflict of stop the program.. Also if this is your first time running the program it may take a long time to finish.

Last step. You should defragment your hard drive. This will organize the files on the disk so they may be loaded faster. Please turn off all programs including any anti-virus programs that are running. Also do not use the computer as it will cause the drives contents to change and the program will restart.
                     a. Click start
                     b. Click programs
                     c. Click accessories
                     d. Click System Tools
                     e. Click Disk Defragmenter
                     f.  Click start