General Computer Maintenance
The following steps are general-purpose maintenance for Windows computers. It is good for you to do these steps for the computer in general.
- Boot-up Diagnostics
Most computers have diagnostics that you can run when you first turn on the computer. This is accessed before you get into Windows. Running all the diagnostics is good but time consuming. I recommend trying to run the hard drive SMART test which is a quick test of the hard drive. Every PC company has different diagnostics so I can't say how to get into the diagnostics but typically if you carefully watch the screen after turning on the computer there is something to indicate how to do so. For example, it might say "F12 for boot-up options".
There will probably be some "startup" programs that you actually do need to startup so it can require knowledge and experiment to figure out what you need and don't need.
- Verify that you have at least 5GB free space on your hard drive.
Open COMPUTER or MY COMPUTER , right click on the C drive and select PROPERTIES. You should then be able to see how much space is being used and how much is free. You should have at least 5GB of free space on your hard drive for problem free operation.
- Run chkdsk.
Close all programs.
Bring up a command prompt - click the START button in the lower left hard corner of the screen, type “cmd”, right click on cmd in the list and click RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR
At the command prompt, type “Chkdsk /r c:” and ENTER.
It will ask you if it’s OK to do this at boot. Agree to it by typing Y.
Reboot.
- Install all Microsoft Updates
- Check the Event Viewer
Windows maintains a log of all error messages. When the computer is misbehaving it’s good to consult it. To start it
type WINDOWS KEY-R
see the Run Command window appear
type “eventvmr.msc”, and
click OK.
8. Reboot
This is the most important step in any and all computer troubleshooting. Reboot all related computers - IOL MASTER, server, workstations. etc.