The Hard Drive Diet – How to Preserve PC Memory

Every PC´s primary storage device is the hard disk. Almost all applications are stored therein, including the operating system. Even programs that load up through CDs and other storage media save something on the hard drive. This hardware component´s pivotal role cannot be overemphasized.

The Short Check Up

While hard drives can be filled to the brim, it is important to always keep it lean and clean from unwanted clutter. Too many installed programs, especially the unnecessary ones, affect the peripheral´s performance. If you´re hard drive is taking more time in accessing files or loading up programs than it used to, then it´s time to clean up the data in it.

Before you sweep off the data dirt in your hard drive, it would be great if you´ll have an idea on the sizes of the used and available spaces of your disk. You can do this by clicking on My Computer. Right click on the C drive (or whatever drive you use), then choose Properties.

The Hard Drive Liposuction

• Perform a disk clean up.
  
  You don´t need a third-party software for this task. To open it, choose Start • All Programs • Accessories • System Tools • Disk Cleanup. Specify the drive that you want to be cleaned in the dialog box. After the program finishes the initial scan, it would then provide the user with a list of files that can be deleted without causing any problem. You could obtain additional information about selected file by clicking on it. Check the files that that you want to be deleted.


• Defrag.
  
  Windows has its own disk defragmenter software. To access it, choose Start • All Programs • Accessories• System Tools • Disk Defragmenter. Specify the drive that you want to defrag. No file deletion is involved here. The only thing that the application would do is arrange the position of the files in your hard disk.


• Delete unwanted files.
  
  Of course, the easiest way of creating space is by deleting your drive´s contents. However, there’s a proper way of doing this in order to ensure that every file or component of the program that you´ll be removing will be completely deleted. To do this, click Start • Settings • Control Panel • Add or Remove Programs. A list of all the installed programs in your computer will appear on your screen. Choose the old or unused ones. However, be careful in deleting those which you´re not familiar with as they might be important for the proper functioning of your system.


• Use an external hard drive.
  
  Although it´s quite impractical to use this as your primary storage device, it can be a viable alternative for programs that you don´t use frequently. It could also serve as a back up device.


• Zip your files
  
  This process reduces file size to one third of its original mass by using advanced compression techniques. Accessing zip files is easy. It is advisable to zip old and rarely used data in your hard drive to free up valuable disk space.


• Use data disks to save files.
  
  Data disks won´t be able to store as many files as your hard drive, but you can remedy this by zipping the data before saving it.


• Transfer music files to some other storage medium.
  
  MP3, wma, and other music file formats are huge. Filling your hard drive with several music albums can significantly reduce the available disk space for other programs. Thus, it is advisable for these files to be placed in other storage media.


• Clean up your desktop.
  
  Too many files on your desktop can be an eyesore. Wipe out some of the icons by moving then into other folders, such as in My Documents or My Pictures.


• Use bookmarks.
  
  Web browsing can be a breeze if you can easily access the Web sites that you frequently visit. Bookmarks reduce the amount of time that it takes for your computer to access your favorite sites by remembering their URLs.


• Arrange your folders.
  
  Try to keep your My Documents, My Music, or My Pictures folders organized. Create subfolders or delete ones which are not needed. However, be very cautious when deleting data from your operating system’s directory as an erroneous deletion could lead to system errors.

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