where's all my stuf?
As a quick review, let's talk about the parts of a computer. The most obvious are the ones that we can see: the monitor, the mouse, the keyboard, the tower. The first three are the main parts that we use to communicate with the tower, which is where the actual computing is done. Inside the tower, basically, are several devices that work together to do the computing: the central processing unit, a.k.a. the CPU; the main system memory, a.k.a. RAM; program and information storage, the hard drive; data installation and retrieval, the optical drive - be it CD/DVD-ROM, CD/DVD-RW, (a.k.a. CD/DVD burner). I assume most of you know all of that, so I won't go into any more of it. What I do want to talk about is your hard drive. What it is, how it basically works, and how the heck do I find anything on it anyway. Here we go!
A hard drive is kind of like a magnetic record player. It stores your data and programs on spinning magnetic disks, and uses a read head to move back and forth across the disk to access the data that you may need at any given time. This construction allows for information to be stored, retrieved and deleted as you need it. A very ingenious and convenient invention. However, like a bookshelf it has a tendency to fill things up as it goes, top to bottom. Sometimes the data is strewn about in a not-so-handy manner. This is where defragmentation enters the picture. With the advent of Windows XP, running the defragmenter is not as life or death as it once was in earlier versions of Windows, but it is still a good idea to do so once in awhile, say, once per quarter.
As to organization, the way that most programs want to install themselves is as if it is the only program that you will have on your computer, and everything else is merely there to facilitate its needs. Why else would every program assume I want to install it in my C:\Program Files\ ? Yes, I guess that it is a program, and that if C: is the only drive on my computer, and I only have say, five programs, that will be fine. I don't know about you though, but I have WAY more than five programs, and if they were all in my program files directory on C: I'd have no room left on C:, and I'd never find any program. Now, let's compound that problem with the fact that different programs will want to put their data in some subdirectory of Program Files, or will want to dump the file somewhere into your My Documents folder, it's no wonder that people are starting to turn to Google to help them find that picture of their kid that's buried somewhere on their computer if only they could remember where they put it...and then some people one day realize that their computer which used to seem like it had hard drive space beyond anything the could imagine is somehow full, and they have no idea why or where anything is, and what the heck is taking up all that space!! Ok, one thing at a time.
First of all, there is lots of speculation on how best to organize a hard drive. Really and truly, how You want to organize your hard drive should be up to You. Don't let me tell you how to do it. However, may I give you a little friendly advice? In my sad experience, at some time in the future, you may have to reinstall Windows. I know, you're shocked, but it happens. We'll cover that at a later time. Nevertheless, in anticipation of that eventuality, I recommend to people that they set aside a space on their primary drive to be known as the C: drive, upon which only their operating system will reside. Believe me, this will save you many hours of trouble someday. "But Steve," I hear you saying, "how can I possibly change things now? My computer came installed on drive C: with lots of room on that drive, and that's how I've been running up until now, and everything's full, and you're stressing me out!" Don't worry about it now. If it's too late, it's too late, and there's nothing to be done. But if you have a fairly new system, and you don't have the whole world in there yet, I recommend setting things up this way. Then set a drive where all your programs will reside, or all your programs of a specific type at least, that way you won't need to try and figure out where all of them are, and then set aside a drive where all your media will be, then a drive where all your downloads can live, then finally, a space for your virtual system RAM. I know there are going to be lots of questions, I can feel them coming already. Remember, if you choose to follow none of that advice, it's certainly not a real issue, it's just my 2 cents. For some other thoughts on how to organize a hard drive, check out PC World's site, and HP also has a few basic thoughts on how to look after a drive in a very basic manner.
where's my stuf again?
So now I'll get into figuring out where all the space went to on your hard drive. It's happened to me on plenty of occasions, I go to save a program, or install some new software, and be totally confused as to how I could have managed to use up all that massive hard drive space. There are some pay programs that will show you where everything is and how much space it takes, but you all know how the Scotsman in me loves to pay for things I can get for free... So here's a free one! Check out Spacemonger, it will show you simply, powerfully and dynamically where you're using all that hard drive space. If after looking at your drive, you realize you really do need to do some serious cleaning, eHow has a little article that may help you out. If you're looking for something that will very quickly clean up the unneeded residue that just running a computer for a year or so can build up, check out CCleaner. This is a little gem of a program that will help you by not only cleaning up the hard drive, but will also help to organize and clean your registry. Very powerful, and hey, it's free!
Last, but the furthest from least you can imagine I want to talk about an amazing program that will help with hard drive maintenance in ways that most of us never think of. We all know that hard drives will eventually fail. It's a fact. Anything that moves wears out. However, if you've ever looked at the links that I have posted on the side here, you will notice that one of them is called Gibson Research Corporation. GRC is run by one Steve Gibson, and he has a product out called SpinRite. Most people who have heard of this program think of it as some kind of data recovery system, which it is, but it is also a program that I recommend running anytime, probably if you did so just before doing a system defragmentation, that would be good. Take a little time to read the site about this software. It will give you a little more insight into how a computer works, and how to keep yours working.
I know this has been a long one, but thanks for bearing with me. I'll be moving on to more fun things next time. See you then!
A hard drive is kind of like a magnetic record player. It stores your data and programs on spinning magnetic disks, and uses a read head to move back and forth across the disk to access the data that you may need at any given time. This construction allows for information to be stored, retrieved and deleted as you need it. A very ingenious and convenient invention. However, like a bookshelf it has a tendency to fill things up as it goes, top to bottom. Sometimes the data is strewn about in a not-so-handy manner. This is where defragmentation enters the picture. With the advent of Windows XP, running the defragmenter is not as life or death as it once was in earlier versions of Windows, but it is still a good idea to do so once in awhile, say, once per quarter.
As to organization, the way that most programs want to install themselves is as if it is the only program that you will have on your computer, and everything else is merely there to facilitate its needs. Why else would every program assume I want to install it in my C:\Program Files\ ? Yes, I guess that it is a program, and that if C: is the only drive on my computer, and I only have say, five programs, that will be fine. I don't know about you though, but I have WAY more than five programs, and if they were all in my program files directory on C: I'd have no room left on C:, and I'd never find any program. Now, let's compound that problem with the fact that different programs will want to put their data in some subdirectory of Program Files, or will want to dump the file somewhere into your My Documents folder, it's no wonder that people are starting to turn to Google to help them find that picture of their kid that's buried somewhere on their computer if only they could remember where they put it...and then some people one day realize that their computer which used to seem like it had hard drive space beyond anything the could imagine is somehow full, and they have no idea why or where anything is, and what the heck is taking up all that space!! Ok, one thing at a time.
First of all, there is lots of speculation on how best to organize a hard drive. Really and truly, how You want to organize your hard drive should be up to You. Don't let me tell you how to do it. However, may I give you a little friendly advice? In my sad experience, at some time in the future, you may have to reinstall Windows. I know, you're shocked, but it happens. We'll cover that at a later time. Nevertheless, in anticipation of that eventuality, I recommend to people that they set aside a space on their primary drive to be known as the C: drive, upon which only their operating system will reside. Believe me, this will save you many hours of trouble someday. "But Steve," I hear you saying, "how can I possibly change things now? My computer came installed on drive C: with lots of room on that drive, and that's how I've been running up until now, and everything's full, and you're stressing me out!" Don't worry about it now. If it's too late, it's too late, and there's nothing to be done. But if you have a fairly new system, and you don't have the whole world in there yet, I recommend setting things up this way. Then set a drive where all your programs will reside, or all your programs of a specific type at least, that way you won't need to try and figure out where all of them are, and then set aside a drive where all your media will be, then a drive where all your downloads can live, then finally, a space for your virtual system RAM. I know there are going to be lots of questions, I can feel them coming already. Remember, if you choose to follow none of that advice, it's certainly not a real issue, it's just my 2 cents. For some other thoughts on how to organize a hard drive, check out PC World's site, and HP also has a few basic thoughts on how to look after a drive in a very basic manner.
where's my stuf again?
So now I'll get into figuring out where all the space went to on your hard drive. It's happened to me on plenty of occasions, I go to save a program, or install some new software, and be totally confused as to how I could have managed to use up all that massive hard drive space. There are some pay programs that will show you where everything is and how much space it takes, but you all know how the Scotsman in me loves to pay for things I can get for free... So here's a free one! Check out Spacemonger, it will show you simply, powerfully and dynamically where you're using all that hard drive space. If after looking at your drive, you realize you really do need to do some serious cleaning, eHow has a little article that may help you out. If you're looking for something that will very quickly clean up the unneeded residue that just running a computer for a year or so can build up, check out CCleaner. This is a little gem of a program that will help you by not only cleaning up the hard drive, but will also help to organize and clean your registry. Very powerful, and hey, it's free!
Last, but the furthest from least you can imagine I want to talk about an amazing program that will help with hard drive maintenance in ways that most of us never think of. We all know that hard drives will eventually fail. It's a fact. Anything that moves wears out. However, if you've ever looked at the links that I have posted on the side here, you will notice that one of them is called Gibson Research Corporation. GRC is run by one Steve Gibson, and he has a product out called SpinRite. Most people who have heard of this program think of it as some kind of data recovery system, which it is, but it is also a program that I recommend running anytime, probably if you did so just before doing a system defragmentation, that would be good. Take a little time to read the site about this software. It will give you a little more insight into how a computer works, and how to keep yours working.
I know this has been a long one, but thanks for bearing with me. I'll be moving on to more fun things next time. See you then!
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