http://techtab.matthewferrara.com en-us N/A matt.hadley@matthewferrara.com Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:02:05 PST 20 http://techtab.matthewferrara.com/articles/436/1/Windows-XP/Page1.html Disk Clean up (Go To)

• The Disk Clean up tool helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files.
  Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use

Resource: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

2) Defragmentation (Go To)

• In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by
  physically reorganizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It also attempts to create larger
  regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation. Some defragmenters also try to keep smaller files within a single directory
  together, as they are often accessed in sequence.
  
  
• Fragmentation occurs when the operating system cannot or will not allocate enough contiguous space to store a complete file as a unit, but instead puts parts of it in gaps between other files (usually those gaps exist because they formerly held a file that the operating system has subsequently deleted or because the operating system allocated excess space for the file in the first place). Larger files and greater numbers of files also contribute to fragmentation and consequent performance loss. Defragmentation attempts to alleviate these problems.
  

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation

3) MSconfig (Go To)

• The System Configuration Utility (MSconfig) allows you to selectively enable or disable Various settings that affect system startup.
  The startup tab under System Configuration Utility have programs that startup when your computer starts up.
  Some of these programs do not need to start when your computer starts up. Using google you can type in the startup item name and find out
  what it is, and what it's used for.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSConfig

]]> no@spam.com (Matt H) http://techtab.matthewferrara.com/articles/436/1/Windows-XP/Page1.html