Malicious programs are basically self explanatory… “Malicious Programs”. There are programs designed to deliver malicious behavior to your computer. Malicious programs can do anything from annoy you with ridiculous pop-up ads caused by adware to erase your entire hard drive and make you computer unusable. These programs are classified as the following…

• Viruses
• Trojan Horses (Also called Trojans)
• Worms
• Adware
• Spyware
• Monitoring or Hacking Tools

Difficulty: Moderate

How Long: 10 mins – 20 mins

How Often: Usually only for troubleshooting purposes but doesn’t hurt for preventative maintenance, once every couple of weeks or so

The sfc /scannow (System File Checker) command checks your system’s protected files for errors or corruption. It can also be used for a troubleshooting tool for when you notice suspicious activities during bootup or startup.

This file can also be run from either the Run utility or the Command Prompt. To run this command:

• Navigate to Run/or open your command prompt (Click Here for Command Prompt Tutorial)
• Type in sfc /scannow in the Open text field
• Press Enter
• When it’s finished scanning the window may say something like scan complete or the command prompt window will just disappear, that means it’s finished.
• That’s all to it

Dificulty: Moderate

How Long: 5 mins – 20 mins

How Often: Weekly

The ChkDsk command (Check Disk) scans your hard disk checking for bad or missing sectors that could possible cause hard disk performance problems over time. This utility basically checks the integrity of the volume specified. When coupled with the f/ (fix) parameter, you tell the computer to fix the bad or missing sectors as it scans. This utility involves using your computer’s command prompt or run utility.

To get to the Run utility:

• Click Start
• Click Run (If using Vista you can just type in Run in the search box)
• In the Open text field type in chkdsk /f to run the ChkDsk utility
• If it says something about your it cannot lock drive, proceed to next step
• Just type Y and press Enter you system will be checked the next time you restart your computer.

Don’t Panic when you restart your computer and you get a black screen saying something about checking your hard disk, this is normal and shouldn’t take very long at all. After it finishes scanning, your computer will start up as normal.

Difficulty: Easy

How Long: 2 mins – 1 hour tops

How Often: Daily

Video Tutorial Available (Click Here)

The Disk Cleanup Utility cleans up files on your computer that are no longer needed for operation such as:

· Deleted files in Recycle Bin

· Temporary Internet Files

· System Error Files

· Internet Cookies

·And any other files your system deems no longer needed

The Disk Cleanup Utility is also great because it actually shows you how much hard disk space you gain after the unneeded files are emptied from your disk.

To run Disk Cleanup in Windows:

· Click Start

· Go to Programs

· Go to Accessories

· Go to System Tools (on some machines the utility may be in Accessories)

· Click Disk Cleanup

· Confirm the Volume you would like to Cleanup

· After the utility calculates how much space you will gain, your should see a window similar to the screenshot above

· Look over the files to be deleted and make sure the files you want deleted are checked

· When ready to delete files Click Ok

(For Advanced users you can also run cleanmgr from the command prompt)

Difficulty: Easy

How Long: 30 Mins – Days

How often: Depends on analysis, analyze weekly

Video Tutorial Available (Click Here)

Fragmentation derives from adding and subtracting files and applications to your hard disk. When files are deleted from the hard disk the empty spaces on your disk are filled at random as new items are stored on the disk creating a very unorganized database of files and folders.

Defragmenting is the process of moving files on your hard disk to be more accessible for retrieval, which in turn increases speed of computer performance.

Basically the act of Defragmenting rearranges files on your hard disk for the best possible performance. Since the hard disk is the slowest component of the computer (because it is the only component with moving parts) it is important to keep it as healthy as possible. The longer the read/write heads on your hard disk take to find the files on the disk the slower your computer performs. It is very important to keep disk fragmentation as low as possible to help sustain a healthy hard disk and fast performance. The best way to tell if your system needs defragmented is to run the Disk Defragmenter Utility.

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(For Windows Operating System)

Be sure to disable all screen savers, disconnect from the internet, and close all programs (including anti-virus programs), before defragmenting.

· Click Start

· Go to Programs

· Go to Accessories

· Go to System Tools (on some machines the utility may be in Accessories)

· Click Disk Defragmenter

· Select the Volume (ex. C:, D:, etc.) you wish to analyze

· Click Analyze Disk to see if the volume needs defragmented or not

· If it says you should defragment, then click Defragment

(For Advanced users you can also run defrag X:, with X being the volume you would like to defrag, in the command prompt)

Defragmenting can take anywhere from 30 mins to a couple days (no exaggeration, trust me I’ve seen it on older computers) at a time depending on how large the volume is and how bad the fragmentation is on the drive. Newer model computers usually take no more than and hour or two to defrag, but it ultimately depends on the condition of the drive.