-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Restore Point
- From: GMan <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:33:12 -0500
Sounds like somebody missed 'snack time'. ;O}
I'm sorry. I don't mean to poke fun. It's only that I hear from SO many
users who feel this way all the time. It's the reason I refer to them as
infernal contraptions (the computers, not the users). Still, let's see if
we can't force Winders to see things your way a bit more.
First, I suspect you have a TON of old temporary files lying around and
mucking up the works. When one of these old worthless files becomes
corrupted, it can knock out any process that uses a file by that name (since
your temp folder is one of the places that Windows looks for running files
before fetching a fresh copy form the app itself). You'll probably have to
do a little digging to get to the right folders, but the end result is SO
worth the effort. You may also need to tell Windows to show all 'Hidden'
files & folders before you'll see these. (Control Panel > Folder Options >
View. then check "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide
protected operating system files"). When you're all done, you have the
option of rehiding these things and I strongly recommend that only if you
are not the only one using your system (especially if young kids are
involved).
After you've deleted as much of the muck as possible, empty the Recycle
Bin to reclaim the space they were hogging. The primary default location
for the Temp folder is below. Of course, you'll have to sub your own
username for mine and you'll have to change the drive letter if your Windows
installation resides on a different drive than C:\.
C:\Documents and Settings\GMan\Local Settings\Temp
If there is more than one user set up on your system, you should go in and
empty out the other user's Temp folders as well (if your user account has
Admin status)
Windows itself uses a separate folder for its own temp files located at:
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
BOTH of these locations need to be cleared out occasionally, with the
frequency determined by how much you use your system. If Windows balks at
deleting a file in one of these locations, it just means that the file is
currently being used by a process. Click OK and select all of the files
other than the one it won't release. You may have to repeat this numerous
times before the files that can be deleted are all gone.
Next, run CHKDSK with ALL of the trimmings (there's only two options,
but you'll want to check both of them). Open up My Computer and Right click
on the C:\ drive (or whichever other drive you might want to scan). Select
Properties from the context menu and then click on the Tools tab to expose
the primary utilities for that particular drive. Click on the "Check Now"
button to fire up CHKDSK and place a check next to BOTH options. The first
one tells it to automatically fix any file problems it finds while the
second box tells it to also perform a surface check of the hard drive. When
you click OK, it will tell you that it cannot run CHKDSK because the drive
is currently in use. It will also ask you if you'd like to schedule a scan
to run on the next boot. Select Yes and then OK your way back to My
Computer. Close Explorer and reboot and you'll get to actually see CHKDSK
do its thing. Depending on the size of the drive, it may take a while to
complete, so I suggest running it right before you're ready to head off to
bed. Just turn off the monitor and let it run overnight. Unless there are
other problems hindering this computer, you 'should' have a much better
performing system in the morning. :O)
Peace,
GMan
http://reddit.com
"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glo" <redowl@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:11 AM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Restore Point
> When I couldn't restore I ran a defrag, which the computer said I didn't
> need and which is why I've never defragged in just about a year! It
> took hours on end, but finally completed. I wanted to run CHKDSK first,
> but couldn't find it (WME 2005, XP SP2). Is a full surface scan the
> same scan that AVG runs every night? How would I know if anything is
> corrupted? And how do I run CHKDSK? I'm asking all these questions
> because my computer has been acting weird lately, running VERY slow and
> hanging a lot between folders in OE. So between trying to set a restore
> point, trying to find the store folder and figure out what to do there,
> and trying to compact my folders (and not being able to do any of this
> stuff), I'm about to throw this whole machine out the window! ~Glo
---------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything
below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary.
To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk
To access our Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
//www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/
To contact only the PCTT Mod Squad, write to:
pctechtalk-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------------------------
Other related posts:
