Version: 2008
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WEEKEND PROJECT: Get your hard drive back in the fast lane
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Step 1

Getting started

Step 2

What you'll need

Step 3

Check for errors

Step 4

Clean up your disk

Step 5

Defragment your hard drive

Step 6

For extra credit

Weekend wisdom

Need more advice? Have tips to give? Go to the Windows XP forum to share your insights.

Get your hard drive back in the fast lane

Step 3:

Check for errors



Windows XP's error-checking tool automatically fixes file-system errors and scans your hard drive for bad sectors

Windows XP's error-checking tool automatically fixes file-system errors and scans your hard drive for bad sectors.

The first bit of prep work is to examine your hard drive for file-system errors and bad sectors--areas where writing and reading data may be a problem. Open My Computer, right-click any drive, and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, and in the Error-checking section, click Check Now. Check one or both boxes and click Start. If you have more than one partition--or more than one hard drive--you'll have to repeat the process for each one, because Windows XP scans only one drive at a time. If you're prompted to schedule the disk check the next time you start your computer, click Yes and reboot. Or reboot later, if you prefer.

Either way, the utility performs the selected operations.
Clean up your disk


Get your hard drive back in the fast lane

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