You already know from owning a car or household appliance (not to mention a human body) that good preventative maintenance habits will help avoid problems and speed your recovery from others. The same is true for computer ownership.

You have a number of considerations to make when planning and executing basic housekeeping and maintenance procedures on a Windows-based computer. In this first article of this series I’ll focus on the tools you already have, those that are part of the Windows 98 operating system (in most cases Windows 95 and Windows ME have similar functions).

Sometimes a hard drive doesn’t fail mechanically, but a key piece of data or two get scrambled to the point where your computer can’t "remember" where the various parts of your data are stored. Windows has an onboard tool called “ScanDisk” to help prevent and repair these types of occurrences. You are probably familiar with “ScanDisk” because it pops up and runs automatically whenever your system crashes. You can do a deliberate and more thorough scan as well, though, and it is recommended that you do so about once a month or whenever you are experiencing problems with files opening. Disable your screensaver and any virus checking software, then choose “ScanDisk” from the Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools menu. Select the appropriate drive or drives, check "Thorough" and "Automatically fix errors" and start the scan. This can take quite a while to complete so I recommend setting this up to run overnight.

Another problem that will eventually beset your hard drive is file fragmentation. Initially, software applications and files load nicely onto wide open areas of a fresh hard disk. As time goes on, however, new files overwrite old ones that have been deleted and a given file or application may now be split up over multiple physical locations on the disk. This tends to slow operation as the computer must make several stops along the hard drive to collect all the pieces of data that it needs to work with. The solution is to periodically run “Disk Defragmenter,” which is another utility that ships with Windows.

Defragmenting the drive consolidates the files and frees up space to improve overall efficiency. Launch “Disk Defragmenter” from the Start/ Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools menu and click on "Settings." Check both "Rearrange program files" and "Check the drive for errors." Like “ScanDisk,” do this once a month with screen savers and virus checkers off and may take a while to complete. It is further recommended that Disk Defragmenter be run after “ScanDisk.” Everything should run more smoothly after a "defrag," with speed increases especially noticeable when you are opening Microsoft Office applications.

As in the physical world, it is amazing how much extra "stuff" can collect in the digital world. Even if you have a large enough hard disk such that space is not an issue, you can improve the general performance of your system by periodically cleaning out unnecessary files. This category includes temporary files and the contents of your “Recycle Bin,” for instance. Windows has a utility called “Disk Cleanup,” to help you with this process.

After a clean boot, open “Disk Cleanup” from the Start/ Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools menu and choose the appropriate drive. The first thing “Disk Cleanup” will do is tell you how much junk it can get rid of for you. My first time out reclaimed 734.1MB (results not typical)! It is recommended that you run “Disk Cleanup” periodically (weekly to monthly), when sluggishness is noticeable, or when you are running low on disk space.

Internet users will want to go a step further and manually delete all the files in their “Windows/Recent” and “Windows/Cookies” (except for the INDEX.DAT file, which can’t be deleted) folders regularly. You may also clean out the Windows/History file from time to time, but first be sure you’ve bookmarked all the sites you’ll want to revisit.

If this all seems too much to remember and squeeze in amidst a busy writing agenda, the Windows 98 Maintenance Wizard allows you to set up “ScanDisk,” “Disk Defragmenter,” and “Disk Cleanup” to be run periodically. Remember to leave your computer on at the appointed time, and the Wizard will take care of the rest automatically.

A "driver" is the nugget of software that tells each of your peripherals, such as a printer or monitor, exactly how to interact with your operating system and the applications you are using. Since operating systems and application software change frequently, device manufacturers have to update these drivers frequently to react to the new versions. Consequently, outdated drivers are often the culprit when you encounter printing or display problems, among others. So, another way to stave off potential problems is to update your device drivers regularly. The Internet has greatly simplified the process of obtaining up to date drivers as manufacturer sites, as well as sites such as WinDrivers.com, post the latest drivers for download.

In a future article we’ll talk about 3rd party troubleshooting utilities, but there are two, in addition to those mentioned above, that come with Windows 98 that you should know about, “Registry Checker” and “System File Checker.”

In Windows 95 and 98, the “Registry” is the central database that stores the setup information for all of the programs you run. You can check its health by going to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information. Click on Tools and select "Registry Checker." This tool not only inspects your Registry, but can also be used to make a backup copy of it, which you should always do before tinkering with the “Registry” in any way.

“System File Checker” is pretty technical, but may bail you out in time of trouble. To access it, close all open programs and select Run from the Start menu. There type in "sfc" and click OK. Check "Scan for Altered Files" and click Start. If the System File Checker detects corrupted files, it will help you replace them with clean copies from your Windows master disks.