PC Troubleshooting
PC Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide 3
Windows reports smaller capacity in the Windows Explorer tool and in the My Computer window because it
shows information about one partition on the hard disk drive at a time. The first partition contains the System
Recovery information.
Recommended Maintenance Schedule
Daily Weekly Monthly
Quarterly
(seasonally)
Manage e-mail
• Delete e-mail from
unknown sources.
• Do not open
untrusted
attachments.
• File e-mail.
Protect against viruses, adware, and
spyware
• Update definition files or schedule a weekly
automatic update.
• Run a full virus, adware, and spyware scan
or schedule a weekly automatic scan.
Use Windows Update
• Check for updates
or schedule a monthly
automatic update.
(See the Getting Started
guide for details.)
Set new
passwords
(See the Getting
Started guide for
details.)
Optimize performance
• Run Disk Cleanup. (See “
Running the Disk
Cleanup Program” on page
1.)
• Check for disk errors. (See “Checking for
Hard Disk Drive Errors” on page
2.)
• Run Disk Defragmenter. (See “Running the
Disk Defragmenter Program” on page
2.)
Review the Start menu
• Set to launch only needed
applications.
Optimize your browser
• Delete cookies.
• Delete cache.
• Delete history files.
Clean up the desktop
• Delete or uninstall
unneeded icons
and applications.
(See “Removing Unused
Programs” on page 1.)
Empty the Recycle Bin
• This, and other cleanup tasks, can be
performed with the Disk Cleanup program.
(See “Running the Disk Cleanup Program”
on page
1.)
Maintain overall
condition
• Check cleanliness.
• Make sure ventilation is
unobstructed.
• Secure all connections
and cabling.
Back up important files to CD or DVD
(See “
Creating Data Backup Discs” on
page
1.)
Create a restore point
in the Microsoft System
Restore program
For information, double-click
the Help and Support
icon on the desktop to open
the Help and Support
Center, type system restore
into the Search box, and
then click Search.
Clean the PC,
monitor,
keyboard, and
mouse
• For detailed
cleaning
instructions, go to
http://www.
hp.com/
support, select
your country/
region and
language, search
on your PC model
number, and then
search on the
keyword cleaning.