Defragmenting your hard drive

As normal computer maintenance goes, defragmentation is pretty standard. Why do you need to defrag your hard drive?

Think of your computer's hard drive like a huge dvd rack where you'd store your dvd's. The dvd's represent files on your computer. When you first start off you don't have many dvd's so the rack is relatively empty. It's easy to access a particular movie you want because there isn't many to choose from. Now as your computer is an avid dvd collector your rack starts to fill up and things get more disorganized and chaotic. You no longer can instantly find your favorites among the thousands of dvd's piled together. If you want to watch a couple movies, it now takes a lot longer for you to search through your collection becoming tedious and frustrating.

What a disk defragmenter does is separates and places your files in order of how often you access them and what kind of files they are. So basically it's organizing your dvd's by your most watched, and then in a specific order that way you can get to them a lot faster than before.

Windows comes with it's own defragmenter program, but there are mixed feelings about it. I personally say better to use that, then none at all. There are however a few good and free disk defrag programs out there.

Defraggler by Piriform, the same company that makes CCleaner. It's a very useful defragmentation tool. Allows to defrag individual folders and files without having to do the entire hard drive.

JkDefrag is completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies and USB disks/sticks. Has been around for a while and is widely trusted.

O&O Defrag 2000 is a freeware Windows defragmentation tool. It is completely integrated into the Microsoft Management Console as a snap-in and can be used to replace the standard Windows 2000/XP defragmentation software.

Now depending on the program you get, there's a number of options that you can choose for defragmenting your hard drive. There really isn't any concern for changing these options. The simple action of starting to defragment is adequate.

For JkDefrag is just a matter of running the executable file and it'll automatically start. However with Defraggler you need to choose which drive, or which folder you'd like to defragment and then start the task. O&O Defrag you would need to go to your control panel and select Administrative Tools. You'd see an option for Computer Management. When that's opened you should see the defragment option under Storage.

There's also another method you can do, which is to auto defrag when idle. To do this you need to create a scheduled task. In order to set this up follow these directions.

1. Go to your START button and click Control Panel.

2. You should see an option for Scheduled Tasks, if not on the left you should see a 'Switch to classic view' option. Click that and it should appear.

3. In here right click your mouse and select New> Scheduled Task

4. Name it Defrag

5. Right click the Defrag task and go to properties

6. Under Run click Browse and find the .exe file for your defragmentation program. For example JkDefrag.exe

7. Then click Schedule tab at the top and under Schedule Task, select When Idle from the drop down list.

8. You can set the amount of minutes of being idle before the task start, I recommend 10.

9. Click Apply, a dialog box should appear, if you have a username and password for your account type it in.

10. Hit OK and your set, you'll now defrag your drive while your pc is idle. If you wish to delete it, just go to scheduled task and right click and delete that task.

This is a great way to keep your hard drive in good condition without having to manually run a scan every week.

The long awaited update: PC protection

It has been far too long since my last update. It seems like I didn't keep my word of providing basic internet and computer information. I'm back though and hopefully will be doing an update at least monthly if not every 2 weeks or so. I have plenty to cover, it's just a lack of excitement or inspiration has kept me from writing.

In this entry I'll be covering ways to protect yourself from viruses, adware/spyware, and hackers.

If you buy a commercially made computer (Dell, HP, Compaq,etc...), it usually comes with a trial or limited version of an anti-virus program. In most cases Norton or McAfee will be the program. The first thing I would do is look for alternatives. Why would you do that? Well it's always good to see what your options are. There are a few free anti-virus programs out there better than Norton or McAfee and the best thing is... they're free.

A few years ago when you used the internet, depending on your browsing habits you'd constantly run into spam, worms, and viruses. In today's usage of the internet, we now have a couple more things to worry about such as adware and spyware. Adware is usually software that will show advertisements on your PC. They come in the form of random pop up messages and may start initializing even when you're not using a browser. You can get adware from installing software that packages it either as an incentive to being free, or hidden without your knowledge.

Spyware is software that sends personal information to a third parties without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about Web sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you unsolicited targeted advertisements.

Now there are tons of programs out there designed to stop all this from happening, but what most people don't know is which to choose. Most of the pc users I know tend to go with the most popular since so many people have it, it has to work right? You would think that, but sometimes they can work too well. Norton likes to take over your computer, so much so that you get fed with your PC and won't even use it. Sure it works by keeping you away from the internet, but no one really wants that.

I have tried possibly 4-5 different programs in my time, among them Norton, Kasperky, and AVG. The best so far has to be AVG. It's free and there's no hooks or catches. Take a look at the wiki table for comparing anti virus programs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antivirus_software

I do however use this in conjunction with a few other programs. For my spyware and adware I use Lavasofts Adaware program. You should always be kept up to date with any of these programs. You can setup automatic scans during anytime time of the day. Virus protection should be ran everyday, and ad/spyware scans once a week. You should also note to only have one anti virus program installed on your computer, otherwise they might start conflicting with one another.

The last program you should install is a personal firewall. A firewall is a program or hardware device that filters the information coming through the your internet connection to your home network. If an incoming piece of information is flagged by the filters, it is not allowed through. A firewall with block protocols hackers (or programs) would use to communicate directly with your pc. The best program out there that I've come across is Sunbelt's Personal Firewall.

With all of these programs I mentioned it's really up to you to become familiar with them. There is plenty of documentation provided by the company, but for the most part navigating around the program and getting used to the interface is a big step in the right direction. No one is instantly familiar with a programs settings. It can also be a bit intimidating with all the features they include. Don't be afraid to join forums and ask questions, that's why they are created.

Filehippo.com is a great site to get free, trial, or open source software. It's linked on the right and I recommend it for obtaining most of the software I use.