Cleaning up system????

[perplexed]

I have a few ? regarding running the following programs.

Disk clean up
scandisk
disk defragmenter

I just ran the disk defragmenter in the c drive, do I need to run it in A drive?

Whats the difference in scandisk & disk cleanup?

Can I perform the above tasks while I am on line?

I do not have any of the tasks scheduled
oh a regular basis, does my computer need to be left on at night if I do this?

Thanks so much.

[Dodge]

1. The only time you need to run defragmenter in A: drive is to defrag a Floppy. Not to many people do this. Its not needed most of the time.

2. Scandisk, scans the Hard drive and detects corrupted clusters, and can fix most area's that are corrupted. This is data that is unusable.

3. Disk cleanup, cleans out you Cache, temporary internet files, cookies, and Recycle bin to help free up disk space.

No, you cannot run Scandisk, defrag, etc. while you are online. With scandisk and defrag you need to turn off everything running in the background. Ctrl/Alt/Delete and end task on all except Explorer. That will make it run better with less restarting. Also, make sure to have Screen saver turned off...

4. You can setup Task Scheduler to do this if you want. I just pick a time when I am not going to be on the PC for awhile and run these. Just a choice you have to decide on there....

[lynnm]

Dang!! Just when I was looking for someone to come up with a dumb answer and you cover the bases!! Nice work Compadre!

[ 20 August 2001: Message edited by: lynnm ]

[perplexed]

Thanks so much the advice helped alot and I learned somethings I did not know.

[Dodge]

perplexed, your welcome.

lynnm, thanks.....