XP Maintenance

Control Panel Performance and Maintenance

Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance

From the Performance and Maintenance screen you can do a variety of different tasks for your computer.

1. View basic information about your computer
2. Adjust visual effects
3. Free up space on the hard drive
4. Back up data
5. Rearrange items on your hard disk to make programs run faster (Defragment hard drive)
6. System Restore

View Basic Information About the Computer

Under "Pick a task," the first option is to view basic information about the computer. When you select this option you will be able to see information about which operating system it has, how much memory it has, what kind of CPU it uses, and how fast the CPU is.

Adjust Visual Effects

Changes can be made to the way your menu opens and closes, the way the menu looks, the shadows they make, etc by un-checking some of the boxes in this section. By default all of the boxes are checked. You can create a custom look by un-checking the ones that you do not want.

Disk Cleanup

To get rid of temp files (.tmp files), temporary internet file, recycle bin items, and old downloaded program executables, select "Free up space on your hard disk" from the Performance and Maintenance page. A box will come up that will offer you options to check or uncheck several different kinds of things to delete. This is completely safe to do and good for your computer.

Back up your Data

Though your data on the F: and G: drive are backed up for you regularly, if you keep any data on the C: drive (which we do not encourag) you will want to back it up occasionally. Go through this wizard for step-by-step instructions on how you can save to a floppy disk, zip disk or CD writer.

Rearrange Items on your Hard Disk to Make Programs Run Faster

This option takes you to Disk Defragmenter, a great utility to use on your computer about once a month, or when general protection fault errors are popping up. It rearranges the data on your hard drive so the drive will run more efficiently. You will be able to see the progress of Disk Defragmenter as it moves, but it is a good idea to use this utility while you go to lunch or to a meeting as it completely ties up your computer while it runs. All other applications should be closed when running this utility.

System Restore

System restore can be used just before installing software to protect your current configuration. If something goes wrong, such as a software conflict, you can revert to the last restored point.

NOTE: System restore should not be used as a data backup. It is only used for restoring the configuration of the computer.

• Just click on System Restore from the Performance and Maintenance page, then select Create Restore Point from the wizard.
• Click Next.
• Give the restore point a name.
• Click Finish.

To restore your system to an earlier restore point, go into System Restore and select "Restore my computer to an earlier time." Then select which restore point you would like to use. Your machine will reboot to the earlier configuration.