Scan disk is also known as Check disk for newer version of Windows. This tool is used to check if the hard drive has critical errors that might affect the performance of the programs installed in the computer. The errors in the hard drive can result into system crash such as blue screen, slow performance, user account corruption and corruption of files including personal files.

Scan Disk will check the hard disk for physical damages. It will also check damages on the software that is installed in it. The main purpose of scan disk is to look for bad sectors and and restore them to working condition. This is due to improper termination of a running program.

Scan Disk will provide a report that contains the errors it has found and the amount of disk space it has scanned. It’s important to use scan disk to prevent your file from corruption. Aside from this, there is a good chance that your computer will perform at optimum performance levels after it has been ran.

This is how you run scan disk or check disk:

1. Click Start, click Computer and Right-Click on your C: drive icon and select Properties.

2. Click the Tools tab and hit “Check Now” under Error Checking. A dialog box will pop up, check both check boxes and click Start .

NOTE: Some people say that when they try to run scan disk or check disk it keeps on resetting itself. It doesn’t happen all the time but if it happens to you there’s a way around this.

Restart your computer, just as your computer starts to boot up (before the Windows “splash screen” appears), keep hitting F8 on your keyboard. A menu should come up. Choose the SAFE MODE option then run Scan Disk following the normal procedure and it should work just fine. When done, re-set your computer and be sure to switch back to normal mode.

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BitLocker is a security feature that will protect your data by putting a very strong password in to your hard disk. This feature is a very good protection just in case your laptop got stolen or falls into the wrong hands. The computer will ask for the password that you set on the disk that you will be protecting every time that disk needs to be accessed. BitLocker is available on Windows Vista Ultimate Edition, Enterprise Edition and Windows 7. You can also use BitLocker to protect your removable storage such USB thumb drives provided that your Windows Vista is updated to Service Pack 1.

Turning BitLocker On

1. Click Start, click Control Panel and click System and Security.

2. Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption and on the next window click Turn On BitLocker of the drive you want to encrypt.

3. On the next window just choose Use a password to unlock the drive and type your desire password in the boxes. Please read the requirements for the password. Once done click Next.

4. Choose the recommended option which is to Save the recovery key as a file and print it later. Click Next after saving.

5. Click Start Encrypting.

6. Once it is finished click Close and restart the computer for the encryption to take effect.

Important note

BitLocker is designed to prevent unauthorized people from accessing your files and programs but, unless you’re careful, it can prevent you from accessing it as well. Take good care of your recovery password. If you lose it, the data you protected with BitLocker will be permanently inaccessible.

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This feature of Windows is only applicable for a computer running in a network. If you have more than one computer at home that are linked to each other and they share files between them, then this feature is a must for easy accessing of files from the computers in the network. Adding a map drive is just like adding a shortcut of a shared folder from other computers. You can just put the map drive icon on the desktop and then double click it to gain access of the data in that folder that is saved in other computers for easy access.

Mapping a Network Drive

1. Right click on an empty space on your desktop click on New and then Shortcut.

2. On the Create Shortcut window click on the Browse button and click the arrow by Network to expand it and show the list of all the computers in the network. Click on the target computer to expand it and then choose the shared folder that you want to map and click OK. Click Next.

3. Type the name of the shortcut in the box and then click Finish.

The map drive icon will look like this

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Defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in the hard disk. What it does is organizing the files of the disk to arrange fragments of each file close together. It will most certainly create larger areas of free space using compression to impede the re-fragmentation. The result of this is faster processing of programs and files which is good and can save a lot of time when when users working on their PC’s. Although this is a tedious process it will surely help the PC restore it’s original performance.

Defragging a Hard Disk

1. Open Computer and right click on drive C: to select properties.

2. On the Properties window click on the Tools tab and click the Defragment Now button.

3. On the defragmenter window just click on the Defragment Now button.

4. Select what drive partition you want to defrag and click OK.

Note: Avoid doing anything else on the PC while the defragment is ongoing so that it will finish faster and it can defrag all files that it needs to.

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If you want to create another account or a few more accounts for the other family members on your computer system, this article will help you with it.

Often times as the owner of the PC you want your account to be secured. You don’t want other people to get their hands to your personal files and stuff. Instead of turning on the Guest account for other people to use, you might want to create a personal account for one’s person to give him/her more control on the account such as set their own wallpaper, screen saver and settings.

Creating a User Account

1. Click Start, click Control Panel and then click Add or Remove user accounts under User Accounts and Family Safety.

2. Click on Create a New Account.

3. Type the name that you want for the account you’re creating in the box. Pick an account type by selecting between Administrator and Standard User. If you choose Administrator it means the account has full control on the computer, it can even delete other accounts as well. You want this type of account if you want to have a back-up account of your original that has full control or the user you intend to create the account for has the same rights on the PC as you do. Standard User account is your choice for other people you want to create the account for but not to have full control on the PC such changing settings on the hard disk, scanning the drive, installing programs and removing them. So once you have chosen the type of account click on the Create Account button. Changes will take effect after you restart the PC.

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Most people know how to install a program, whether it is from a disc or downloaded from the internet. However some users don’t know how to get rid of them when they don’t want it anymore or they need to free up some space from the hard disk, just accidentally installed a program or they need it for troubleshooting purposes to fix a bug or a disk error caused by faulty programs. Some other users will delete the shortcut icon of the program on the desktop and delete the folder in program files thinking those will completely remove the program from the PC, but it won’t.

This article will show you a simple way of removing or uninstalling a program that you have installed in your PC system.

Steps on removing a program

1.  Click Start, click Control Panel and click on Uninstall a Program under the Programs category.

2. You will see a list of all the programs that are installed in your PC. Just look for that program you want to remove and click on it to highlight it. Once it’s highlighted click the Uninstall button on the top of the box where the lists is and just follow the instructions of the un-installation wizard to complete the removal process.

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System Restore is a Windows feature that is very useful for users to troubleshoot software issues in their PC’s. System restore check and backup the entire system settings every time you install a driver or a software that will make changes on the system configuration. The backups are called restore point and they are normally named by the dates they are created on so you can easily select what restore point you want to go back to. The idea is, if you encounter a problem after installing a program or a driver you can use this tool to go back to a state prior to the problem’s occurrence . It’s also important to know that it will not delete or remove personal files and folders, only those programs and drivers you install in the hard disk between the restoration point you want to go back to and the present time.

To Run System Restore:

1. Click start and type System Restore in the search box and press enter. You will see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point. You can select “Recommended restore”, and just click next, or you can choose a different restore point.

2.  If you choose a different restore point you will see a list of restore points, choose one of them by clicking on it. Then you need to confirm it, after that the PC will restart to perform the task. Once it is finish a message at the start up will show up that say’s the system restoration is successful.

Note: You can undo system restore by simply launching it again and selecting Undo Restore.

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Many users don’t realize that they can turn off most built-in Windows features. You would want this feature if you are annoyed by IE8, Windows Media Player or you want to turn off the games that came with Windows because your friend always use your PC to play solitaire for hours.

Back in the days to turn a feature off you have to completely uninstall it even have to use the Windows disc sometimes. This article will show you how to turn off the features you want in Windows.

Turn Off / On Windows Features

1.  Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn Windows features on or off.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2. To turn a Windows feature on, select the check box next to the feature. To turn a Windows feature off, clear the check box.

3. Click OK.

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If you’re using Windows 7, you might wonder why is it the icons by the start button look different, they are a lot bigger and they don’t seem to be the quick launch icons that we all used to love from Windows Vista. That’s because they aren’t quick launch icons anymore. They’re now called pinned icons. You might find them quite annoying as they don’t organize themselves automatically when you open the program associated with them. Microsoft disabled quick launch as a default to introduce this new pinned icon feature. But if you are like the many people that prefers the good old quick launch this article will teach you how to enable it.

Enabling Quick Launch

1. Right click on a empty space on the taskbar and click on New Toolbar.

2. In the Folder line, type or copy: 

%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch ex: your user profile is James\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

3. Click on the Select Folder button.

4. You now have a Quick Launch toolbar on the taskbar. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Click on the arrow to see your Quick Launch shortcuts.

5. To Expand the Quick Launch Toolbar –

A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Left click on the dotted lines and hold, then drag it to the left or right to adjust to show all of the icons. Release the left click when done. (See screenshot below)

C) Lock the taskbar.

6. To Remove Quick Launch Toolbar Icon Text or Title –

A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Right click on the Quick Launch toolbar title name, then click on Toolbar and select Quick Launch.

C) Lock the taskbar.

7. To Have Small or Large Icons for Quick Launch Toolbar –

A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Right click on the Quick Launch toolbar title name, then click on View and select to have Large Icons or Small Icons. (See Screenshot below step 5B)

C) Lock the taskbar.

8. To Have Quick Launch Toolbar on Left Side of Taskbar –

A) Unlock the taskbar.

B) Left click on the dotted lines of the pinned taskbar programs of the left side and hold, then drag it to the right past the Quick Launch  toolbar and release. (See screenshot below)

C) The Quick Launch toolbar is now on the left side of the taskbar. (See screenshot below)

D) Left click on the dotted lines of these and hold and drag them to make any adjustments to how you want them place on the taskbar. (See screenshot above)

E) Lock the taskbar.

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Parental Control is a feature in Windows operating system that helps parents manage which programs their children can use, games to play and websites they can visit. This is a powerful tool to have full control on your PC and protect your children from being exposed to contents that are not good for them.

How to use Parental Control

1.  Click Start, go to Control Panel, click User Accounts and Family Safety and click Parental Controls.

2. Choose the account you want to setup the parental controls with and turn on Parental Controls.

3.0 Once you turned on the Parental Controls for your children’s account you can adjust the following individual settings that you want to manage or control.

3.1 Time Limits – You can set time limits to control when children are allowed to log on to the computer. Time limits prevent children from logging on during the specified hours. You can set different logon hours for every day of the week. If they’re logged on when their allotted time ends, they’ll be automatically logged off. Click OK.

3.2 Games – You can control access to games to be installed in your children’s account, choose an age-rating level, choose the types of content you want to block, and decide whether you want to allow or block specific games.

3.3 To manage programs using Allow and Block Specific Programs, choose Child can only use the programs I allow. Check the programs from the list that you want to allow and click OK.

4. Then on the main window of Parental Controls click OK to apply the settings to your children’s account.

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