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12 |^ |^ March 2020
Put your PC in good order
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efore embarking on your
quest to explore new fun
and productive ways to
use your PC, start by
giving your PC the
once-over. Begin by
checking your backups are working as
they should – the box below reveals all
you need to know. Once that’s done, run
a few system checks to verify there are
no underlying problems that might
catch you out later. The quickest and
easiest way to access these is Tweaking.
com’s Windows Repair Tool – go to
http://www.tweaking.com to download, install
and run the latest version.
Start by focusing on the ‘Pre-Repair
Steps’ tab where you can run through
a series of standard Windows checks:
a pre-scan for missing files and links,
a disk check and finally a system file
check. Windows Repair steps you
through all of these – reboots may be
required, in which case simply reopen
the program when done and carry on.
The checks have repair capabilities
built-in, but if you find you’re suffering
from a specific problem check out the
‘Repairs – Main’ tab to perform
additional fixes.
You can also instruct Windows to run
its own troubleshooters: open Settings
and navigate to ‘Update & Security >
Troubleshooting’ where Windows will
provide a list of recommended options
based on your PC’s recent behaviour.
You can also scroll down the page toreveal a list of all available
troubleshooters, allowing you to run
them even if Windows doesn’t detect
a problem.Consolidate disk space
With Windows checked, your next step
should be to clear out redundant files to
free up disk space. There’s no need to
install any third-party apps – navigate to
‘Settings > System > Storage’ where
you’ll find an option to switch on
Storage Sense, Windows’ own clean-up
tool to keep your hard drives free fromjunk. It provides a handy overview of
what types of files are taking up most
space, plus by clicking on the relevant
section (such as Apps & features,
Temporary files or Other) will whisk you
to the right part of Settings to review its
findings in more detail and free up more
space manually if required.
You can also configure Storage Sense to
run automatically – either on a daily,
weekly or monthly schedule, or
whenever your drive runs low on free
space. Choosing the latter option should
ensure you don’t run it unnecessarily.Review your backup regimen
It’s easy to take the ‘set it and forget it’ mantra of
backup literally and assume everything is proceeding
smoothly in the background. As part of your
maintenance regimen, take the time to open your
backup tool(s) and check everything is running as it
should. Look for any alerts that indicate one or more
backups have failed; also verify your backup jobs. Are
they running often enough? Is there an option to
automatically verify your backup (to ensure it’ll work
when you need it to) – if not, can you at least verify the
backup manually? Now is a good time to consider
alternating your backup between two separate locations- say a USB drive and a network drive – to add an extra
layer of redundancy in case one backup device fails.
No backup at all? Navigate to ‘Settings > Update &
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up important documents, photos and other personal
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entire hard drive – including Windows installation.
The Windows Repair tool provides a convenient shortcut
to the most important Windows diagnostic tools.Unlike File History, Macrium Reflect can – and
should – be configured to verify your backups.