Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

of the same information, plus gain access to clean-up and defragmenta-

tion tools, by right-clicking the drive name and selecting Properties.

3. Click the Disk Cleanup button to initiate an automatic utility that
   deletes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and offers other
   compression and deletion tools.


4. Click the Tools tab and then the Defragment Now button to free up
   space by bringing together scattered file pieces.
   For a quick fix, free up a bit of space by cleaning out the contents of the
   Recycle Bin. Go to the desktop, right-click the Bin’s icon, and select
   Empty Recycle Bin.


5. Remove old data you don’t expect to require quick access to by copy-
   ing to a CD or DVD.

To protect yourself, before removing anything from the hard drive, con-

sider making two separate sets of copies that are stored in different

places.

Give some thought about whether your hard drive contains some programs

that you never use; use the Add/Remove Programs feature of the Control

Panel in Windows to remove applications that are just taking up space. You

can also look for unnecessary “sample” art and music files and superfluous

tutorials for programs you already know how to use.

Never manually remove program files, drivers, or settings files. Always use an

uninstall program supplied by the software maker or the Windows Uninstall

Programs utility to do this properly. If you do end up making a mistake, your

best bet is to reinstall the software from scratch instead of trying to put

things back in the right places.

If after doing a bit of housekeeping you find that your hard drive is almost

always near full, consider adding some storage space. Either swap out the

existing hard drive with a new, larger one (which also requires reinstallation

of an operating system and applications and some data transfer) or by

adding a lightweight, portable hard drive to carry some of the excess.

Feeling the Fury of No Sound .......................................................................

Why has your laptop suddenly stopped singing to you? It’s nothing personal:

It’s most likely an improper setting. You have at least four ways to adjust the

audio levels on most laptops:

Use the small thumbwheel on the case that adjusts the volume of the

built-in speaker or speakers on your laptop.In most designs, if it’s set

to 0 or 1, you can do nothing on the software side to hear music or

system sounds.

Chapter 3: Things That Go Bump In the Night (or Day) 41