Computer Data and File recovery - Manage Your Computer Files

Have you ever lost a document on your computer? Is your computer file system a mess? Would you like to clean it up, but you don't know how?

If you can't find a document when you need it -whether it is stored in a metal filing cabinet, on your computer hard drive, or on a disk - your filing system has failed you. Today's article can help you organize your computer files.

As with organizing your office space and physical filing system (See
ADMINISTRATIVE SOLUTIONS 11/9/99 for 1 - 2 - 3! Let's Get Organized!), your computer filing system needs to be organized to facilitate finding files. This is accomplished through your computer's file manager: Windows Explorer on Windows 95/98 and NT.

Your computer has files stored that you don't need, and that you may not be aware are there. Two have the extension .bak, .tmp, and are backup and temporary files created by your computer during the normal process of working in computer programs. ScanDisk creates .chk when it repairs files.

These files take up space on your hard drive and can be deleted, with no harm to the computer system, by doing a SEARCH for files with these extensions.

To do a search:

1. Go to START.

2. Click on FIND.

3. Click on FILES or FOLDERS.

4. When the dialog box comes up in the NAMED box type in:

*.tmp, *.bak, *.chk, ~?.tm* (exactly as typed here including the commas and the spaces).

5. At the LOOK IN option select C: where C: represents your hard drive.

6. Place a check in the INCLUDE SUBFOLDERS box.

7. Click on FIND NOW.

8. Once the search is finished you will see a list of files.

9. Delete by clicking on the first file in the list and then keying CTRL + A to select all.

10. Hold down the SHIFT key and keep it down, then press the DELETE key. (This prevents the files from going into the RECYCLE BIN where you'd normally go to delete them permanently).

11. When the confirmation box comes up tell it OK.

You will need to do a search each time you want to delete the .bak and .chk files, but you can create a folder that will store the .tmp files by default so they will be easy to locate.

The first step is to create a TEMP folder in which to store them.

To create a TEMP folder:

1. Open WINDOWS EXPLORER.

2. Click on C: where C represents your hard drive.

3. Go to FILE.

4. Click on NEW.

5. Click on FOLDER.

6. Name the folder TEMP.

7. Close WINDOWS EXPLORER.

You are now ready to set an ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE, which your computer will use by default to place the .tmp files your programs create into the TEMP folder, instead of placing them on the ROOT DRIVE or in the WINDOWS DIRECTORY. This will enable you to find and delete the .tmp files when necessary without having to do a search.

To set the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE:

1. Go to START.

2. Click on RUN.

3. In the box that says OPEN type:

notepad C:\autoexec.bat (exactly as shown).

4. Click OK (this opens notepad).

5. The insertion point will be at the top of the page; hit enter twice, then use the up arrow key to take the cursor back to the first line.

6. Type: set temp=C:\temp

(type 6 & 7 exactly as shown).

7. On the second line type: set tmp=C:\temp

8. Go to FILE.

9. SAVE.

10. Restart your computer.

The ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE is now set-up to work for you by default each time you use your computer programs.

Now that you have cleaned the hard drive of unnecessary files you should run DISK DEFRAGMENTER. Defragmenting reallocates fragmented files (an inescapable occurrence due to the way DOS writes files to disk) into contiguous sectors on the disk. This allows programs to open faster and optimally utilizes your hard drive space.

Be sure to turn off your screensaver, close all programs, and exit the Internet before you start.

To run DISK DEFRAGMENTER:

1. Go to START.

2. Click on PROGRAMS.

3. Click on ACCESSORIES.

4. Click on SYSTEM TOOLS.

5. Click on DISK DEFRAGMENTER.

6. When the SELECT DRIVE box pops up select the C drive ICON where C represents your hard drive. (These options are for win98. If you have win95 or NT you will need to read their options).

7. Go to SETTINGS.

8. Check the box REARRANGE PROGRAM FILES SO PROGRAMS START FASTER.

9. Check the box CHECK THE DRIVE FOR ERRORS.

10. Under I WANT TO USE THESE OPTIONS place a bullet in EVERY TIME I DEFRAG MY HARD DRIVE.

11. Click OK.

12. The SELECT DRIVE box appears again - tell it OK.

This starts the DEFRAG program which can take several hours if you have a large HARD DRIVE and you've never done a DEFRAG before, or you have deleted a great many files in the search. It is best-done overnight.

In the future you should DEFRAG at least once a month - more often if you have a large number of files which are used regularly.

In addition to the above, you should remove programs you no longer use - you have the original disks or CD to reinstall should you need them again. Consider backing-up old data files to a disk, there is no need to keep them on your hard drive.

[Ed. Note: Windows 98 has a feature called DISK CLEANUP that will remove .tmp files for you automatically. Windows 98 also has a feature called DISK MAINTAINANCE that will perform DISK DEFRAGMENTATION, SCANDISK, and remove TEMP files on a pre-selected schedule of your choice. You should be aware these built-in programs do not always do a good job. To learn more about them see the Windows help files].

By
Nancy Elrod (c) 1999

Nancy Elrod: Publisher/Editor
Ginger Derrickson: Contributing Editor
Loren Skinner: Business Operations Consultant, ret.