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Personal Tech

Solutions: No need to defrag every day or two

Q. My computer is telling me to defragment more times than I think it should. When it is done defragmenting, a day or two later I will ask it to "analyze" my system and it will say, "you should defragment." My Task Manager shows I have 63 percent free space. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer, so I don't understand why defragmentation is required so often.

By John Torro, Times Correspondent
Published January 7, 2008

Q. My computer is telling me to defragment more times than I think it should. When it is done defragmenting, a day or two later I will ask it to "analyze" my system and it will say, "you should defragment." My Task Manager shows I have 63 percent free space. I don't spend a lot of time on the computer, so I don't understand why defragmentation is required so often.

A. With 63 percent free space, you shouldn't have defragment your drive any more than a couple of times a year. The less free space you have, the more important it is that your available space be mostly contiguous defragmented. With so much free space available, you don't need to be concerned.

Q. I was given a Dell PC with Windows XP, which I did not like, so I had it replaced with Windows 98. There is an icon for Task Scheduler at the bottom righthand corner of the desktop by the clock. How can I permanently remove this icon? I don't mind if the entire scheduler file is removed. I never use it.

A. Shocking. You may be the only known person in the Western hemisphere to have downgraded from XP to 98. To each his own. But please don't write back to tell me you've exchanged your cell phone for a beeper. I'll need to dust off my Windows 98 archives. Okay, I've found them. Here is the solution: Open Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Click Microsoft Windows Critical Update Notification, and then click Add/Remove. Follow the instructions on your screen to remove Windows Critical Update Notification. When completed, double-click the Task Scheduler icon on the task bar. In the list of scheduled tasks, right-click Critical Windows Update, and then click Delete. On the Advanced menu, click Stop Using Task Scheduler. Close Task Scheduler and restart your computer. Now, we just deactivated the Windows Critical Update Notification, but this is the only way to get rid of the task bar icon. And I doubt they're still issuing critical updates for Windows 98.

Q. I am trying to get the Outlook link onto my Internet Explorer Command bar. When I right-click on the Command bar and select Customize Command Bar, then select Add or Remove Commands, the popup window opens and immediately closes. I've tried everything to solve this one.

A. That kind of behavior usually indicates corrupted or mismatched program code files or libraries. I would start by resetting Internet Explorer: In Internet Explorer click Tools, Internet Options, Advanced tab. Click the Reset button, and then once again in the Reset Internet Explorer dialog window to confirm. If this doesn't fix it, you can try reinstalling IE7 by finding the ie.inf file, which should be in the hidden folder of C:\Windows\inf. Right-click this file and choose Install. My next troubleshooting step would be to use System File checker. Click Start, Run and then type sfc /scannow and then press Enter. Follow the prompts and restart the computer. Last, I would try an in-place update/install of Windows XP. Find in-depth guidance at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341.

Send questions to personaltech@sptimes.com or Personal Tech, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Questions are answered only in this column.

[Last modified January 4, 2008, 20:33:39]