• Number and size of files on the hard drive • Performance of your PC Figure 6-34: Accessing Disk Defragmenter Figure 6-35: Starting the defragmentation Chapter 6: Other Ways to Optimize Your PC 67 11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 67 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 3. First a quick analysis is performed before the defragmenta- tion begins. During the process, you should see a depiction of the hard drive’s before and after estimated fragmentation status, such as Figure 6-36 shows. Figure 6-36: Before and after estimated fragmentation status You can refer to the color codes on the program and the following descriptions of the codes to better understand the statuses: • Red This means most of the clusters are part of a frag- mented file. • Blue This means most of the clusters are contiguous files with clusters in the group that contain only free space and contiguous clusters. • Green This means most of the clusters are part of a file that cannot be moved from its current location. • White This means most of the clusters are free space and contiguous clusters. 4. At the end of the defragmentation, a pop-up message should appear that will let you know it has completed and displays the results. 68 Part II • Optimizing Your PC 11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 68 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Remove Additional Start-up Programs Many software programs may add themselves (with or without your knowledge) to your Startup folder, which may cause a longer boot time when entering Windows and bog down your PC. Here is how you can view and modify your start-up programs: 1. Open My Computer. 2. Browse to and open the Documents and Settings folder (see Figure 6-37 for an example) on the root of your hard drive. Figure 6-37: Documents and Settings folder 3. Open the folder of your desired user account. 4. Open the Start Menu folder, such as seen in Figure 6-38. Figure 6-38: Opening the Start Menu folder Chapter 6: Other Ways to Optimize Your PC 69 11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 69 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 5. Go to the Programs folder, and then open the Startup folder. 6. You should remove any programs that you don’t care to automatically run at Windows start-up. To do this, simply click a particular program shortcut icon and press your Delete key, or right-click the item and click Delete. Now you should repeat Steps 3 through 6 in the preceding list, mak- ing sure you select the All Users folder, so you can access the Startup folder for all the user accounts on the PC. 70 Part II • Optimizing Your PC 11_068557 ch06.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 70 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 7 UPDATING PC PITSTOP OPTIMIZE T o ensure you get the most out of PC Pitstop Optimize you should keep the software up to date with any fixes or new features, which may include updates to the files and system settings it uses to optimize your PC.Therefore, before each use you should check for updates. Updating the Software You can access the update utility within the PC Pitstop Optimize software by following these steps: 1. Browse to the following path on your Start menu: Programs (or All Programs) ➔ PC Pitstop ➔ Optimize Then click PC Pitstop Optimize, as shown in Figure 7-1. 2. After starting PC Pitstop Optimize, you will see the Welcome screen, as shown in Figure 7-2. 12_068557 ch07.qxp 12/13/06 6:13 PM Page 71 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . Start -up Programs Many software programs may add themselves (with or without your knowledge) to your Startup folder, which may cause a longer boot time when entering Windows and bog down your. you can view and modify your start -up programs: 1. Open My Computer. 2. Browse to and open the Documents and Settings folder (see Figure 6-37 for an example) on the root of your hard drive. Figure. files and system settings it uses to optimize your PC.Therefore, before each use you should check for updates. Updating the Software You can access the update utility within the PC Pitstop Optimize