Microsoft Windows XP Unleashed

to the computer. To examine these logs, you use the Event Viewer snap-in, available via

either of the following techniques:

• Select Start, Run, type

eventvwr.msc, and then click OK.

• Open Control Panel’s Administrative Options icon and launch the Event Viewer

icon.

Figure 12.12 shows a typical Event Viewer window. Use the tree in the left pane to select

the log you want to view: Application, Security, or System.

Setting Up a 10-Step Maintenance Schedule 303

12

FIGURE 12.12 Use the Event Viewer to monitor events generated by applications and

Windows XP.

When you select a log, the right pane displays the available events, including the event’s

date, time, and source, its type (Information, Warning, or Error), and other data. To see a

description of an event, double-click it or select it and press Enter.

TIP

Rather than monitoring the event logs by hand, Windows XP comes with a couple of tools that

can help automate the process. The Eventquery.vbs script enables you to query the log files for

specific event types, IDs, sources, and more. Search Help and Support for eventquery to get the

script’s command-line syntax. Also, you can set up an event trigger that will perform some

action when a particular event occurs. You do this using the Eventtriggers.exe utility. Search

Help and Support for eventtriggers to get the full syntax for this tool.

Setting Up a 10-Step Maintenance Schedule

Maintenance is effective only if it’s done regularly, but there’s a fine line to be navigated.

If maintenance is performed too often, it can become a burden and interfere with more

interesting tasks; if it’s performed too seldom, it becomes ineffective. So, how often

should you perform the 10 maintenance chores listed in this chapter? Here’s a 10-step

maintenance plan:

1. Check your hard disk for errors. Run a basic scan about once a week. Run a more

thorough disk surface scan once a month. The surface scan takes a long time, so run

it when you won’t be using your computer for a while.

2. Check free disk space. Do this once about once a month. If you have a drive where

the free space is getting low, check it approximately once a week.

3. Delete unnecessary files. If free disk space isn’t a problem, run this chore once every

two or three months.

4. Defragment your hard disk. How often you defragment your hard disk depends on

how often you use your computer. If you use it every day, you should run Disk

Defragmenter about once a week. If your computer doesn’t get heavy use, you prob-

ably need to run Disk Defragmenter only once a month or so.

5. Set restore points. Windows XP already sets regular system checkpoints, so you need

only create your own restore points when you’re installing a program or device or

making some other major change to your system.

6. Back up your files. Perform a full backup of all your documents, as well as a backup

of the system state, about once a month. Carry out a differential backup of modified

files once a week. Complete an incremental or daily backup of modified files every

day.

7. Check Windows Update. If you’ve turned off automatic updating, you should check

in with the Windows Update website about once a week.

8. Check for security vulnerabilities. Run the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer once

a month. You should also pay a monthly visit to Microsoft’s Security site to keep up

to date on the latest security news, get security and virus alerts, and more:

www.microsoft.com/security/.

9. Verify digitally signed files. If other people use your computer regularly, you should

run the Signature Verification Tool every couple of months.

10. Review Event Viewer logs. If your system appears to be working fine, you need only

check the Application and System log files weekly or every couple of weeks. If the

system has a problem, check the logs daily to look for Warning or Error events.

Remember, as well, that Windows XP offers a number of options for running most of

these maintenance steps automatically:

• If you want to run a task every day, set it up to launch automatically at startup, as

described in Chapter 5, “Installing and Running Applications.”

• Use the Task Scheduler (Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled

Tasks) to set up a program on a regular schedule. Note that some programs, particu-

larly Disk Defragmenter, can’t be scheduled in their GUI form. You need to use the

command-line version instead.

CHAPTER 12 Maintaining Your Windows XP System304