Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual

Chapter 19. Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Most people don’t begin life as technophobes, but dealing with a poorly functioning computer on a regular basis would drive anyone to want to throw the whole thing out a window. Although Windows 2000 is extremely stable and reliable, it’s the product of very smart but imperfect humans, so it isn’t perfect. Sometimes it needs the intervention of another very smart but imperfect human—you—to keep it in tip-top shape.

Analyzing Your Maintenance Needs

If you want to keep your system healthy, you need to regularly maintain it. If your company enjoys the attention of a full-service network administrator, you may be spared many of these tasks; but if you’re in charge, here’s a maintenance schedule suggestion (see Chapter 18 for more on the backup tasks described here):

Task	How Often?
Back up your data (differential backup)	Daily
Back up your data (full backup)	Weekly
Back up your computer (differential backup)	Weekly
Defragment your hard drive	Weekly
Update your virus definitions	Monthly
Back up your computer (full backup)	Monthly
Run a virus check on your computer	Weekly
Run Windows Update	Monthly
Run the Disk Cleanup Utility	Monthly
Check your hard drive	Monthly
Update your Emergency Repair Disk (Section A.2.4)	Anytime you change your system
Check for updates to other programs	As necessary, or every six months

You may want to perform some of these chores more or less often, depending on your needs. For example, ...