Jonathan Hatch

How to Clean a Hard Drive

One of the more depressing error messages you can receive while trying to save that important work document, the one that you've been working on at home all night, tells you that your computer's hard drive is full. Even if you have your speakers off, the sight of that message sends shivers down the spines of even the most knowledgeable computer users. It means that your pack rat tendencies have transferred to the digital world. If you don't have this problem in the real world, I have one question for you: Did you really want to download all of those forwarded emails from your distant family members? So, whether you've received this message, or if you've checked your hard drive's capacity and know you're about full, you've come to the right place to learn about maintaining a clean hard drive.

Cleaning a Hard Drive

Check to see if you need to clean the hard drive.

Windows XP: Open My Computer and right click the C:\ drive. Select Properties. The pie chart shows your current capacity—used and available.

Windows 7: Open Computer and you will see your hard drive labeled C:\. The capacity bar tells you how much space you've used and how much you have available. If you require more detail, right click on the C:\ and go to Properties.

Mac: Open Macintosh HD (or Mac OS X on newer computers), right click on it, and choose Get Info. The information you seek is located in the General section.

Delete unnecessary files to help clean a hard drive. Manually deleting files is one of the most significant steps toward cleaning a hard drive. Move files you know you want to keep into a folder that will be archived in the next step. Anything you are absolutely certain you'll never need again you can send to the Recycle Bin. If you're unsure of a file, revisit it after you've finished sorting everything else. It's okay to leave some files on your computer.

Windows: Right click the Recycle Bin icon and select Empty Recycle Bin.

Mac: The files you empty from the Trash are not removed from the computer but designated as files that can be written over as new files are saved. To remove them completely from the hard drive, open Finder, click the Finder menu, and select Secure Empty Trash.

Archive old files from the hard drive to alternate media. CDs are not obsolete, but compact flash storage devices have quickly become standard for file transportation. They come in different capacities ranging from 256MB to 32GB (and larger). SanDisk makes a 16GB flash drive that you can get on Amazon.com for around $30. Naturally, you start paying more money as the capacity increases. Remember: You can always buy another one. Be sure to label your archives accordingly or else you'll have a lot of searching to do later.

Run Disk Cleanup on the hard drive. Disk Cleanup removes temporary Internet files, installed and inactive components, and the Recycle Bin. Running Disk Cleanup will tag the files it thinks need to go and you can decide which to delete.

Windows XP: Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Choose which hard drive to clean and click OK. Once finished, you will see a list of files that can be deleted. Clicking on each will give you a brief description of the file type. Check those you wish to delete and then click OK.

Windows 7: Open the Start menu and type Disk Cleanup. Select that option when it appears. Follow the steps from Windows XP above.

Mac: Leave your Mac on overnight once a week and many of these files will be cleared out automatically via built-in processes.

Run Disk Defragmenter on the hard drive. Disk Defragmenter groups items together on the hard drive. As files are saved, they fall into the next available space. When files are deleted the space created remains free as new files are saved in sequence. Disk Defragmenter compresses all of the files into one area, sorts like files with each other, and leaves a larger area of free space.

Windows XP: Open My Computer > Right click on C:\ > Properties > Tools. Under Defragmentation, select Defragment Now. Click Analyze. When finished, click Defragment.

Windows 7: Open the Start menu, type Disk Defragmenter, then select that option when it appears. Follow the remaining steps from Windows XP above.

Mac: Again, Mac OS X optimizes itself with each new system update or application install.

Physically Cleaning a Hard Drive

Make sure you never touch a thing inside the computer, as even the slightest static electricity or skin oil can cause failure months later. The cooling fan blows heat and some dust out, but it does tend to build up. It should go without saying that using anything with liquid on the inside of the machine is a huge no-no. Your best bet is to get a can of compressed air, remove the side of the computer, and blow out debris. You might want to cover your mouth and nose. To be on the safe side, do not tip the can upside down because some liquid can escape. It's usually harmless, but a it's good idea to keep it from squirting out in the first place.