Some of your views of my explanation may be different than you see in they pictures below.  If so it is only because you may be using a different operating system.  Either way the actions taken would be the same.

 

 

Right click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop and click on: Properties

 

 

 

 

On the General tab you will be given the type of processor, the speed of the processor, followed by the amount of RAM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To view hard drive information:

 

Double click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop (which will reveal the various drives on your pc).

 

 

 

Right click on the drive that you are interested in (Usually the hard drive, which is commonly labeled (C:) and click on properties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will then see the total drive capacity along with your current free and used space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, you may also wish to cleanup your system, if you have not recently (or ever) done so it would be a very good idea.  I would recommend the following tasks.

 

Locate and delete the contents within your:

• “Temporary Internet” folder(s)
• “Cookies” folder(s)
• “History” folder(s)

 

The easiest way to do this would be to open your Internet Browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape).  Click on “Tools” in the tool bar and then on “Internet Options”.  The wording may be different depending on which browser and also which version of the browser you have.  (In older versions of IE I believe options is under “View”.)  You can also do this manually using “My Computer” or “Explore” features.  (To access “Explore”, right click on your Start button).

 

 

Click on the following buttons in the order provided (See note below regarding button # 4 (Settings) before clicking on the button.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you click on # 4 (Settings) a screen similar to the one on the left will appear.  Make sure that the setting for the frequency to check for newer pages is set to “Every visit to the page”.  Also take note of the location of your Temporary Internet Files (When you use “My Computer” to locate this folder you will be able to see if you computer is using the correct folder when completing # 2 above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would also recommend:

• Defragmenting your hard drive.  Doing so could take several hours to complete and the computer must be idle during this time. 

 

Defragmenting can usually be located by either:

a.      Click on Start and then click Programs again looking for System Tools, Defragmenter, or something along similar lines.  It may be found under Accessories within Programs.

 

OR

 

b.      Click on Start and then Control Panel (looking for something referring to maintenance or actually called defragmenter)