Storage can make or break applications and hardware. A slow and very simple machine was made back in the 1950s (by the US Navy) which was always overheating because it predated transistors (yes vacuum tubes were utilized instead), the room where it was stored was not cooled well enough, and it was the size of a locomotive engine. Your credit card calculator does much higher math than this beast did. Also, it had a tendency to favor primitive chaos, it had the first bug (a moth), and worse, it had no memory...NONE! When an operation was performed the machine was programmed by a team of folks who would throw switches in sequence.

Today there are no slow or simple PC desktop computers (not by design anyway). This is because a PC is several computers in one and is able to perform many operations at the same time. US Astronauts went to the moon with an 8088 guidance system; which pre-dated 286 megahertz (mhz) PCs. The first space shuttles had five onboard computers each; which were comparable to 386 mhz machines or less.

Along with the advantages of having so much computing ability, comes the disadvantage of managing memory. Memory allocation is a function your computer performs in many of the installation, application, and TSR programs you run. Since your computer is into a binary (two number) type language, it only understands on and off; or one and zero. As the binary language based programs are processed, things are turned on and off; which in turn causes an objective (hopefully positive) to be realized. Sort of like dating and just as unpredictable; especially when there is a conflict.

So, a computer can only get close to thinking rationally and does no good at common sense type things. Sort of like my first (and near genius) mother-in-law, really. It can only go so far as it is programmed; and then is dependent on the end user, you. If you apply these simple tips correctly, you may find out how fast your PC can operate.

Tip One: The worst thing you can do to your files is damage or lose them. Unlike birds or love, they do not come back if you set them free (even if they do like you). So, you should have a way to retrieve or reinstall all the files you care about. There are many ways to back up files, ranging from copying them to a floppy disk, to using a full back-up system which uses a tape or disk that can hold many megabytes (mb) or gigabytes (gb) of files and directories.

One means of backing up files is to use regular 3 1/2 inch floppy disks. Most have 1.38mb of space for storing data (after formatting). Many of our files and programs today are ten to a hundred times larger in data size. Do the math, floppies are good for storing small files. Although you can "zip" files onto several floppies in sequence, this becomes cumbersome to do on a regular basis.

A better method of backing your data up is to record it with a tape which is very long and very thin. It looks a lot like an eight track tape. It sometimes performs like one also (although scotch tape splices do NOT work on data tapes). I had a TRS-88 PC many years ago which could store data on an audio cassette tape. So, with music we went from eight track tapes to four track cassettes; and with computers we have gone from four track cassettes to something which resembles an eight track tape. Oh yes, computers used cards (like a music box) and reel-to-reel tapes at one time too. Each of the mediums mentioned above are linear. One has to move through the media to a point where you can then access data.

An even better way to back up files is to use a disk system. There are some disk back-up systems which can archive over a gigabyte of data. Others, which have smaller storage space, are able to run programs you store on them. Personally, I have experienced many cassette tape stretches, sunlight fadings, and breaks. I have only thrown four disks away, and two of them were the cheapos AOL provided for my reuse. Disks are not linear, since you can go directly to a point on them and then extract data.

CD-ROM recorders are the best for continual updating back-up storage. They can hold 650+mb of memory, which is more than enough for most folks in backing-up currently altered files. As you may know, CD-Rom systems are fast enough to run large programs that could be updated daily. CDs are relatively inexpencive, but the recording sytems are still very expensive. This is because some folks are scared about us making our own CD-Roms *sigh*. Keep in mind that the rewrite standards for CD-ROMs has not been agreed upon, and may change soon.

DVD write/rewrite systems are the ultimate in storage at this point. They are similar to CD-ROM recorders, except that they deal with more capacity and are much more expencive. Be very careful about investing in DVD at this time. The standards for DVD recording have not been agreed upon. You may wind up with hardware that is not supported by the industry.

I use an I-Omega Zip Drive; which stores up to 95mb of information on a small disk. In addition to archiving files, one can also run some programs from the Zip Drive; since it is about five times faster than a regular floppy drive. I can also share files directly with others who have one (and many folks do now) by simply trading disks.

Tip Two: Wanna get rid of your machine's memory problems real fast? Format your root directory (usually C:\). Seriously! I initially generated this line as a replacement hard drive was on its way here (my newer one crashed like a dummy on exiting the information super-highway and made sounds like a flat tire) only because I knew how to format my old one and get this stuff installed. Learn to do it! Be warned, however, you are risking getting the chance to do research for many hours before and after formatting your hard drive. Most folks are scared to death of ever having to format their hard drive. This fear makes them usually settle for less potential in their machines, often allows their hardware and software to act erratically, and usually makes for some interesting nightmares. The fear placed in folks about formatting also tends to make some folks rich for repairs most of us could easily perform. If your PC is relatively new, you should contact your PC's technical support group before considering formatting; since it should not be needed.

Tip Three: Look at your autoexec.bat file in Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. It should have two statements in it which will use temporary directories on your hard drive. These two statements are: SET TEMP=C:\TEMP and SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP (in that exact spacing). If those statements are not there, type them in and save.

Go to your root directory (C:\) and create a directory called Temp. Go to Windows 3.x or 95 and create a subdirectory called Temp. There should be no other SET TEMP statements in the autoexec.bat file on most systems which are operated with Dos and Windows 3.1. This does depend on the software you run; since some software creates a type of temporary directory or subdirectory on your hard drive. Windows 95 generates a ~temporary subdirectory in the Windows 95 directory, and Windows 95B (97) makes a subdirectory called Temporary Internet Files. These two temporary directories work fine for catching files on the internet such as cookies; but is not usually used for installing programs. When you boot back up, programs will begin to use the temporary directories when needed.

At this point you can consider getting rid of the temporary files which are using up space on your hard drive. Most temporary files have a tilde as the first file name character and .tmp for an extension like: ~wp00042.tmp, or something similar. Program installation temporary files do not always have tildes and .tmp extensions; be careful here. Don't delete files you do not understand or at least recognize. If you delete the Afterdark temporary file from Windows, Afterdark will no longer work. This is true about the Corel Photo Paint temporary file in your root directory too. Also, temporary files typically tend to herd or flock together, so take a friend along for the hunt and have a blast.

Occasionally (especially before and after installing software to your hard drive) you should go into the TEMP, and Windows/TEMP directories and delete all the files there. If you ever format your hard drive, be sure you take care of this stuff as soon as you reinstall your operating software. You'll be suprized at how many programs do and do not clean up the temporary files after installation. One of the main reasons I find software will not install is because files (any) are in the temporary directories. One last thing, I've not yet found anything left behind in the Windows 95 ~temporary subdirectory except for a geocities cookie.

Tip Four: Make sure the programs you have which archive files (saves them) has a specific directory to archive into. Also, make sure you allow this process to work. Word for Windows will always save in Windows unless you tell it to save data in a specific directory. When I clean up folks' PCs, I usually find out-of-place files all over the hard drive simply because they did not know to create and assign an archive directory or subdirectory.

When an application runs, every file in the program's directory, in DOS, and in Windows 95 or Windows 3.x may be checked to find the files which run it in a consistent manner. For this reason, saving files to a program directory slows that program down (especially after there are quite a few extra files to check). Unless the program needs to use the file all the time, the file should be stored in a separate directory or subdirectory. Many installation programs create subdirectories for these very reasons.

PC Tips...