Disk storage, disk checkers, disk defragmentation & disk cleaners by Deepraj Naiko, Manish Cushmagee & Zouleikha Toorawa

Zouleikha ToorawaManish Cushmagee

&Deepraj Naiko

Proudly Present

Storage

Checkers

Defragmentation

CleanersD I

S K

The Concepts of:

• Definitions of Technical Terms

• Functions of each Utility Software

• Procedures to use these Utilities

• Advantages & Disadvantages of these Utilities

• A simulation where all these 4 Utilities act as a group

• Conclusion

• Questions from floor

Overview of the Presentation

Disk Storage, Disk Checkers, Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleaners are Utilities integrated within the Software System.

Utility Software, also referred to as service program, tool, or utility routine, is a type of computer software specifically designed to help the end-user analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the system software. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_utility_software

Introduction

System software refers to the files and programs that make up your computer's operating system. The programs that are part of the system software include assemblers, compilers, file management tools, system, utilities, etc… The system software is installed on your computer when you install your operating system (e.g. Windows 7)

http://www.techterms.com/definition/systemsoftware

Disk Storage

Disk storage is a general category of storage mechanisms, in which data are digitally recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical methods on a surface layer.

 http://dictionary.babylon.com/disk%20storage/

An external computer storage device consisting of one or more disks spaced on a common shaft, and magnetic heads mounted on arms that reach between the disks to read and record information on them.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/disk+storage

Disk storage is a group of data storage mechanisms for computers; data is transferred to planar surfaces or disks for temporary or permanent storage.

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Disk_storage

What is Disk Storage

Examples & Uses of Disk Storage

A hard disk (HDD) is a non-volatile, random access device for digital data. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads. Hard Disks of different capacities are used in all computers. HDD save all the data and information for a computer.

The floppy disk (FDD) was invented at IBM by Alan Shugart in 1967. The first floppy drives used an 8-inch disk (later called a "diskette" as it got smaller), which evolved into the 5.25-inch disk. Today's 3.5-inch diskette can store 1.44 megabyte of documents.

http://www.howstuffworks.com

Examples & Uses of Disk Storage

A Compact Disc (CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage CD-ROM for write-once audio and data storage and also for movies and sound tracks and for back ups.

A Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) is very similar to a CD, but it has a much larger data capacity. A standard DVD holds about seven times more data than a CD does.

The industry is set for yet another revolution with the introduction of Blu-ray Discs (BD) in 2006. With their high storage capacity, Blu-ray discs can hold and play back large quantities of high-definition video and audio, as well as photos & data.

http://www.howstuffworks.com

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technology for managing how data is stored on the physical or hard disks that reside in your system. RAID spans hard disks so that the combined capacity of multiple disks can be treated as a single, extended chunk of disk space. The Figure shows the RAID technology in a hard disk.

How is data stored on a disk (e.g. Hard Disk)

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/svradmin/1.9/en/stormgmt/strcnpts.html

Each platter, supported by the spindle

(Made of ferromagnetic material), has a read/write head, which moves over the platters but does not touch the platters.

The spindle rotates the platters and the read/write head moves only forward and backward, thus enabling data to be written on any cluster, track or sector by inducing a magnetic field.

When data is saved, its address on the platter is also saved. When the data is to be accessed, the Direct Memory Access allows the read/write head to go directly to the data retrieved.

How is data stored on a disk (e.g. Hard Disk)

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/svradmin/1.9/en/stormgmt/strcnpts.html

The invention of magnetic disk storage, pioneered by IBM in the 1950s, was a critical component of the computer revolution. More magnetic disk storage were developed by IBM from 1956 through 1993.

The basic mechanical arrangement of hard disk drives hasn't changed since the IBM 1301. Disk drive performance and characteristics are measured by the same standards now as they were in the 1950s

RAMAC mechanism at Computer History Museum

Early IBM disk storage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht

History of Disk Storage

Disk Checkers

Disk Checker is a free disk utility that checks the health of your hard drive. It scans your hard disk for bad sectors and alerts you if the media does not have optimum usability. With this software, the user can choose to scan the hard drive and check the health or bad sectors of other types of data media, such as floppy disks, flash drives, magnetic tape etc…

http://www.adrc.com/software/hard_disk_checker/

chkdsk (check disk) is a Microsoft program that checks your hard drive for logical errors as opposed to physical defects. This program is supported in all versions of Windows. Windows NT/2000/XP use it as the main disk checking program.

http://www.geek.com/glossary/C/chkdsk-check-disk/

Disk Checker is a hard drive monitoring/repairing tool for Windows. It is even more of a suite of tools that allow you to scan your hard disks for errors. Disc Checker will even tell you what files are located on sectors with errors, so you can delete or maybe save them.

http://EzineArticles.com/507870

What is Disk Checker

Scan any removable media that you connect to your system so as to detect any

potential threats like virus.

Scan any disk for bad sectors.

Analyze the disk for any corrupted clusters whereby data is not accessible.

Attempts to recover bad sectors

Enables fixing the file system errors

Functions of Disk Checker

Examples & Uses of Disk Checkers

One Example is the “Check Now” option that Microsoft Windows offers.

This option allows easy checking of the hard disk.

This will check the hard disk and give results as per the condition of the disk.

It is mostly used by people who are not too familiar with programs or codes.

Examples & Uses of Disk Checkers

The computer will restart and the ChkDsk program will run prior to the Windows startup process. Any bad clusters or lost sectors that can be recovered or remapped will be fixed during the disk-checking process.

Examples & Uses of Disk Checkers

The “chkdsk.exe” option, using the command prompt, looks for errors on hard drive, floppy drive or removable drives. It is the same utility that is being used, but accessed differently. It originated with MS DOS 1.0, and has remained as a command line utility in all Windows versions to detect bad clusters.

A bad or lost cluster or sector on a computer's hard disk drive is an area of the disk that cannot be used due to being marked as damaged. Bad sectors and lost clusters on a hard drive can significantly slow down a drive's performance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_sector

A cluster is the smallest logical amount of disk space that can be allocated to hold a file.

http://www.techterms.com/definition/ cluster

A damaged cluster on a computer's disk drive is one that cannot be used due to permanent damage, such as physical damage to the disk surface or failed flash memory transistors.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

What is a Bad or Damaged Cluster

The two kinds of cluster errors are soft errors and hard errors.

The soft error means that the magnetic signal on the drive is weak or the format is messed up, and you can't write to that area or read from that area. You can fix a soft error by reformatting the hard drive. E.g. Humidity or dust

A hard error is a different story. A hard error is actual physical damage to the hard drive. If a hard drive is physically damaged by something such as a scratch or bump, there is no way to correct it. You can't continue to use that drive.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/

Kinds & Causes of Damaged Clusters

1. Click the "Start" button in the bottom left corner of your Microsoft Windows

desktop, then click "Run."

2. Type "cmd" into the available text field in the Run dialog box.

3. Click the "OK" button. A command prompt window will open that allows you to

run DOS-based programs.

4. Type "chkdsk /r" into the command prompt. A message telling the user that

ChkDsk cannot run because the volume is in use will display.

5. Press "Y" on the keyboard to schedule the program to run at the next system

restart. Press ENTER.

6. Close the command prompt window by clicking the "X" in the top right corner and

close any programs that you have open.

7. Click the "Start" button, click "Turn Off Computer," then choose "Restart" from

the system shutdown menu.

Repairing Bad Clusters

1) Open “My Computer”

2) Right click on your hard disk

(e.g. C: drive)

3) Choose “properties”

How to Use Disk Checkers

4) Click on the “tools” tab

5) Under “error checking”, click "check now”

6) Check "automatically fix file system errors" or "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" and let the scan run.

7) This can take quite awhile, depending on the size of your hard drive.

How to Use Disk Checkers

Check Disk may also be run from system tools or the command prompt in which numerous switches are available.

As soon as command prompt opens, type “C:” for Local Disk C

Then type “chkdsk” and the chkdsk.exe utility will be executed to find potential errors

How to Use Disk Checkers

The purpose of this program is to identify and fix bugs within the hard drive.

Check Disk is designed for hard drives with huge storage space and the software

expedites the process indefinitely.

You can call for this software by commanding the computer

“chkdsk” on your DOS system.

Check Disk also provides information about the corrupted parts

of the hard drive so that your operating system can identify these

areas and notify the user.

Advantages of disk checkers

Disk Defragmentation

Defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. The movement of the hard drive's read/write heads over different areas of the disk when accessing fragmented files is slower.

Sometimes when you install a program or create a data file, the file ends up chopped up into chunks and stored in multiple locations on the disk. This is called fragmentation.

Disk Defragmenter is a utility which has been developed with

the rapid advance of drive technology.

http://www.fast-defrag.com/articles/

What is Disk Defragmentation

Disks are hard working, mechanical devices and, like all mechanical devices, prone to failure. A little preventative maintenance can warn you of potential problems and fix minor glitches before they can do damage to your data.

The way files are organised on your drive has a perceptible impact on the performance of your computer. If your files are stored neatly, end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk is speedier.

http://www.geekgirls.com/windows_defrag.htm

Reasons To Defrag

Click on:

1) Start Button

2) All Programs

3) Accessories

4) System Tools

5) Disk Defragmenter

How to Defrag the Hard Disk

Click on:

Defragment Disk

How to Defrag the Hard Disk

Disk is being Defragmented

How to Defrag the Hard Disk

Speeds up a slow computer.

It takes less time for your PC to gather files, as they are not broken up into pieces.

Optimize the time it takes to read and write files to & from the disk by minimizing head travel time and maximizing the transfer rates.

For Windows XP, Disk Defragmenter is also used to improve system startup times.

Elongates the life span of your drive

Advantages of Defragmentation

Takes lot of time to complete the defragmentation process because it is a batch process. E.g. It can take a minimum of around 12hours to defragment a

250GB Hard Disk.

It does not defragment files residing in the Recycle Bin or files that are in use. In particular, this includes the registry, page file, hibernation file or system files.

Only local volumes can be defragmented, network volumes are not supported.

A partition must have a certain amount of free space on the drive for the Disk Defragmenter to work properly. E.g. 15% free memory for Microsoft Windows XP

You can only run one instance of Disk Defragmenter at a time and your hard disk is temporarily very slow during the defragmentation process.

Disadvantages of Defragmentation

Disk Cleaners

Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then removes the unnecessary files. It also helps for the following functions:

Remove Files Stored on Your Hard Disk

Remove Windows Components

Remove Installed Programs

Remove Restore Points

The Elder Geek on Windows XP - Disk Cleanup Utility

What are Disk Cleaners

Clear cookies that enter your system when you are on the internet.

Clear history of recent file that you have accessed.

Clear history of recent sites you have accessed.

Clean the disk from the unwanted files that take up space on your drive.

Functions of Disk Cleaner

Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) from the disk properties window, is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive.

Uses & Examples of Disk Cleaners

Ccleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner), supports the cleaning of temporary or potentially unwanted files left by certain programs, including Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer,, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Office, Nero, and other applications along with browsing history, cookies, Recycle bin, memory dumps, file fragments, log files, system caches, application data, auto complete form history, and various other data.The program also includes a registry cleaner to locate and correct problems in the Windows registry, such as missing references

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Uses & Examples of Disk Cleaners

Absolute Shield Disk Cleaner :

Protects your privacy by cleaning up all the tracks of your Internet and computer activities. The tool is integrated with IE and it can erase the browser cache, history, cookies, typed URLs, autocomplete list, and other tracks, all with a single click.

Advanced Disk Cleaner:

Every day the programs on your computer create temporary and garbage files and leave them behind on your hard disk. These files build up over time, taking up valuable hard disk space and slowing your system down.

Advanced Disk Cleaner is a free program which makes it easy to quickly find and wipe away all the garbage files on your computer. It scans your disks quickly and then displays the garbage files so you can decide which of them you want removed. The program accurately detects and identifies only the garbage files.

http://www.softcrazy.com

Uses & Examples of Disk Cleaners

How to use Disk Clean Up

1) Choose Start

2) All Programs

3) Accessories

4) System Tools

5) Disk Cleanup

How to use Disk Clean Up

4) Choose the type of files to delete by checking the proper box on the left hand side.

5) Click on “Clean up system files to clean the unwanted files.

Helps to maintain privacy of data accessed

Helps to free up memory space by getting rid of cookies

Optimize the processing capability of the computer because there is less redundant data

to be catered for.

It cleans up the hard disk quicker than someone deleting each item one at a time

manually.

Advantages of Disk Cleaners

Need to be cautiously used if doing research for assignments. E.g. forgetting to bookmark

an important webpage. Disk cleaners deletes the history.

The manager of firms cannot know what are the sites that the subordinates are accessing.

Sites like facebook or rogues sites are prohibited in some firms.

Disadvantages of Disk Cleaners

Simulation:

These 4 Utilities as a group

Miss Moneypenny who works at the MI-6 office of M, stores a list of all the agents. The list has all confidential details of the real identities of the agents from 001 to 050, including the famous 007.

She sees that her computer is really slow and takes loads of time to access the file of personal details of the agents. The storage medium is her hard disk.

Being a computer-literate secretary, she deduces that her system must be having some bad clusters. So she runs the disk checker to scan her hard disk after backing up her important files in a secondary memory such as a flash disk.

Simulation 007

Her hard disk is scanned and the utility detects some anomalies with her disk. She then uses the disk cleaner to clean up her disk from the unwanted files that have filled her system from the daily use of all types of networks to contact all the agents on mission all across the globe.

But she still finds that the hard disk properties is displaying 80% full when she knows that there is only 65% of the disk full. Then she uses the Disk Defragmenter to defrag her disk and recuperate the maximum memory possible.

So these four Utilities enabled Miss Moneypenny to rely only on herself rather than depending on Q to handle her computer System.

Simulation 007

It can be said that Disk Storage, Disk Checkers, Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleaners are important Utilities integrated within the Software System.

They are very useful and all computer users should know the uses and benefits of these utility software.

Our computers are prone to failures and problems. Knowing and frequent use of these utilities can prevent loss of time and data.

Prevention is better than cure

© BBM 1 Team – IT Applications Presentation April 2011

Conclusion

Early IBM disk storage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ http://dictionary.babylon.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/ http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/ http://support.dell.com/ http://wiki.answers.com/ http://www.adrc.com/ http://www.fast-defrag.com/ http://www.geek.com/ http://www.geekgirls.com/ http://www.howstuffworks.com http://www.piriform.com/ http://www.techterms.com/ http://www.wordiq.com/ The Elder Geek on Windows XP - Disk Cleanup Utility

References

Thank YouZ. Toorawa

M. Cushmagee

D. Naiko