In this tutorial I’ll show you how to use the Reliability Monitor to track down and fix Windows Vista’s malfunctions.

Just like the previous Windows versions, Vista comes with a pack of really useful tools that are not as easy to find as Minesweeper. One of them is the Reliability Monitor, a tool that is able to display a graph of software installs and uninstalls and all the error events that occurred and have been recorded.

Starting the Reliability Monitor

The easiest way to bring the Reliability Monitor on your screen is to click on the Start orb, in the search bar type reli and select Reliability and Performance Monitor. Now click on Reliability Monitor.

Reliability Index

The Reliability Monitor gives you a value for the "Reliability Index" (top right-hand corner) for a certain period of time. Its value starts at 10 and can go down or not, depending on how smoothly Vista runs on your computer. Some applications may crash in Vista especially when upgrading from Windows XP (due to their incompatility with Microsoft's new OS) and this is going to lead to a smaller index value.

The index is updated daily, so after a week or two, you can look back and see what applications or hardware components have problems on a regular basis. At this time troubleshooting them can be tricky, and in some cases you may even need to stop using certain programs and change hardware parts to ensure your Vista PC works the right way.

Tracking down and fixing malfunctions

Whenever there’s a malfunction in Windows Vista, the Reliability Monitor records the date and the events that happened prior to the malfunction and displays them in the System Stability Chart. (the errors are marked with a small red circle with an x inside it – see picture bellow). So if your Windows Vista froze you could investigate what happened prior to the error and hopefully find the source.

Let me give you an example. The picture bellow illustrates the System Stability Chart on May 29. Notice that I did not shut down the computer properly (see Miscellaneous Failures section at the bottom) because my Windows froze. We can also see what happened prior to the windows failure. Have a look at the Software (Un)Installs that shows what I have previously installed:

• A software called Amnesty Generator
• Updates for Windows Defender
• Some USB drivers

All of these installs might have caused my windows to crash. What to do in this case is wait and see if the problem persist, and if it does, try uninstalling the software or restore your system to an earlier date.

Has your system become unstable and is behaving weird because of that last application you installed? Wish you could restore your computer prior to that installation? Your wish just came true.

What is System Restore

System Restore is a method of keeping a working copy of your system files, restoring them to an earlier point in time. System Restore uses a feature called System Protection, which creates restore points on your computer once per day.

Restore points contain information about registry and system settings that Windows uses. System Protection will also create restore points whenever changes occur, like the installation or removal of a hotfix, service pack, application or drivers. You can also create restore points manually.

How to use System Restore

You can start System Restore from the Start menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore.

You can let System Restore recommend a restore point for you or you can manually browse a list of different ones. Click on Choose a different restore point and select what you think will be the best restore point for your computer. Note that the computer will need to reboot, so save your work before.

When restoring to an older point, a new restore point will be created just before proceeding, so if something goes wrong with the process you can undo any changes done.

To manually create a restore point, click on the "To create a restore point, open System Protection” link. Note that in order to store restore points you will need at least 300 megabytes of free space on each partition that has System Protection activated. 15% of the amount of space on each disk may be used, and if the space is filled, older restore points will be deleted so new ones can be created.

In the System Protection tab, click on the Create button. You will be prompted to enter a description in order to help you identify the restore point and the reason you created it. After you press Create, allow some time for the new restore point to be created.

In the System Protection tab you can also choose what partitions you want System Restore to be active on. The feature is turned on by default on all drives. Use this cautiously, because it’s in your best interest to let it enabled.

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• Backup your files and protect your essential data

Running out of disk space? Don’t have what other programs or files to delete? Fortunately, there is a way! We’ll find out how Vista’s Disk Cleanup will step in and lend a hand.

Do I need to worry about my disk space?

Of course you do! Though hard drive capacities are in constant growth, you are still limited. Most people owning a large capacity hard drive think that they do not have to worry about free space because they’ve got plenty of it. Well, this is quite untrue: the more space you have, the less likely you will clean up, and the more likely your stuff will pile up. And then who will be surprised when the notification balloon in the right, lower edge of the screen will appear, announcing that You are running out of disk space? You will, of course.

Your disk space is very likely to suffer constant shrinking, thus constraining you to free up some more. You can try deleting unused files, uninstalling programs, and you will see the free space bar taking shape, but what if it isn’t enough?

How do I free up some disk space?

If you have reached the conclusion that uninstalling programs and deleting files isn’t enough, you should be aware of the fact that there is an application in Windows which can make your tasks easier. It is called Disk Cleanup and it will help you free up your disk space by searching for files you can safely erase, letting you choose to delete some or all of them.

Using Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup can be accessed by clicking the notice balloon that will appear if you start running out of disk space or if that doesn’t occur, you can follow these steps:

• Go to Computer or Windows Explorer - right click the partition you want to free up some disk space - select Properties - on the General tab click the Disk Cleanup button. A window will appear asking you what files you want to clean - you have the possibility to clean your files only or to clean files from all users on that computer.
• Another way to access Disk Cleanup is to press Start - All Programs - click on Accessories - select System Tools. This method will also prompt you to choose which files you want to clean, but it will also ask you to select the drive you want. When Disk Cleanup starts, your only task is to choose what files to delete. The categories to be chosen contain descriptions and the space they take up is also shown. Select what you want to delete and press OK.

The More Options tab is available if you choose to clean files from all users on the computer. Note that you may be prompted for an administrator password or confirmation. This tab includes two options that free even more disk space:

1. The Programs and Features option lets you uninstall programs that you no longer use. The size of each program is shown.
2. The System Restore and Shadow Copies option enables you to delete all the restore points (besides the most recent ones) and backup images on the disk.

Now you will know what to do when your hard disk will suffer from the Low disk space syndrome.

What are disk erros and how to fix them using Window Vista’s Check Disk utility

What are disk errors?

Disk errors refer to common data corruption and to actual physical damage of the hard drive (also known as bad sectors).

Data corruption is an error encountered during transmission or retrieval of data, when unintended changes to the original data occur. Data corruption is, in fact, very common, but as hard drive technology advances, so do error correction protocols, which become more sophisticated and maintain the level of reliability.

A bad sector is a sector of the hard drive to which data cannot be written. Bad sectors are created by software errors or slight errors in the read/write heads which can cause the data written in that particular sector to be completely unreadable.

Can disk errors be repaired?

Fortunately, the answer is yes. There are a number of applications which can fix the errors on your hard drive. The methods used are the following:

Error checking – the process which scans files and folders on your drive and searches for corrupted data and inconsistencies. This basic scan can clean up file problems that might cause errors in Windows.

Surface scan – is the process that examines in detail each sector of the hard drive, identifying and marking bad sectors. Marked sectors are off-limit sectors to the file system and spare sectors are used to replace them. Bad sectors are marked off-limit in order to stop the problem from spreading to other sectors of the hard drive. Surface scans take up a large amount of time, but are the only way to identify and repair this kind of disk errors.

How to repair disk errors in Windows Vista

Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, has an integrated Check Disk utilitym which can automatically repair many disk errors. In order to start using the Check Disk utility, you’ll have to follow these simple steps:

• Open Computer or Windows Explorer, right click on the partition you want to scan for disk errors, and choose Properties from the menu.
• Select the Tools tab and you will see the Error-checking utility there. Press the Check now button. You may be prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, (type the password or provide confirmation).
• The Check Disk dialog box will appear, from which you can select two options:
  
  
  1. Automatically fix file system errors will let Windows automatically repair errors on files and folders that the scan detects. Unselecting this option will only report the disk errors it finds, without fixing them.
  2. Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors will let Windows perform a thorough disk check, in an attempt to find and repair physical errors on the hard drive, such as bad sectors, and recover data stored in unreadable locations. Note that this action may last some time, depending on the size of the drive.

If you are scanning the partition on which Vista is installed, a dialog box will appear stating that Windows is unable to check the disk while it’s in use. In this case, you can choose Schedule disk check or Cancel. Selecting Schedule disk check will run the disk error check next time you will boot up your computer.

It is recommended not to use the computer while it is checking for disk errors.

You don’t have to worry about losing your favorite pictures or music if your hard drive crashes anymore. Backup all your files in a few easy steps using Vista Backup utility.

What is Windows Vista Backup Utility?

How and why to defragment your hard drive

In this section we will explain how disk fragmentation can cause long delays in accessing the data if you do not defragment your hard drive, and give you a step-by-step instruction on how to access and use Windows Vista’s Disk Defragmenter. In terms of benefit, your hard drive will be faster and your waiting time will be reduced.

Fragmentation and Defragmentation

The process in which deleted files leave fragments or empty spaces amongst your drive’s data or when a file is divided as it is stored is referred to as fragmentation. When the operating system needs to write another file it usually looks for the nearest available free space and writes the data there. If the data that has to be written is bigger than the available free space, it will fill that space and then search for the next free space, and so on until the file is completely written, thus scattering the file in a fragmented manner.

Defragmenting your hard drive consists in locating and rearranging the scattered files in an ordered manner. This reduces data access time and allows you to use your storage more efficiently.

Who needs to defragment the hard drive?

The answer is simple: everybody. And that’s because no one can control how files are written on the hard drive by the Operating System, so we call on defragmenting applications. Performance is visibly reduced over time if no defragmentation is used on the hard drive. Accessing a simple document may take up to a couple of seconds and you will be able to notice the stress on the hard drive by hearing the noise it makes.

How to defragment your hard drive

Beside all the defragmenting utilities out there, Windows Vista has its own one – Disk Defragmenter.

Disk Defragmenter can be accessed using the following methods:

• in Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools
• in My Computer or Windows Explorer, right click on any of your hard drive - Properties ‑ Tools - Defragment Now.

Disk Defragmenter has two options:

1. Defragment on a schedule – by pressing Modify schedule you can simply tell Disk Defragmenter when to run. You have to specify three things:
   • How often – Daily, Weekly, Monthly
   • What day – Any given day of the week
   • What time – Any given hour of the day

   If scheduled defragmentation is enabled then the defragmentation will only run at the specified date and time.

2. Defragment at that very moment – you should deselect the Run on a schedule option and then click the Defragment now button.

Windows Vista’s defragmenter has been simplified and automated, thus making it easier to be used. The recommended Run Automatically option makes it unnecessary for you to manually defragment your hard drive, increasing the chances of keeping your hard drive running smooth and fragment free.

Related articles:

• Using a partition for your swap file
• How and why to create partitions

Creating a separate partition for the swap file and modifying the setting for virtual memory will increase your overall computer performance.

What is virtual memory?

To make things simple, virtual memory is a "necessary evil" present in Microsoft's Windows since Windows 3.0, back in 1990, and all that you need to know without getting a headache is that a file on your hard drive is used to store data. This file is called a "swap file" or a "page file".

The swap file is a temporary file created by your operating system to keep data for later use, and in some situations a well configured virtual memory can increase your computer performance

Do I really need to change virtual memory settings?

Nobody says that you have to do this, but you'll surely notice the performance improvement after you do it! Just one more thing - be sure that you don't disable the virtual memory on all your partitions, no matter how much memory your computer has, because this may lead to some problems that you don't want to have.

Create a partition for your swap file

First, create a partition. The recommended size for the new partition is 2.5 times your RAM size plus 500 Mb(eg: if you have 1GB of RAM the partition should have 3 GB)

When slicing your hard drive to create the swap partition, be sure to place it as close to the first one as possible, because transfer speeds are lower as you go towards the last sectors of the drive.

Modify virtual memory settings

• Click on Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> System
• Choose Advanced system settings from the top left hands side
• Make sure that the Advanced tab is selected
• In the Performance section click Settings
• Click on the Advanced tab
• In the Virtual Memory section click Change
  

Now, before being able to change any virtual memory setting, you have to uncheck "Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives".

Note: be careful to disable the use of the swap files on other partitions (if you don't, Windows will place a swap file on your first partition too). To do this, select a partition, check "No paging file" and click Set

Click on the partition you want to use as a swap partition, select Custom Size, and set the new sizes of your swap file. The recommended size is 2.5 times your RAM size, and my choice is to set the Initial Size and Maximum Size values equal, to get a fixed size swap file.

After restarting your computer, the virtual memory used by your Vista will take advantage of its own partition, so the swap file won't become fragmented, and your system will run better than before. Just try to do this and share with us your results, we'll be glad to assist you with every problem that you will encounter!

Related articles:

• How and why to create partitions
• Defragment your hard drive and increase computer speed

Just like your house has more rooms, your hard drive has one or more partitions that are used to help you organize your data better, but working with them is much easier than building a house.

What is a partition used for?

Leaving the technical stuff aside, partitioning a hard drive is an operation that results in more virtual drives. The practical uses of these logical drive divisions include:

• the ability to setup multiple operating systems on your computer
• a better data organization
• an increase in overall computer performance
  

Drives with more partitions are faster than large, single partition drives and using a partition for virtual memory only can increase your system's performance.

Do I really need more partitions? One looks fine to me!

Some of your friends may tell you that having only one partition is enough, but don't believe them! You don't have to be a power user to use your computer the best way it is possible. Getting even the last drop of performance out of your computer without overclocking sounds like a good advice. Having more partitions is one of those easy things that can help you with this!

How to create a partition

Since most new computers today come with Windows Vista already installed, your hard drive should have a partition created already, so we'll resize it and add new ones.

First of all, you should know that after you used your computer with a single partition on its hard drive, the files will become fragmented, and you may not resize it properly, so before everything else, be sure to defragment your drive. Now, backup your data, "just in case", and let's start!

• Click on the Start menu
• Right click on My Computer and click on Manage
• If you get a User Account Control dialog here, simply click Continue
• In the left pane, choose the Storage category and open Disk Management. What you will find here are the partitions on your hard drive
• Right click on the partition that you wish to change.
• Choose Shrink Volume to shrink the selected partition
• Enter the new size for the partition, and click Shrink
• Now, you will notice that the partition is smaller, and some free space is available to create a new one; right click on the "free space" area.
• Choose "New Simple Volume" from the menu that appears, then click Next.

By default, Windows Vista will use all the free available space to create the new partition. Change the size if you need, or simply click Next if you agree with the default size.

Now that your new partition is almost created, you have to baptize it, so choose a drive letter and click Next.

At last, you should change the file system settings and format your new drive. In most cases, the NTFS file system using the default allocation unit size and a Quick Format should be fine. If you want a nick name for your new partition, baptize it again, using a suggestive name, such as "Documents", for example. Now, you new partition, will be also known as "Documents". Click Next...and you're done!

Related articles:

• Using a partition for your swap file
• Defragment your hard drive and increase computer speed