What is a ScanDisk?

ScanDisk, also known as ‘Error Checking’ simply scans the file system and repairs any errors or bad clusters.  This just helps keep your computer running smoothly and hopefully quickly, so its worth doing.  How often depends on how much you use your machine, every three months for the home user should be fine.  Busy home machines or business machines I would say monthly ideally.

How to run a ScanDisk

1. Firstly, close all programs.
2. Click on the Start Orb.
   
3. Select ‘Computer’
   
4. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label ‘(C:)’ and then select ‘Properties’.
   
5. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then ‘Check Now’ (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Ensure that both boxes are ticked, then click ‘Start’.
   
7. Click ‘Schedule Disk Scan’ and then restart your machine.
   

Any questions?

What is a Defrag?

If you use this analogy, your computer is like a filing cabinet, it starts all neat and tidy but over time it becomes messy and disorganised.  Defrag simply tidies things up which makes it easier for the computer to locate the information it requires therefore improving the performance of the machine.

Tip:

We suggest that you don’t have any programs running whilst running a Defrag.

How to run a Defrag

1. First of all click on the Start orb
   
2. Then select ‘Computer’
   
3. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label (C:) and select ‘Properties’.
   
4. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
5. Select Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Select which disks you wish to be defragmented (we recommend that you Defragment all Disks).  Once you’ve selected click OK.
   
7. Your computer will now be running a Defragmentation.  This may take up to a few hours.  (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
8. You will be informed when the Defrag is complete.  At that point you can close the Defrag Window and continue using your computer as you normally would.

How to Schedule a Defrag:

On Vista, Defragmentation is set on a default schedule.  However, that schedule may not fit to your work style.  So here is how to change the Scheduled date and time.

1. Follow steps 1-4 from ‘How to run a Defrag’
2. Select ‘Modify Schedule’  (Click to enlarge Image)
   
3. Decide when you would like the Defrag to be Scheduled for by using the drop down menus (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
4. Click OK

Have you found this helpful?  What would you like pctoolbox to do next?!

• Buzzword
• Share
• ConnectNow
• Create PDF
• My Files

To use the website’s services you need to Create an Acrobat Account which is completely free!  To do this just go to the Acrobat Website then select the services you would like to use then click ‘Begin’ and then select ‘Sign Up’.

Buzzword:

Buzzword is in my opinion brilliant!  It is a web based word processor.  You may now be thinking “but I bet it has like none of the features that Word etc has”, but you are wrong!  All the features you could possibly want are there!  E.G. Spell Checker, Table, Picture, Fonts, Colours, Paragraph Align, Spacing, Indent, Check List, Images etc.  You can even upload documents from programs such as Microsoft Word.

Buzzword saves your work whilst you are working so your work is always kept safe and secure.  Another cool thing about it is that all the documents are saved to Acrobat servers so it can almost be used as a back up tool.  This will help your files stay safe from any viruses.  Also you can log on to the site from anywhere and view your documents so there is no need to use a USB Stick etc.  You also have the option to share your Buzzword files with the Share application.  Click to find out more about Buzzword!

Share:

Share allows you to share files with friends on the Acrobat Network.  You can either upload your own files or use your files from the Buzzword and PDF Applications.  To ensure that the receiver knows that you are sharing a file with them you can also send them a notification on the Application.  It’s a great easy way to share files with people all around the world.  Click to find out more about Share!

ConnectNow:

ConnectNow is an application which allows you to Connect with any member and talk to them whether it be through Acrobat.com using either video conferencing, a microphone, a telephone, instant messaging or the white board white board.  ConnectNow could be used for having meetings with colleagues around the world with the ability to use the features previously mentioned as well as being able to host your own meetings, be invited to meetings, share notes, share files, share your computer screen and access the application anywhere assuming you are registered and have an Internet connection.

We tried ConnectNow out in the office and it is a little confusing at first but still a great feature which has loads of potential to become big!  One thing that we did notice was that you occasionally had to download small files which allowed you to use each feature.

ConnectNow is well worth a look, click to find out more about ConnectNow!

Create PDF:

Create PDF is simply a PDF converter.  To use it all you do is upload the file you wish to convert to PDF then click ‘Create PDF’.  Easy Peasy.  You can also convert files which you have created on Buzzword etc just by selecting the file.  However, there are some file formats which you cannot convert, for example; files from Microsoft Office 2007 unless you save the file as a 1997-2003 file.  Click for a list of all the file formats and more on Create PDF.

One thing that is important to remember about Create PDF is that you can only create 5 PDF’s before you must buy the physical software, Acrobat 9, which isn’t cheap.  There are several PDF Software packages which are free to use/download and work perfectly fine.  Two that we can recommend are Primo PDF and Cute PDF.

My Files:

My Files is basically where all your files which you have either uploaded to or created on Acrobat.com are stored.  Its an easy way to store and manage your files and you can ass files from your computer too.  By storing the files online you aren’t taking up as much space on your hard drive.  Click for more info on My Files.

Like the idea of Acrobat.com?  Want to find out more?  If so the Adobe information on Acrobat.com is worth a read!  Also there is a useful video on the site which shows you Acrobat.com in action.