#8 – Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Problem: Over time, hard drive wear and tear takes place and file errors or even bad sectors on the physical disk itself can occur. Power surges, bumping or dropping the PC (particularly laptops) can also cause errors and this results in less than optimum performance.
Solution: Run the Windows built-in CHKDSK facilty. To do this, go to Computer > right click on the C drive > select properties > click on the tools tab and under Error-checking, click on check now. Alternatively, in the command prompt, type in the drive you want to check (e.g. f: Enter) and then type chkdsk. Run this check approximately every 6 months.
Tip: If you have a laptop that uses a hard disk drive (HDD) rather than an solid state drive (SSD) then be particularly careful not to bump or drop the laptop while the computer is running. A hard disk has moving parts and sudden movement while it is running can cause permanent damage.