(RAM Technical Support Inc)

Recently I was called to a client's home to save his computer from a near death experience. The system was no longer functioning. Oh it would boot up...Windows would load but that was it. Programs would no longer load, files appeared to be lost and the system would just grind to a halt. It was like his computer turned into a still image of what it use to be.

What went wrong? Why would his system grind to a halt? Was it a virus or a failing harddrive? After doing a few minutes of detective work it became clear that the problem started with a growing collection of music files in the clients iTunes library and ended when the harddrive became nearly full.

While I.T. professionals know that you must keep at least 10% (and some say even more) of your hard drive FREE of any files, the average user never checks that stuff and is not likely to know they have a problem until its too late. WHY you may ask must you keep 10% free space? The operating system, in this case Windows, requires space to create and swap files and data in and out of memory and onto the harddrive in order for it to function properly. When the drive gets below that number, weird things can begin to happen to your computer.

Sooooo, what's a person to do. It's a good idea to periodically check your drive for free space and to take precautions to be certain you do NOT exceed the limits of the system. HOW?? Open the My Computer icon. You'll see your C drive, which is most likely your system drive. In windows, if you simply roll your mouse cursor over top of the C drive a brief popup message will appear telling you how much space is free. On a MAC you simply right click on your Macintosh HD and select Get Info and you'll see the total drive space and the available or free space on your drive.

Because the cost of external USB drives has become so inexpensive, it makes good sense to purchase a few and keep them plugged in and used on your computer. Store your data...i.e. music, photos, videos and documents on those external drives and keep the C drive for the installation of programs and system files. Use the second external drive to backup your important files and folders. By following these simple steps, you'll likely never find your system grinding to a halt because of a lack of FREE space on your system drive.

If your computer grinds to a halt because of a lack of FREE space and you lack advanced computer troubleshooting skills, it's time to call in someone who knows about the proper care and feeding of computers to perform some of that computer voodoo on your system to restore it to good health..

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