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<!-- (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2004, 2005 All Rights Reserved. -->

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<task id="maintainstorage" xml:lang="en-us">
<title>Maintaining your hard drive</title>
<shortdesc>Here are a few tips for maintaining your hard drive.</shortdesc>
<prolog><metadata>
<keywords><indexterm>hard drive</indexterm><indexterm>maintain</indexterm>
</keywords>
</metadata></prolog>
<taskbody>
<context>There is really not much to do to maintain a hard drive. However,
if you want to keep it running for the next 10 years or so, you should follow
these suggestions.</context>
<steps-unordered>
<step><cmd>If your drive has a low-power mode, make sure this comes on when
your drive is sitting idle.</cmd><stepresult>It will not get worn out as quickly
if it is not needlessly spinning.</stepresult></step>
<step><cmd>Every once in a while, shake your computer.</cmd><info>This will
cause the bits to fall more comfortably in to place.</info></step>
<step><cmd>Run Scandisk on the drive at least once a day.</cmd><info>This
way you will ensure that problems with the drive are found quickly. If you
share the drive with others, it will also ensure that they are less likely
to use it, because it will be so busy all of the time.</info></step>
</steps-unordered>
</taskbody>
</task>

