Hard Drive Housekeeping:

1. Use Directories and subdirectories to segregate different programs and data.
2. Back up anything you can't afford to lose.
3. Scan floppies for viruses before exposing the machine to any floppies of unknown cleanliness. Virus scan the hard drives occasionally just on general principles. Scanning every time you start up by building it into the autoexec.bat is overkill.
4. Be VERY careful about clicking on links and attachments of emails even if you know the person who sent them.  That "innocent"-looking picture may be a virus.
5. All of the following utilities can be accessed in Win 95 and later by clicking on My Computer, then right clicking on the hard drive, properties and tools, so the modern way to implement them is a little less arcane, but here is the old description:
• Set up a "temp" directory for programs to keep in-process temporary files:
• make a C:\00temp directory
• put "set temp=C:\00temp in the autoexec.bat
• clean out *.tmp files that are left behind when something unusual happens.
• Use CHKDSK (DOS 5.0) or SCANDISK (DOS 6.XX) to check for lost allocation chains. Clean them up with CHKDSK /f if necessary.
• Do a surface check occasionally (SCANDISK)
• DEFRAG (DOS 6.XX) as often as necessary to keep the disk less than 2 or 3% fragmented files --less of an issue with new humongo-harddrives.
6. Brush your teeth, wash behind your ears, and DEFRAG your hard drive.