Windows XP in a Nutshell, Second Edition

The following settings and tasks relate to using hard disks, typically accessed through My Computer or Windows Explorer. See Figure 5-4. (See also "Folders".)

Hard Disk, cache settings for offline access

Explorer right-click drive icon Sharing Caching

Hard Disk, change Chkdsk options at Windows startup

See "Chkntfs" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, change drive letters

Disk Management ( diskmgmt.msc ); see "Microsoft Management Console" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, change label

See "Label" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, check for errors

Explorer right-click drive icon Properties Tools tab Check Now

Hard Disk, clean up

Explorer right-click drive icon Properties General tab Disk Cleanup

Hard Disk, compress drive

Explorer right-click drive icon Properties Compress drive to save disk space

Hard Disk, compression options

See "NTFS Compression Utility" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, convert FAT and FAT32 drives to NTFS filesystem

See "FAT to NTFS Conversion Utility" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, convert to dynamic disk

Disk Management ( diskmgmt.msc ) View Top Disk List right-click on drive in top pane Convert to Dynamic Disk

Hard Disk, defragment

Explorer right-click drive icon Properties Tools tab Defragment Now

Hard Disk, enable / disable write caching

Device Manager right-click drive Properties Policies tab Enable write caching on the disk

Hard Disk, encryption options

See "NTFS Compression Utility" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, format (prepare for use)

See "Format" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, Indexing Service

See "Indexing".

Hard Disk, list volumes

Device Manager right-click drive Properties Volumes tab Populate

Hard Disk, partition

See "DiskPart" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, quota management

Explorer right-click folder icon Properties Quota tab

Hard Disk, quota security policies

Group Policy ( gpedit.msc ) Computer Configuration Administrative Templates System Disk Quotas

Hard Disk, scan and fix errors

See "Chkdsk" in Chapter 4.

Hard Disk, share on network

Explorer right-click drive icon Sharing Share this folder

Hard Disk, turn off to save power

Control Panel Power Options Power Schemes tab Turn off monitor

Hard Disk, view partition information

Disk Management ( diskmgmt.msc ); see "Microsoft Management Console" in Chapter 4.