| In addition to backing up your data, you should periodically check your disk for errors. It's not uncommon for parts of your hard disk get damaged. When this happens, you might see an error message when you try to open or save a file. To scan the disk for damage and fix any problems, you can use a handy system tool called Check Disk that is included with Windows XP. Follow these steps to use this program: 1. | Open My Computer. You can do so by clicking Start, My Computer, or if you have added a desktop icon for My Computer, double-click this icon to open the drive window. You should then see each of your drives listed.
| 2. | Right-click the drive you want to back up and select Properties. If you have just one hard drive, it is named drive C. Some computers have more than one hard drive. If so, right-click the drive to select it.
You'll see the General tab, which gives you useful information about the status of the drive (see Figure 17.1).
Figure 17.1. You can display the Properties dialog box for the hard drive(s) on your computer. 
tip  | You can use this same dialog box to clean up your disk (get rid of files you don't need). For information on disk-performance options, see Chapter 18, "Improving Your Computer's Performance." |
| 3. | Click the Tools tab. You'll see the system tools for working with hard drives (see Figure 17.2).
Figure 17.2. You can access the Check Disk program from the Tools tab. 
| 4. | Click the Check Now button on the Tools tab. You'll see the available options for running the scan (see Figure 17.3). You can select whether errors are automatically fixed and whether the scan checks for and repairs bad sectors.
Figure 17.3. Select how to perform the disk check. 
| 5. | Click Start to start the check.
 | To store data, your computer divides your disk into parts called sectors. It's not uncommon for a hard drive to have some bad sectors. You can check and repair these sectors, but note that this type of scan takes much longer. |
| 6. | If Check Disk finds an error, a dialog box appears explaining the error. Read the error message and choose the option you want to perform. For instance, the check might find errors in how data is stored (such as sector errors, invalid file dates, and bad sectors). Click OK to continue. Do this for each message.
| 7. | When the Disk Check is complete, click OK.
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