To begin, load the Run box by pressing WINDOWS KEY + R, then type “cleanmgr” and click OK:

Now, select the drive you wish to clean up. Normally the “C:” is your primary drive where temporary files will be located. Click OK once you have done this:

It may take a few moments while the cleanup software scans your drive for files that are safe to remove:

You can then select all of the temporary file types you wish to remove. It is not normally worth removing Image Thumbnail files as these will just be recreated next time you view a photo directory. Once you have selected the file types you want to remove, click OK:

You will be prompted to confirm you are sure about the deletion. If you are sure, click Delete Files:

The Disk Cleanup Tool will then remove the selected files and close, successfully reclaiming some diskspace:

If you have a NAS drive or 2nd hard drive, it would be ideal to be able to automatically backup your computer should the worse happen. Thankfully, you can use the command line interface and the “Task Scheduler” to create an automated backup solution without any other software. This will only work with Ultimate, Business or Enterprise editions of Vista in Administrator mode.

To begin, load the Task Scheduler by starting taskschd.msc from the run box (press WINDOWS KEY + R to load this):

Once the Task Scheduler has loaded, click Create Basic Task:

Now, enter a name and an optional description for your automated backup script:

You can now choose the intervals at which you want your backup to run (weekly or monthly would be sensible, depending on how often you need backups). Click Next when you are done:

Select a time of day for the script to start based on your interval selection, then click Next:

Now, select Start a Program and click Next:

For the “Program/Script” box, enter the following command:

wbadmin

Then, the following arguments to the next box:

start backup -allcritical -backuptarget:d: -include:c: -quiet

This example argument assumes you are backing up the entire C: and storing the backup on the D:. You can chance the storage paths by editing the values above. Once you are done, click Next:

This final screen lets you confirm the backup script details. If everything appears correct, click OK:

When the script starts, a command box similar to the one below will load. This will show you the progress of the backup and close automatically once complete. All of the backups will be stored in a “WindowsImageBackup” folder on the backup drive you selected, should you need to restore the computer using the Vista installation disk:

To load this application, run compmgmt.msc from the command line and select Disk Management from the left hand menu.

Not only can you format, delete and resize partitions but you can also change drive letters with a few clicks. If you install a new DVD drive at a later date but want to rename the drive letter, simply right click on the drive and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” and then click change. From this menu you can pick another available drive letter.