  It has recently been shown that there are efficient algorithms for quantum
computers to solve certain problems, such as prime factorization, which are
intractable to date on classical computers. The chances for practical
implementation, however, are limited by decoherence, in which the effect of an
external environment causes random errors in the quantum calculation. To combat
this problem, quantum error correction schemes have been proposed, in which a
single quantum bit (qubit) is ``encoded'' as a state of some larger number of
qubits, chosen to resist particular types of errors. Most such schemes are
vulnerable, however, to errors in the encoding and decoding itself. We examine
two such schemes, in which a single qubit is encoded in a state of $n$ qubits
while subject to dephasing or to arbitrary isotropic noise. Using both
analytical and numerical calculations, we argue that error correction remains
beneficial in the presence of weak noise, and that there is an optimal time
between error correction steps, determined by the strength of the interaction
with the environment and the parameters set by the encoding.
