Computer maintenance and its importance

[HardBeatZ]

Computer Maintenance is the practice of keeping computers in a good state of repair. I properly maintained computer can live well beyond its "life expectancy."

Computer Maintenace can come in two forms. The first is by physically cleaning the computer itself and the second is by cleaning the "virtual computer." The Virtual computer is everything inside your computer, system files, documents, programs, etc. Here is a good list of tips and tools you can use to maintain your computer.

Virus Protection

Install an antivirus program to protect yourself. There are many programs that are available to help protect you from the viruses that are created every day. You ask 10 different people which antivirus program you should get you may get 10 different answers. You may have to research this option to find what antivirus program you prefer and run with it. As long as the program is updated on a regular basis you will find you are taking the right step in the right direction.

Update it regularly – Check your settings for your antivirus program. Many of these programs come by default to check for and install updates on a regular basis (generally once a day). If your program is not set this way I would highly advise to have it check for and install updates every day. Every day without the most up to date definitions is every day you find yourself vulnerable to the latest virus.

Applications

Every application and utility is prone to security risks. The developers of these applications may find a security hole and patch it, if you don’t have the latest version you may find yourself open to an attack.

Remove unused programs. If you haven’t used a program in a long time then it’s likely that you don’t need it. Many unused programs can account for free space that is not available to you because you have a program that you installed a year ago. Many new computers come with trial programs and other software that you may find you just don’t need. By deleting unused software you can help free up space that you can use later on down the road.

Clear Temp files and other unnecessary files

When you use the Internet a copy of every web page you visit is stored. This is helpful as it allows for faster viewing later on down the road. Say I visit Facebook every day, in theory the first day I go there it may be slow to load, but every subsequent day it’s going to be faster than the original day. While this works great in doing what it does it does become a resource hog when you have visited 10000 websites in the past month. Since this is space taken up at least once a month you should consider clearing the temporary internet files, internet history, and cookies off of your system. Here is how to delete this information on the three most used browsers.

Internet Explorer

Chrome

Firefox

The next thing you want to do is clean out that downloads folder. So what happens is you go to a website and you decide to download a software program. So you click on it and it downloads and then you run it. The program then installs and everything works great with the program, you’re done right? No! What about that file you had to download? It’s still on your computer and it’s taken up free space. That one file takes up maybe 5k of space, but let’s say you download 20 applications, oh ya you wanted to look at some pictures so you downloaded those as well. Your downloads are now taking up quite a bit of space that you can’t use. Cleaning out your download folder can help regain some of that lost space on your computer.

The download folder is easy to get to

1. Click on start
2. Go to “My Documents”
3. Downloads

You should consider keeping this cleaned out once a month. If you find you download a lot of stuff then you may want to empty this out on a more regular basis.

While we are on the subject of cleaning out the downloads folder let’s talk about those zip files. If you receive a bunch of files (or even a single file) and it’s in a zipped file the first thing you have to do is unzip it. When you unzip it the zipped file doesn’t go away. Once you have extracted what you need out of a zipped file it’s safe to delete that zipped file as it’s taking up unnecessary space.

Maintain Data Integrity

At least once a month you should check your hard drive for errors by using two simple solutions.

The first thing you are going to do is a defragment of the hard drive. When you use data on your computer on a regular basis the data gets fragmented across your entire hard drive. While you may be seeing one MP3 file your computer sees bits and pieces of this file that may be spread out across your entire hard drive. By defragging the hard drive you are telling the program to go find all these pieces and put them back together.  By making them whole again and regaining that single file you may even notice that specific file is noticeably faster and other aspects of your computer may speed up as well.

The next tool you want to use is a Check Disk. The check disk will look at the disk volumes and see if it finds any problems, if it does it’s going to try to fix them for you. Many hard to resolve problems can be simplified by running a check disk to have any bad sectors, or lost clusters repaired.

Both of these programs are built into Windows and are already ready for you to use.

1. Click on My Computer
2. Right click on your hard drive (usually the C drive) and select properties
3. Click on the Tools tab and you should see these options.

Backup

How important is your data? The more important your data is to you the more you back it up. Generally a once a month backup solution works for most people. However, all critical files should be backed up as regularly as you change them. There are many programs that allow you to backup your data to either CD’s, jump drives, or online storage. You should review the different options and find what’s best for you.

Windows Updates

Windows pushes out updates on a regular basis. Check your settings within windows to verify you are downloading and installing these updates as they are coming in. Critical windows updates can save you from any issues you may end up experiencing.

This Microsoft article explains in more detail information about Windows Updates.

Empty Recycle Bin

When you delete something it’s not gone forever it goes to a recycle bin and stays there for a while before it auto deletes or you tell it to remove it forever. Generally this is a really good safe fall. You never know when you may accidentally delete something that you really need and you find it there. Once a month though you should consider reviewing everything that is in there and deleting everything that you will never need again.

Everything up to this point has been cleaning the virtual computer. Next we will look at what you can do to maintain the physical computer. Once a quarter (every four months) you should consider tearing down your computer and cleaning it.

Clean peripherals

Everything you connect to your computer is a peripheral. Keyboards, your mouse, printers, etc. are all peripherals. Disconnect your mouse and keyboard and clean them. The keyboard can be sprayed out with a can of compressed air and given a gentle wipe down with a cloth. If you have a mouse with a roller ball on the bottom of it meaning it’s not optical then the roller ball should be cleaned. Pop off the plate and remove the ball clean with some isopropyl alcohol and remove any caked on grease, oil or dust.

Clean Monitors

The monitor can be dusted off with a cloth and screens cleaned with a glass cleaner and cloth.

Clean Tower

The shell or tower of the computer will also need to be cleaned. When you get to the back of the computer examine the air vents these may need special attention as dust will build up and need to be removed.

Clean inside the tower

If you have a tower that opens up then it’s important to clean the inside of the computer. Even if the computer is never opened before it’s going to build up dust inside. With a can of compressed air spray any dust or debris out of the computer and clean out the fan vents.

Inspect your cables

While you have the computer open inspect your cables any loose connections should be firmly reconnected.

Clean the surge protector

For starters if you are not using a surge protector go get one. A surge protector can save your investment in case of a power outage that causes a burst of electricity. If you already have a surge protector check it for any damage a damaged surge protector is just as bad as not having one. If the surge protector has exposed wiring it should be replaced immediately. If the surge protector is in working order then it still needs to be cleaned ensure the plugs that you use to connect your computer are free of dust and debris.

[HardBeatZ · Accepted solution]

You don’t have to be a computer expert to do any of these simple things that can ensure you have a computer that lasts for a long time.

If you are an advanced user and you have any other tips that you find may help new users and the not so techy users in ensuring they are keeping their computers up to date add a reply to this post.

[johanes2]

my desktop power alarm turn red why?