COMPUTER MAINTENANCE1

Do it by your self

Taking good care of your computer is so important; it is the best way you can do to keep it in good working condition. It doesn’t require you to be an expert to conduct maintenance on your computer, in fact just a basic knowledge of computer operation is enough. However, computing performance still based on the hardware and software that composed it.

Here are some ways to maintain your computers’ stability and reach its top performance.

KEEP IT DUST FREE

If you don’t know, dust can damage your computer in some ways. A large build up of dust on your computer can clogged the cooling system, giving poor ventilation on every component (CPU, chipset, hard disk, graphics adapter etc.) of your PC. And you know that ventilation is vital to your computer, as the heat can cause you an expensive damage.

Aside from cleaning the keyboard which is prone to dust, it is also advisable to clean the system unit or the CPU. However, it requires an additional precautions as elements like ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) can damage the components if done inappropriately.

CONDUCT DISK CLEANING

Reducing the number of unnecessary files on your disk is the basic of computer maintenance. As you use your computer, a lot of temporary files are made specially when you’re installing a program and downloading or surfing from the Internet. These files can take a large amount on your disk without knowing. To delete this files use the free tool built-in on your Operating System; the Disk Cleanup or you can download a free tool like CCleaner and Advanced System Care.

Note: Conduct disk cleaning at least once a week.

CHECK YOUR DISK FOR ERRORS

In much the same way that you need to clear out the dirt and dust from your system often, you need to do some housekeeping on the file system of your hard drive.

Disk errors occurs when you accidentally turn off your computer without shutting it down, power loss in the middle of installation/uninstalling of a program, and when the Operating System crashed. You can solve some disk error problems and improve the performance of your computer by making sure your hard drive has no errors. To do this you need a tool that allows you to determine the health of your hard drive. There’s downloadable software available from the Internet but I prefer to use the tool built-in on my Operating System.

· Open the My Computer window

· Right click on your hard disk and select Properties

· From the dialog box select the Tools tab and click the Check Now button

In some cases Check Disk won’t work when you’re in Windows state, in this situation you need to run it in DOS mode.

· Click start menu

· Select the Accessories folder and click Command Prompt

· Type chkdsk c: /f in the command line

Note: Always check your disk first for error before using a disk defragmenter. Run chkdsk once a week.

CONDUCT DISK DEFRAGMENTATION

Saving data on your hard drive doesn’t go neat and tidy. Sometimes the portion of free space it chooses isn’t large enough to write the whole file, resulting to breaking up the file into small pieces and spreading them over the hard drive. Over time, both file and the hard disk itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in many different places to open a file.

Defragmenting your hard disk is the solution. By consolidating fragmented files on your hard disk, it can help your computer run more efficiently. You can use the Disk Defragmenter available on your computer, but I suggest to download a free tool because it is faster and has additional useful features.

Defraggler and Smart Defrag are some defragmenting tools available for free download.

Note: Defrag your drive once a week to avoid large build up of fragmented files. Also, when defragging your drive, avoid using your computer. In this way, defragmentation will be done quickly and effectively.

CLEAN UP YOUR REGISTRY

The registry is a database in Windows that contains important information about system hardware, installed programs and settings. Windows registry can become fragmented over time, occupying more space on your hard disk than necessary and slowing down the boot time. Using a special tool you can optimize Windows registry by removing unnecessary gaps and wasted space that can greatly improve your computer performance.

CCleaner and Advanced System Care are some free tools you can use to do this task.

Note: It’s much better to run registry cleaner twice or once a week.

CHECK YOUR COMPUTER SECURITY REGULARYLY

A virus is the most common threat to your computers’ stability. That’s why it is so important to have good line of security on your PC. Having an updated AntiSpyware, AntiVirus and two-way Firewall software are great combination. You can buy a commercial antivirus product that contains all these, but if don’t want to spend, there are plenty of downloadable software available.

Note: It is recommended to run AntiSpyware/AntiVirus in a regular basis (at least once a month).

KEEP YOUR COMPUTER UPDATED

Updates are additions to software that can prevent or fix problems, enhance your computer security, or improve the computer’s performance. The simplest way to get updates is to turn on Automatic Updates of your Operating System.

You can also check for updates for your Applications, Security programs and driver for your hardware.

It‘s a good idea to check for updates for your security-related programs first, and then for the programs or devices you use most often.

BACKUP FREQUENTLY

When things go wrong, it feels so good to have a backup in your hand. You can lose files by accidentally deleting them, because of a virus or worm attack, software or hardware failure, or a complete hard disk failure.

Backups are important, don’t neglect doing them! If you don’t have backup, there will come a point where you will lose data that is important to you!