The things you do to your computer now will determine how long your computer will last without crashing.
Here are some Basic Computer Maintenance Tips that will help when using your computer.
1. You should never just pull the plug or hit the off button unless you absolutely have to. Always shut down your computer by waiting for windows to shut down. This is Basic stuff but you may be surprised by how many people still continue to do this. The reason for this is simply because it may create a list of conflicts within the operating system; continually shutting down windows without waiting for windows to shut down can cause permanent damage to the hard drive.
If you find your computer just "hangs” and doesn’t respond then you can force a shut down. When your computer is not responding try ALT+CTRL+DEL press these buttons on your keyboard at the same time, a window should now pop up named "Windows Task Manager” The Window that pops up will have a tab at the top where you can shut down your computer normally. Pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL will not always go according to plan, when your computer doesn't respond to this command then it's best to switch off the computer and switch it back on after 1-2 minutes. Perform emergency shutdown only when absolutely necessary.
2nd Computer Maintenance Tip: Connect your computer into a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) a UPS is designed to help prevent power surges. This small precaution will protect your computer from all types of power disasters.
3rd Computer Maintenance Tips: Don't wait for the computer to crash, backup your files now! Go and buy a good CD Burner if you haven’t already. Another option is search for one online theirs a wide range to choose from but be careful when downloading free software on the internet. Now burn two copies of the same file to CD and that’s it. Now anytime the computer breaks down you will still have your files safely stored on your CD. An alternative is to say goodbye to the CD and store files on a USB flash Drive. These days they come standard with 1GB of space.
4th Computer Maintenance Tip: Computer Maintenance requires a checkup just like you need to visit the doctor to make sure you’re healthy. Use Scandisk and defragment your hardrive at least once a month. In Windows this can be found by going to start -> My Computer -> Right click on your Local Disk ->Properties a window will open called local disk properties. Click on "General Tab” and then click "disk cleanup" (this will calculate how much space you will be able to free on C: Drive. To the left of the General Tab should be a tab called Tools, here you will find the Defragment Now button when you click on Defragment now another window will open called Disk Defragmenter click analyze. After it successfully analyzes the drive it may prompt you whether or not to defragment C: drive. Alternatively you can click on view report and check total fragmentation. Try to keep total fragmentation below 10 percent...
5th Computer Maintenance Tip: Try not to unplug any devices attached to your computer while they are still powered on. It may cause damage to your motherboard.
6th Computer Maintenance Tip: 100mb of disk space should be kept free for C: Drive this may help with sluggish computer performance.
7th Computer Maintenance Tip: To effectively maintain your computer you should check start up files. Start up files on windows can be found by clicking START -> All Programs -> Startup. You may find some programs that automatically start up each time you switch on your computer. There may be a large list of programs that are not needed. Delete any programs that start up when you switch on your computer, they will only use up to much resource. You can still access these programs they will only be deleted from your startup file. For advanced users you can access a complete list of programs in startup file by clicking START-> RUN -> type MSCONFIG this application will have a tab called START UP (CAUTION only continue if you know what you’re doing) for a large reference of startup files checkout Bleeping Computers. Type in the name of the file and you will receive more information on that particular file. It will also suggest whether you should keep this file in your startup or remove it "Your Choice"
8th Computer Maintenance Tip: Make sure you get a good antivirus program it will provide security for your computer Installing programs and applications from the web, downloading attachments from family or friends and a wide range of other ways can infect your computer system,
Your antivirus program should keep all of those viruses out of your computer system. You can think of this as like your immune system which helps protect against disease.
The Top 5 Anti-Virus programs are:
- NOD32 (Shareware)
- Avast Antivirus (Freeware and Shareware)
- AVG Anti-Virus (Freeware and Shareware)
- Avira AnitVir (Freeware and Shareware)
- Kaspersky Anti-Virus (Shareware)
9th Computer Maintenance Tip: If you have a high speed internet connection and have sensitive data that you don't want others to access check that you’re using a firewall. A firewall will help prevent your computer from getting "hijacked”. Hackers use search programs to seek out computers at random. Get a firewall program and use it!
10th Computer Maintenance Tip: Do not throw away installer software once you've installed the program. You will need to reformat your computer some time and all data on the drive will be erased and you will need to reinstall your software again.