Keep Your Computer Running Smoot

Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly

As the use of computers comes integrated into the daily tasks of our work day and home life, it is vital to know the basic steps necessary to keep your computer running smoothly. Simple and routine computer maintenance is as important to perform on your computer as having the oil changed on your car or cleaning out the lint filter in your dryer. Just as a car will run without an oil change for a while, but if left unattended will need major repairs, a computer will work for a while without maintenance, but then will become slower over time, be more prone to viruses and spyware, often leading to major and more costly repairs.

Education as to what are potential threats is key in maintaining a smooth running computer.

1. The first step to keeping your computer health is learning to run the basic utilities built into Windows. Keeping your computer clean includes Disk Cleanup, Scan Disk (on Windows 98 and ME), Defrag and running Windows Updates. Instructions on how to complete these processes can be found at the following links: Windows XP cleanup and Windows Vista cleanup. Run this every two weeks.

2. Removing an Unwanted Program - Oops, I accidentally installed something I shouldn't have. How do I get rid of it? Do this as needed.

3. Deleting Temporary Internet Files and Deleting cookies – If you use the internet frequently, run this once a week. If use the internet sparingly, run this once a month.

4. Check Disk on XP - Windows XP does not have a scan disk like Windows 98 and ME did. If you need to run a scan on your hard drive, this utility will do the job. This only needs to be run if you are having problems with your computer.

5. Viruses - You MUST have a virus program on your computer AND the virus definitions must be kept up to date. The need for Virus software cannot be emphasized enough. This is non-negotiable.

6. Backup Your Data!!! - As those in technology like to say, it's not if a hard drive (or floppy disk, or USB Pen drive) will crash, it is only a matter of when it will crash. It is imperative to keep a backup of all data you do not wish to lose. Do this frequently!

7. Popups and Spyware - Unfortunately, spyware and popups are as threatening to your computer's health as a virus. Free programs available for download to help keep your computer free of these annoyances. These should be run once every two weeks or more frequently if experiencing problems on the computer.

8. Hoaxes - What is a hoax? How can you determine what is factual and what is not?

9. Phishing - No, this has nothing to do with a pole, string and a hook. Do not let criminals get your personal information.

10. Cookie Technology - No, not chocolate chip cookies, but the cookies found on your computer. What kind of cookies does a computer like?

11. Disabling Auto-Disconnect on Dial Up - If you have dialup networking at home and need to download Windows updates or large files, you may need to disable auto-disconnect.