How to keep you PC running like pro

I am tackling the infamous PC maintenance issue and how often to do what. By no means is this guide meant to be the end all or be all of computer maintenance, but with some practice and patience your machine will run extremely well.

Before doing all or any of these steps we must learn a little about our pc so that we do not do anything to cause an error by accident. If at any time you feel uncomfortable with these steps do not perform them and go to a professional. Most steps will be considered to be beginner to intermediate.

Terms that will be used in this guide:

1.      Anti-Virus software: Software design to protect the computer from various malicious programs designed to harm information or hardware.

2.      Spyware and Malicious file removing software: This is software designed to remove programs that spy or mine data from your machine. Not all Spyware programs are bad. An example is Microsoft uses Spyware to tell you what programs and updates you need. So learning your machine and software is important before removing Spyware.

3.      Cache and cookies: These are files stored on the computer from your browser to make browsing go a little faster as well as storing passwords and user names. Yes it is convenient but bad to have those types of things remembered because it is one level of security you removed making it easier for hackers to get your identity.

4.      Back-ups: There are several different kinds and names of back ups. For the most part you will do an incremental back up which is a back up of any changes since the last back-up. If you have never done a back-up you will want to do a full back up and archive it and date it on cdr or dvdr.

5.      Mail clients: Mail clients allow you to download email to your computer. Most common ones are MAC mail (looks like a postage stamp with an eagle), Outlook, Outlook Express (yes this is different then Outlook in the fact it is not as robust and it is the free version) and Thunderbird.

6.      Bios: Pronounced "bye-ose," an acronym for basic input/output system. The BIOS is built-in software that determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.

Now that we identified some key terms we will go ahead and get to the step by step guide of how to maintain your investment.

Weekly Maintenance

·         Defrag your computer. Fragmented files make the computer work harder to find files on the hard drive. Windows will scan and tell you 90% of the time it does not need to be done. I am here to tell you to do it whether it says to or not.

·         Clear the Cache: In this guide I won’t be describing how to do it but there are programs that will do it for you as well.

·         Virus Scan: Not just the updates but a full system scan along with all the files and folders.

·         Spyware/Malware scan

·         Incremental back-up (only if a full back-up has been performed in the last 6 months)

·         Mail client back-up and clean up

Monthly Maintenance

Remove unused software that is software that is never used or rarely used
Check your hard drive and removable drives (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM) for updates and run a system scan on them.
Check your load temperatures. Heat is the bane of all mother boards and pc components
Clean the fans and filters on your pc. Smokers especially I would never suggest smoking near your pc but if you must please do this weekly.
System drivers this is the software that runs your pc besides Windows, MAC or Linux OS’S/ Periodically hardware manufacturers will update there software known as drivers. Check either through Windows update or device website for updated drivers.
 

Bi-annual and Annual

Check wires
Look for dead pixels
Perform a full back-up
Check air filters
Coolant levels if you are using a liquid cooled system
Check for updated software at all levels