Ten Common Sense Things You Can Do to Keep Your PC in Top Form
Published January 13th, 2009 | 
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” — Benjamin Franklin
I’m thinking that were Benjamin Franklin alive today, he’d be blogging with the rest of us. And you know what? He’d probably be wise enough to keep his PC in working order (although, being that he was a trendsetter in his day, he’d probably have a Mac Air).
There are a ten common sense things you can do to keep your computer in tip-top shape and extend the life of your machine:
1. Literally clean you computer regularly — keep the screen, keyboard, tower, fan, and peripherals free of dust. If you’re like me, you have a habit of eating and drinking at your desk. This is a bad idea. However, if you do eat at your desk, be careful not to spill anything on the computer.
2. Have a good anti-virus and malware program and scan your PC regularly for viruses, worms, trojans, and spyware. Also, it’s a very good idea (especially if you have a broadband connection) to have a firewall program.
3. Defragment your disk drive and clean your registery at least once a month and anytime you install new software. Scan your hard disk for problems.
4. Have plenty of system memory. If you have a PC running Windows, make sure you allocate at least 400 MB for the operating system to use.
5. Backup everything! In particular, you want to backup your most important documents, pictures, movies, etc.
6. Wait for the operating system to shut-down your computer. Do not use the power button to turn off the unit (unless the hard drive light has stopped) otherwise your data might lost or corrupted.
7. Have an uninterrupted power supply or at least a high quality surge protector. Barring that, shut down your computer and unplug it during lightning storms.
8. Uninstall unused programs from your hard drive. This will free up space on the hard drive.
9. Run Windows Update. Microsoft is notorious for producing software with security flaws — that’s why it’s important to check for patches and updates and install them if you are running any version of Windows or other MS software.
10. Delete your temporary Internet files, browser history, and cookies. Compact your email messages on a regular basis.
One Response to Ten Common Sense Things You Can Do to Keep Your PC in Top Form
Thanks for these tips, John. My computer had been down for the past five days, and was thought to be a lost cause. By being stubborn, I was able to bring the damn thing back to life late last night. One thing this whole headache has taught me is to take better care of my PC. I’ve been inexcusably lazy. But I’ve copied and pasted these tips and plan on using them all the time. Thanks again.