Computer maintenance are based on some basic features that needs to be kept. Computers are based on hardware and software. The hardware equipment build the computer itself and enable its capabilities to perform computer tasks and the software enable us to run the applications we need onto those hardware equipment.

Since the software basics that needs to be kept are starting with the operating system (either Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh etc…), an Anti-Virus software and a solid firewall that will keep out system safe from harm. Also, since we work with the computer, on a daily basis, some garbage is being piled up, like when you delete files, move files, cut and paste files etc… the way the data is stored on the system gets many gaps that needs to be maintained in order for us not to lose the performance we had when we first started. Like anything else in life, everything needs some maintenance, like cars, our houses (clean dust, wash floors etc…), like if we won’t wash the dishes in our sink, we won’t be able to use the sink anymore eventually, so it needs to be cleaned to be re-used 🙂

I will specify some tips for keep your computer maintained, so let’s get to it.

Scheduled maintenance tips on Microsoft Windows OS: (Windows 7 Example)

• Click Start
• Click All Programs
• Click Accessories
• Click System Tools
• Click Disk Cleanup (If there are more hard drives than one, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

Disk cleanup does some calculations and estimations of the files on the hard-disk and will pop-up a window that will enable you to choose which type of files to clean.

* Then press the “CLEAN UP SYSTEM FILES“. (On Windows XP, it works almost in the same way).

The Disk Defragmenter – Windows 7:

The disk defragmenter is fixing those gaps that are being caused due to moves and re-installation of applications, the programs are not sitting on the same continuous spaces, so the derangement binds those program together so they will sit in the same storage space.

• Click Start
• Click All Programs
• Click Accessories
• Click System Tools
• Click Disk Defragmenter

* Choose the drive you want to defragment and then let it run till it finishes, end the system will run quicker.
* You should let it analyze first – to know how much in percentage needs to be defragmented. If the percentage is high, then it is worthwhile to let it run.

Cleaning the computer from DUST: (Once a Month or at least every yearly quarter)

Every household has dust and our computers suffer from dust as well. The computer has ventilation fans that keep it cool, and shoves those dust particles into the computer.

Eventually the dust will cover the motherboard electronics, and the fans in such manner that might either harm the operation of the motherboard electronic units, and the speed and smoothness of the fans operation, which might slow them down, and effect their efficiency in cooling our computer systems.
So clean dust from your computer – shut the computer down – open the side door and use a small brush to brush those dust particles off the electronics, the motherboard, the cables and connections and from the fans… (better start from the fans). When the dust is settle on the bottom, you can either vacuum it or just brush it out of your computer box.

Detect and repair hard-disk errors:
You can run the error checking program, which will scan and check the hard-disks, to see if it needs repair, if it does find a reason to run the repair procedure, let it run and fix your hard disk.

• Click Start
• Click My computer
• Right click the hard-disks – and choose Properties
• Click the Tools tab
• Click the Check now (In windows 7 it is called Error-Checking).

Basically keep an eye for your computer performance, even though with the computers today being so quick and efficient, it is harder to see the changes in performance, but if the system loads slower then you where used to, or opening windows, office applications, browsers etc… takes time (well more then you where used to) then just do these procedures, it should get better.

Computer performance issues are a well-known fact that many computer users experience from time to time, especially with the Windows operating systems. The Windows operating systems work in such a way that in order to enable it to work smoother and faster (Without going too deep into it), it uses temp files to store information to enable quicker responses. An example for it is the browser, holding pages you have visited, so that the next time you load a similar page, it will load faster. Now there are certain files that do not get deleted.

Now the problematic issue with that technique is that the temp folder is getting filled with more and more files, and eventually the amount of files is so huge, that even the operating system needs to take a short while to locate the temp files it needs from the huge amount of temp files. Eventually, that slows down the system. There are more issues similar to that which are not temp files related, but the overall picture is the same or nearly the same only with different sections of the Windows operating system.

Let’s go over some of the main issues that affect Windows performance:

• [] Hard-Disk Errors:  [once a week]

the hard disks get written many times, every day and such hectic actions tend in time to affect the structure of the hard-disk, like the de-fragmentation and errors on the hard-disk. In order to keep those issues in the order you can do the following at least once a week:

* (This will be done on the next reboot of the system).

• Start –> My Computer
• Right-click the “c:\” drive and select properties
• Choose the “Tools tab”, and click the “Check Now” in the error-checking.
• Tag both checkboxes – and let it run
• Then reboot the system, and the check will occur on startup

• [] Removing temp files: [ once a week ]

* (This will be done on the next reboot of the system).

• Start –> My Computer
• Right-click the “c:\” drive and select properties
• On the “General tab”, and click the “Disk Cleanup”.
• From the window that opens – Tag the check-boxes which are relevant for you – and let it run.
• Many forget to empty the “Recycle Bin” – so please do it often.

• [] Rearranging files on the hard-disks – “Defragmentation”: [ once a month ]

* This process rearranges the files, so the same files will be arranged at the same blocks of data, which boosts the performance since there is no need to jump from block to block to collect the full info needed.

• Start –> My Computer
• Right-click the “c:\” drive and select properties
• Choose the “Tools tab”, and click the “Defragment Now”
• Do “Analyze Disk” – then you will be able to “Defragment Disk”.

• [] Spy-ware Free – You need to keep your computer spy-ware free, spy-ware spying around on your computer will slow it down.

• You can perform a free scan by Microsoft at: http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
• Spy-Sweeper – is considered a really good spyware removal/prevention program, but it is shareware and will cost around 25$.
• SpyBot Search & destroy – A completely free anti-spyware program, try it out.
• Windows Defender – Freeware by Microsoft, to keep your computer spy-ware safe.
• Ad-Aware – Ad-Aware is one of the oldest, and a well known one, you can download a free trial will give some protection, but the Plus version will give better coverage for extra pay.
• Spy-ware Terminator – This one gives fair protection for free, check it out.
• Spy-ware Blaster – Another free option, check it out and see how it works for you.

These are basic tools anyone can use, in order to assist your computer to go a bit quicker, and more efficient.

Computer maintenance is exactly the same as maintaining anything else, your car, your house, etc… everything is breaking down in time and we need to maintain them in order to keep them in shape.

Anyone who used computers with a Windows operating system for a while knows that eventually there is a time where the computer starts to work slowly or to do weird things like boot itself up, or get stuck, or just make noises from its hardware. You can maintain your computer with a couple of techniques and some additional tools, to keep it in good shape and for longer time periods.

Computer maintenance tips:

1. Purchasing a UPS unit – I have to recommend using a UPS for your computer + screen + your network equipment. The UPS unit will keep your computer from suffering from abrupt electric currents, electricity flickering,  or power down (which will enable you to shut down your computer properly before it shuts down immediately while your applications are open), those things I mentioned tend to shorten your hardware device’s life.

2. Backup – if you have very important information on your computer, the best way to keep it safe is to keep a copy of it elsewhere, on another computer or another device. If your data information is at large capacity, you can buy at a very reasonable price an external hard disk with 1TB (1000 GB), and backup your information to it, either by just copying it yourself from time to time (like every week or once a month, your choice) or you can install a sync program that will sync the information on an automatically scheduled time periods.

3. Those of you who use Windows operating systems, just schedule two tasks that preserve your hard disk (which keeps all of your important data) and tweak it’s performance thus keeping the computer perform at its best and those tasks are the “Scandisk” and the “De-fragmentation” tasks. Those tasks should run at least once a month. The “De-fragmentation” application is running through your hard disk bits and bytes and arrange the data so it will be grouped together (when you copy, move, delete etc… the data is being moved and kept separately on different areas of the hard disk and there are gaps in their location on the hard disk, so the De-fragmentation collects them and makes them sit together on the same space, and even though as a windows operator you can’t see the gaps between data, since your files seem to be ok, in the background the fact that they are being at the same space increases performance since the computer doesn’t need to jump the gap to reach the rest of the information (I hope this simple down to earth explanation was simple enough to understand without getting too technical). The “scan disk” application is scanning the hard disks for defects and problems and fixes them as it scans all of the hard disk, those bugs/defects on the hard disk can create a real delay when the hard disk is working and trying to read your data information.

4. When working with windows, it is highly recommended to keep at least 500MB of free space on your system hard disk (the one that contains your operating system) even though I would recommend keeping at least 1GB of free hard disk space. The reason for it is that the windows operating system uses the main system hard drive to conduct some actions, like writing temp files, or using space on the hard disk to be able to compensate on a low memory computer, so it does need some space to work on. If the capacity will be lower than 100MB your computer might not be able to load

at all, so keep an eye on the free space of your operating system disk.

5. There are programs that are being loaded on start-up (which means when the computer is starting and loading the operating system). If you don’t need those programs to load automatically when the computer boots, I would suggest to remove them from the startup (otherwise the computer will load very slowly) and it will take it a while before you will be able to start working with your applications and using your computer.

To remove applications from booting on startup, you can use two main techniques:
1. do start –> programs –> startup (checking if the programs you can remove are there, you can just delete them from there and they will not load on the next startup).
2. do start –> run, and on the run field type “MSConfig” this will open a window which will have a tab called “start-up”. By choosing the startup tab, you will see a list of programs that are all loading on boot (on start-up), removing the “v” from the check-box will prevent the program to boot on start-up. At the end of the change, when you press “OK” you will be asked to reboot your system since those changes affect the operating system.

WARNING: Only remove the tags from the check-boxes of the programs you are recognizing, and that you know that they are the ones

you do not want to load on the next startup, if you will remove a system application that windows need to operate properly, you will have a problem loading your operating system on the next time the computer will boot. So be careful (if you’re not sure, don’t touch anything).