Ten Common Sense Things You Can Do to Keep Your PC in Top Form

Written by John Erianne on January 13, 2009


From Diary of a Mad Writer Blog“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” — Benjamin Franklin



John gave me permission to reprint his tips here. He says:
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, he was a trendsetter in his day so 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 notorius 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.