Weekly Computer Maintenance

Credit:abluecup (iStock)

You can save yourself time and money by spending just a few minutes at least once each week to take care of your computer. Nothing creates a bigger crisis these days than having a computer crash, so take some of the responsibility for your computer’s “health.” Plan to do the following once a week (and if you don’t know what any of these mean, ask and learn!)

1. Run a virus scan on your hard drive. (Note: This means you must have updated, state-of-the-art virus protection software). Most likely you have one that is constantly scanning, but as you will notice in other tips in this article, I’m a belt and suspenders person. So once a week, ensure that your virus software has been updated and run a complete scan (not just a quick scan).
2. Back up your hard drive to an external drive. Once again, belt and suspenders, folks. I use Carbonite, store nearly all my files in the cloud, AND back up my hard drive to an external drive. Do I ever want to find out if I’m glad I do all three of these things? No. But I would rather overprepare in this case than underprepare. You only have to lose everything once…although I know people who have lost everything and STILL don’t do all the backups. Sigh.
3. Make a back-up image of your hard drive on an external drive. If your computer ever crashes, or if you get a new computer, you will be so happy you have done this. There is software that handle this automatically but you have to make sure you have that software AND that it is backing up an image to an external drive. External drives are inexpensive and it doesn’t require a lot of space for most folks to create this backup.
4. Delete as must stuff as possible (emails, old folders on your hard drive, etc.) Deleting some every week keeps it from becoming an nightmare.
5. Empty your desktop’s recycle bin.
6. Buy a can of compressed air and clean your keyboard and around your computer.
7. Make sure you have a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Source/Supply) and use it rather than a power strip. Check it weekly to ensure that it is in good working order. A UPS usually lasts up to two years and most of the good ones have replaceable batteries that are much less expensive than buying a whole new UPS. Start with a highly-rated one with a lot of protection.
8. Find a person/company locally who can come to your home or office in the event of a crisis. You’ll want this person/company in place BEFORE the crisis occurs. While you don’t need to check in with this person or company weekly, check in at least once each month to make sure the company is in place and that they know you are still one of their customers. I found out the hard way (when I needed him) that the person who built and serviced my computers for over 5 years jumped on a Harley after his divorce, road off into the sunset and didn’t tell any of his customers.

All of the above tips are in the category of…
“an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”