Maintaining Your Computer

Medical experts remind us that "prevention is the best medicine" so as a computer support expert, I'm strongly advise that you apply the same logic to your computer!

Do you ever had any computer issue? I'm sure you do; that is why you're reading this. You may have heard noisy fan in your computer and that the CPU fried. You have saved years of works, photographs and memories in your computer's hard drive and that is suddenly failed. You have spend hours trying to remove virus and popups, but not successful. Maybe it's time to start maintaining your computer!

Keep Your Computer Clean

We all know that most things run a little better when they're clean. Water flows easier when your plumbing is clean, your car's engine runs better if you've been taking care of it, and your dryer does more in less time when you clean out the lint.

Your computer is no different. Keeping your files and folders tidy in your virtual world and clearing the dust and grime that builds up inside and outside your computer all play a part in keeping it running smooth day in and day out.

Backup Your Data

The most important thing you can do as a computer owner is to consistently and reliably back up the data stored on your hard drive. Hardware used to be the most valuable part of a computer but those bits and bytes are now the real investment.

You've spent huge amounts of money on software and digital music and video, and countless hours authoring documents and organizing your digital files. If you don't regularly backup this information, a serious computer problem could leave you with nothing but a huge feeling of regret.

• Data Recovery

Virus, Malware Scan, Updates

Keeping the software on your computer updated is no longer an optional part of computer ownership. Viruses, worms, junk mail, security breaches, hardware incompatibilities, and software conflicts are all now part of your daily digital life.

Updating your computer with the latest patches, fixes, and device drivers really can keep these annoyances at bay. Updates are freely available on the Internet for just about every antivirus program, email client, operating system, and piece of hardware you could possibly own.

By Tim Fisher