Maintain Your System So It's Ready to Perform When You Are

Although your computer may be working fine, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need regular maintenance. There are several items to address on different schedules.

• • Regular maintenance can be scheduled on your system to run at night, avoiding any interruption while you are performing your computerized tasks.
  • The first items are temporary files and cookies. These files are stored on your system and can slow it down if they are not removed regularly.
  • Most people are using the Internet, some of us more than others, and the web is the place where you will rack up the largest amounts of these files. They are not harmful to your computer, but do need to be maintained.
  • Programs that are no longer being used can be uninstalled and others that are not used frequently can be removed from your system startup to optimize your processing speed.
  • Another important item is to defragment your hard drive. When files are too large to store in one location, your computer will “fragment” it into segments, requiring your system to open all “fragments” which can slow your system down. A disk defragmenter can be scheduled to run at night as well.
  • Registry maintenance is recommended as well, but only by a computer technician. Registry keys are necessary for you system to run and deleting one that is required can be disastrous.
  • Protection from viruses and malware has become increasingly important. Ensuring that your virus definitions are up-to-date can help you avoid the inherent headache when you realize that you’ve clicked through something or downloaded something that you shouldn’t have. The creators are making them more and more difficult to identify and have taken to cloning anti-virus software screens in an effort to convince the user that it is legitimate. Current anti-virus software will help protect your system.
  • Your computer not only needs to be maintained and protected, but it also needs to be updated. Operating systems will send updates with necessary patches, etc. Other software such as Microsoft Office will send updates and some software will provide updates on their website, but they are not sent to the user. Many websites requires the latest version Java or Flash to view their site and enjoy full functionality.

You want to ensure that your system is maintained, protected, and updated so that when you are ready to use it, everything will work correctly. There is nothing more frustrating that trying to complete a computerized task only to find that your computer isn’t capable, because maintenance has been performed. Take a few moments to set up some scheduled tasks and set reminders for those manual tasks; the return on your time investment will be priceless.