Preventative Maintenance Tips For Your PC

Basic guideline that you can use to keep your PC maintained to run efficiently:

• Do not place a PC directly near a heating or cooling source, such as heating vents or air conditioners.

• Keep the PC's air vents and fans unobstructed and free of dust.

• Do not smoke around a PC. Cigarette smoke can damage exposed metal contacts.

• Do not place a PC near water sources that can splash onto the components or drip down into them. This includes open windows through which rain can come and also under plants than can drip water down into them.

• Buildup of dust can seriously hamper a PC's capability to cool down, and even if you never open your computer's case dust can still get in through the drive openings. Dust also compromises the lifespan of your PC's hardware. An efficient way to clean dust from the inside of a computer is with compressed air, blowing dust away from the motherboard and other components.

• You should never blow air directly into a floppy drive as this can cause dust to lodge in the drive and cause it to malfunction. Users who are not familiar with working inside a computer case should take the unit to a professional for cleaning because it is possible to do more harm than good to a computer if you do not know how to safely work inside of a case.

• Always turn off and unplug the system before you clean any of the components inside the case. It is also important to ground yourself to prevent static electricity discharge before touching any components inside.

• Be extremely careful when moving a PC from one location to another. Even small jolts can dislodge chips and expansion boards, so be sure to power off the system before moving it — even if it's only going from one side of your desk to another.

• Save all documentation that comes with your PC and its components. You may need to refer to the documentation if something goes wrong.

• Always shut your system down properly (in Windows use the Start --> Shutdown method) whenever possible. It is also important to respond to warnings and error messages to prevent possible data loss or corruption.

Operating System & Data Maintenance:

• Always ensure you have downloaded and installed the latest patches and service updates for your operating system, especially on a Windows-based PC. These updates will fix bugs and security exploits.

• Keep the root directory organized. Only keep your system's start up and software initialization files in the root directory. Application files and their data belong in a separate directory from the root directory.

• Do not store data files in the same directory that you store the software. This will eliminate the possibility of accidentally erasing or overwriting a software file.

• Keep a set of backup rescue disks for the operating system.

• Keep backup copies of any important data on a removable medium. Hard drives can fail and having important data on more than one medium can save a lot of stress and headaches.

• If possible use a secondary hard drive in your system for saving files. Your main drive, which is accessed more frequently is prone to mechanical drive failure sooner than your less frequently accessed secondary hard drive would be.


TIP: Windows Live OneCare offers a free tune up scan which can help you optimize your PC's performance. This scan will help you determine what basic system maintenance tasks need to be run on your computer.