Important Tips for COMPUTER MAINTENANCE

I have been using PC since 10 years..Well u too use PC in this era of mobile computing and tablets... Technology may gives us new devices today but PC has its own advantages...

Ok...I will list out some tips which i practically do myself while using computers...I do include some tips i found in vast internet and tech books


1) I recommend that you purchase UPS for your computer. This will keep your computer from crashing during power outages, and will protect your computer from low and high voltage occurrences.
2) Get a good surge protector and plug your computer and peripherals into it.
3) Backup any data you cannot afford to lose to at least two separate physical drives. So backup data to external hard drives, USB/thumb drives, CD-RW’s etc.
4) Run Scandisk and Defragment at least once a month. This will keep your hard drive healthy and prevent crashes.
5) Do keep at least 500 MBs of your C: drive free for Windows XP to use. If you use Vista, or Windows 7 then you should have 1 GB of free space on your C: drive.
6) Do not let a lot of programs load up when you start your computer. They use valuable memory and Windows Resources.
7) Use a trusted anti-virus product. Turn on its real time protection and firewall features. Also, make sure the anti-virus program is set to update automatically. These programs must regularly update their virus definitions to provide the best defence against new viruses and other malware.
8) Make sure Windows Update is set to Automatically Update your computer.
9) Keep all of your working files in one folder.
10) Don’t put your personal files on the root of the C: drive.
11) Uninstall programs that you are not using. But don’t just delete the program. Remove it correctly so you won’t cause Windows errors. Go to Start, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs. Find the program you want to remove in the list, and click the Remove button.
12) If you download a zip file and expand it, delete the original zip file when you are done.
13) Practice safe computing. Don’t accept software or downloads for which you didn’t ask. Delete any suspicious email without opening it. And even if the email came from your best friend, don’t open any email attachments with the following extensions: * .exe, .com, .vbs, .bat, .mdb, .reg, and .js
14) Don’t click on YES or OK unless you are 100% sure about that. Otherwise click the negative answer.
15) Clean up your temp files, your temporary internet files, and other junk files about once a month. To do this easily, you can either download CCleaner. Or you can run the built-in Windows Disk Cleanup tool for XP or the Disk Cleanup for Windows 7.
16) Check all your computer cables and make sure they are plugged in tight, and not being pinched or pulled in a way that is damaging them.
17) Physically Clean Your Computer at least once in a month.
18) Check to see if you have the latest hardware drivers loaded for your printer, monitor and other peripherals.
19) Don’t leave your monitor running all the time. The best way to extend your display’s life is to shut it off when it’s not in use.
20) Do a full scan for viruses and spyware once in a week.
21) Check for updates on all of your programs you use.
22) Always use genuine software.
23) Keep all official documents, receipts, and license keys for your software, which are needed if the software must be reinstalled.
24) Speed up your computer with ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost can speed up your computer by using storage space on most USB flash drives and flash memory cards.
25) Lock your computer with a strong password to make sure that the children doesn’t play with your computer. You may enable a guest account to others.
26) Turn off remote assistance and remote desktop unless you are part of a network. These services sometimes allow hackers to use your computer and access your data.
27) Be aware of USB flash drives that you connected to your pc. Run a virus scan to make sure it’s virus free.
28) Never switch off or unplug your computer from direct supply until your OS has shut down.
29) Avoid multitasking with large programs. Working on 15 programs at the same time is not a good idea.
30) Remove duplicate files on your computer. Search Google for software to “remove duplicate files”. Almost all of this software works the same way: it reads every file on your computer and compares a mathematical representation of each file (called a checksum) to every other file on your computer. The process takes time, but it’s highly accurate, and every duplicate file remover will let you choose which files to remove.