Windows Specific

Maintenance

Introduction

A computer is like a car in many ways, in order to get the best performance and long life out of a car, you need to maintain it. This involves amongst other things - changing or topping up the oil, changing the filters at specified regular intervals or mileage, filling up the washer water, checking the tyre pressures, washing it , etc etc I think you get the general idea.

Looking after your Computer

So to keep a Computer in good condition and to extend the life and reliability of your system, there are certain maintenance tasks that should be performed at regular intervals.

These involve but are not limited to :-

• Disk Cleanup
• Defragment Hard Drive(s)
• Scan for and prevent against Viruses
• Scan for and prevent against Spyware
• Install and maintain a Firewall
• Backup your important data
• Update your Operating System with patches and Service Packs

The above points there are what I would call 'basic essentials' that everyone should be doing as part of a routine in order to keep their computer in good condition and to help keep viruses and other varients from taking over their computer.

Other things can be done to ensure extra security and protection, and also help in the event of data loss. These can include :-

• Install a Router/Firewall
• Ghost an image of your hard drive(s)

[Tutorial to be completed]