6. Maintenance

Before taking any action on your system, please read (and print) these instructions completely. There are sometimes special notes or warnings that might apply to your situation. Proceed at your own risk.

There are some basic maintenance steps that every computer operator needs to perform on a regular basis to keep his or her computer running in top shape. It’s usually a good idea to check with your network administrator if you are on a business network, because some of these steps may be handled by the I.T. department.

Backing Up

It’s impossible to stress how important good backups of your critical data are when disaster strikes. And it almost certainly will at some point. If you have backups, you will hardly skip a beat. If not, you may deal with the after effects for years, and companies have gone out of business because of lost data.

If you don’t have the big bucks for a tape backup or a DVD-burner, then at least backup your most critical data onto Zip disks, CD-ROMs, or even floppies! There are inexpensive online data storage solutions, too, though they are most practical for people with fast Internet connections.

Don’t make the mistake of backing up your programs or other things for which you have installation media available, unless you have plenty of spare storage space. If you are tight on space, only back up the most critical data. Archive older, non-changing data to permanent media, and keep the more volatile data in a more flexible format.

Keeping Up-To-Date

Keeping your computer’s operating system updated and patched is a very critical thing to do. Currently there are worms spreading that don’t even need you to open an attachment to become affected; you just need to have un-patched software on your system.If you run Windows, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and let it scan your system for any necessary updates. Note that any updates with an asterisk (*) after the name must be installed separately from any other update. This usually requires a restart of the computer, too. It is usually best to install anything that is called a Service Pack or Security Roll-Up package before you install hot-fixes. The reason is that often times the hot-fixes are included in the service packs or roll-ups, and you save time by doing the bigger one first.

If you use Microsoft Office, you also need to go to http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate to keep those applications current. This is especially important for the e-mail program Outlook, but Word and Excel have had their share of security issues, too. Be aware that you will need access to the original installation media (discs, network shares, etc.) in order to update your software.

Most Linux distributions offer simple and effective ways to stay up to date with updates. In fact, most software publishers do, and all current software usually has maintenance releases every 3-12 months, usually at little or no charge to registered owners.

Be very aware that sometimes security patches and updates go horribly, terribly wrong, and you might have to reload the operating system again before you can use your computer after applying a patch! Therefore, be sure to do a backup before updating.

Hard Drives

It is a good idea to scan your hard drives for errors every two to four weeks. If your computer locks up frequently and you have to shut it off without being able to shut down properly, you need to do this much more often (once every two or three restarts at least). Under Windows, you go to My Computer, right click on the hard drive’s icon, select properties, click the Tools tab, and tell it to scan the disk and fix all errors. You may have to restart the computer before this will work.

On that same screen you will find the defragmentation option. You should defragment your hard drive every two to three months. If you work with a lot of files, frequently create files or download them, frequently erase file, or otherwise change the contents of your hard drive considerably on a regular basis, you will probably benefit from defragging more often. It it has been a long time (or never) since you last defragged your hard drive, you may need to do it 3 or 4 times at first to get the full benefits. Each successive pass will go faster, with the first past possibly taking hours to complete and the final pass only a few minutes. It is a good idea to not have any other programs running while you defrag, and you might want to leave the defrag running when you leave work or over the weekend.

There is also a Disk Cleanup utility (it’s either on that same screen or in your Start Menu under Accessories then System Tools. It’s a good idea to run this about once a week, and let it perform all the tasks—except for compressing your hard drive which may slow your computer down considerably.

Browsers

Web browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Netscape, Safari, etc.) all tend to be pack rats, holding onto cached copies of Web pages, advertisements, and tracking cookies. It’s a good idea to empty your cache regularly. You might also want to clear out your History feature since it takes up hard drive space and tells others where you have been browsing.

Make sure that you stay current with updates to your browser. Since these are the “front ends to the Internet” you want to make sure they are fully protected against whatever you encounter.

Cleanliness

It’s so easy to fall into the habit of eating snacks or meals in front of the computer—a great way to squeeze in some extra productive time, right? But what’s the cost? Crumbs build up over time and cause keyboards to stop being responsive; mice, too. A spilled soda or a coffee with sugar can destroy a $1,200 notebook computer in nothing flat.

Even if you don’t eat around your computer, all sorts of environmental factors can erode the useful life of your computer: animal hair; carpet fuzz; dry, flaky skin; staples, paper clips, and other office gadgets; dirt on CDs, floppy disks, or smart cards; touching monitors, especially LCD flat panels; tobacco smoke; extremes in heat or cold, direct sunlight, condensation from air conditioners, etc.; animal pests making a home inside the system; and cleaning chemicals.

It is highly recommended that you have your equipment cleaned and serviced six months after purchase. If the system is relatively clean at that point, get another cleaning every 12 months. If it’s dirty, keep cleaning it every six months. If it’s really filthy inside, re-evaluate it’s location and/or have it serviced even more frequently. This will help extend the life of your computers and components considerably!

Other Things

Appendix D has useful resources for learning about other ways to protect your system and help it stay healthy. It’s good for your computer, and that’s good for you!

<< Previous / Intro / Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 / Appendix A, B, C, D, E / Tools / Next >>