Computer maintenance by following a few basic procedures you can greatly reduce the risk of data loss or hardware failure. The following information represents some of the procedures of a typical preventive maintenance program.

Computer Preventative Maintenance that You can do yourself

Data Backup

There are two reasons for data loss;

1. There was no backup
2. The media used failed to successfully capture the data.

To reduce the possibility of data loss it is recommended that you maintain backups on Tape, CD-RW, DVD-RW, Jazz or Zip disk. Floppy disks have a high rate of failure and should not be used to protect vital information.

Anti Virus Protection

It

's always a good idea to maintain a current version of an anti-virus software. Systems can be configured to automatically perform virus definition updates and perform full system virus scans weekly. Anti-virus software can be configured to scan in-coming and out-going emails, the most common method of virus transfer. Most anti-virus programs automatically update themselves when you connect to the Internet.

Firewall Protection

A good Firewall keeps personal data in and hackers out. A firewall makes your PC invisible on the Internet so that hackers can’t find it. A good firewall has intelligent intrusion prevention technology which blocks suspicious Internet traffic.

Internal/External Component Cleaning

Dust is one of the leading causes of hardware failure. All moving components should be thoroughly cleaned, the only moving components that you should clean are the fans that you can easily see, however, do not dismantle individual internal components to clean them, just put the end of the vacuum cleaner pipe up to the vents to suck out the dust.

The best tools to use are a 1" soft paint brush, a tooth brush and a good vacuum cleaner with a small pipe. The case should be opened and dust removed from the motherboard and all system boards. The CPU fan, power supply fan and any other board fans should be cleaned. Use the brushes first and then vacuum the loose dust away.

All data cables should be checked to be sure they are securely seated on system boards. External components such as keyboard, mouse, monitor and printers should be cleaned of dust and debris and all cable connections checked. Connections to surge protectors or UPS should also be checked.

One important thing to remember when cleaning inside your PC case. Do not touch any on the motherboard parts or any other components with your fingers unless you have a static discharge strap attached to your wrist. Static electricity from your body can KILL computer parts! Always touch the metal part of the case regularly to discharge any static build up in your body. make sure you have washed your hands to degrease your fingers before poking about in the case.

Software Updates/System Optimization

Operating system updates and patches should be downloaded and installed regularly to ensure that your system has the most current version of the OS software. Internet browser software updates or upgrades should be sought regularly.

Updated component drivers should be installed as they become available or are required by system changes. Hardware configurations should be checked to be sure that they are operating efficiently and without conflicting with other components.

Defrag and scan disk maintenance programs should be run to regularly to detect any problems that your hard drive may have. Specialty error diagnostic software may be run on other system components to verify that they are in good working order. Hard drive file organization is checked and any misplaced files are moved to their correct data folders. Any temporary or unneeded files are located and removed.