Hardware Maintenance

Hardware Maintenance

Keep your computer and diskettes away from any magnetized objects. Phones, copiers, stereo equipment or devices with motors generate a magnetic field that may damage your data.

Keep your system away from heating and air conditioning vents, radiators, and open windows. This will prevent temperature fluctuations in your system hardware and reduce airborne particles like dust and smoke from entering your system.

Never unplug a component while your system is running. Exit all programs and shut down your computer when plugging or unplugging computer devices and peripherals. Ignoring this advice can easily result in a short, therefore damaging either your computer or the device you are adding or removing. The only exception to this general rule is a USB component (like a digital camera) that is designed to be plugged in and out while the machine is running.

Buy a Surge Protector. Surge Protectors are special power strips that absorb any power surges that may seriously damage memory chips and other components. You may want to shut your computer down during severe thunderstorms.

Use antivirus software to detect viruses that can cause substantial damage to files in your computer. Be careful what you receive in Email and download off the Internet. The Internet has increasingly become a popular means of transporting viruses to personal computers. Fordham’s Email system in (Lotus Notes) is the only Email package you should trust to eliminate Email viruses before they come to your computer.

Use anti-static mats under your computer. This will decrease the amount of static electricity in the vicinity of your computer. Static electricity is one of the primary causes of data loss.




Tips For Hardware Maintenance

There are really simple steps anyone can take to ensure that your computer will continue working at the level it did when you first pulled it out of the box.

One of the first files to become acquainted with on your computer is the System Tools, located under the Start Menu, then Programs, and Accessories. The System Tools houses basic maintenance tools like Disk Defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, Backup, Scheduled Tasks, and System Information and Scandisk on some Microsoft Windows computers. Strange that these files are located in Accessories because they really are the key to keeping your system running correctly and helping to improve performance as the computer ages.

On a regular basis you want to go to My Computer and then right click on the Local Disk (C Drive) and open up the Properties. This allows you to see how much space you are using and how much you have left to use on your computer. Under Tools in this area you can usually perform a scan of the disk. If you cannot run a disk scan from here, your Microsoft should have a disk scan available under the System Tools. It is important to run this disk scan to determine if there are any errors or problems running on your computer and the disk scan will repair those potential problems. Some experts recommend doing a thorough disk scans the first time and then a basic disk scan up to once a week to keep your computer performing at top conditions.

After this it is important to regularly perform a disk cleanup, which is located either under Properties under the C Drive, or under System Tools. Be aware that both the disk scan and the disk cleanup can take quite a bit of time and it is best to before these maintenance tools when you will not be using the computer. Set a routine with yourself like performing the disk clean up and disk scan on Saturday night while you are watching movies with your family. After a disk cleanup, it also helps to regularly perform a disk defragmentation. A computer hard drive will begin to fragment over time, which means that programs that once worked in conjunction have become separated over time and may not be in the proper place to work well on your computer. This can slow down processes or make using certain programs difficult. Using the disk defragmenter can pull together those pieces again and return things to working order.

Basic maintenance routines that will ensure your computer runs at peak performance start with simply getting rid of files you do not use. If you have old word documents, software programs you have not used in a long time, or pictures and music you are not using, delete them from your computer. Remember that once you delete them, they do not automatically disappear, but instead go to the recycle bin and it is just as important to empty the recycle bin as it is to delete old files.

Old internet files can also cause your computer to slow down. Often with a Disk Cleanup there will be an opportunity for you to get rid of temporary internet files, but you can also get rid of them on your own bygoing to your Temporary Internet files in Microsoft Explorer. Click on Tools then Internet Options, General Tab, Temporary Internet Files, and Delete Files. As well, take time to clean out any other temporary files you may have acquired, like downloads from the internet. Depending on the model of your computer, the temporary files could be in different locations, but most often when you go to Disk Cleanup and scan there will be an option to get rid of temporary files as well.

One of the other helpful and easy ways to maintain your computer's performance is to always run your protection programs, use a personal firewall when accessing the computer, and always install software updates available for Microsoft and protection programs. Keeping up on regular maintenance and setting a routine for updates on the computer will ensure that your computer performs the way it was intended to when you first brought it home.