PC Maintenance

Owning a PC means that you will be spending a lot of time doing maintenance.

Unfortunately, not everyone who uses a computer is technical; so, you either have to figure some of it out or rely on a friend or professional.
Complicating the whole issue of maintenance is the fact that you have to clean up messes that Windows creates, in addition to protecting yourself from
viruses and spyware. Either way, you should familiarize yourself with a few terms & procedures.

Windows Update - it is very important to keep your Windows Operating System up to date as they are always creating new patches / fixes. You must be
running Internet Explorer while updating Windows or having any interaction with Microsoft. Microsoft does not get along with other browsers. Oh yeah,
ActiveX is safe & necessary to install for the updates.

Spyware - there are many programs out there that prevent / remove spyware; some are free and others have to be purchased. I use the free version of
Adaware from Lavasoft. Regardless of the software that you use, you must remember to update and run this software at least every week. After you run
Adaware and remove the offending programs, turn off your computer; because these programs will hide in RAM and re-install themselves. I would
recommend using Firefox as your browser, instead of Internet Explorer, as you will pick up much less spyware that way.

Viruses - Again, there are many programs on the market for protecting your machine against viruses. I have used McAfee & Norton; but, that is just
personal preference. Be aware that these protective programs will significantly slow down your computer.

Windows generated problems - after you have run your spyware software, now it is time to run some programs that are native to the Windows operating
system! Disk cleanup and disk
defragmenter are found in the system tools folder.

Even though I clean up my system frequently (more than weekly), my system always gets slower over time & I must re-install the the operating system
entirely. To do this takes skill; you may want to employ a professional or repair shop.

One thing to note is that the hard drive in all computers (including laptops) is a mechanical
system with a read/write head that is extremely close to the disk. If the system is jarred, the head can hit & damage the disk. Modern computers react
very quickly to movement to lock down the head to reduce damage. However, you really should keep that in mind when moving your laptop around.