Basic_Computer_Maintenance.doc

How to do Basic Computer MaintenanceWhat is Computer Maintenance?Definition: Computer MaintenanceComputer Maintenance is basically the same as any other type of maintenance; it is a set of services or procedures performed to keep something (in this case, a computer) in good working condition. A well-maintained computer will run faster, more efficiently and crash less than one that has not been maintained. Why Perform Computer Maintenance Procedures?Maintaining your computer is not only good for your computer, but for you as well. Practicing good maintenance procedures will save you money (less chance of items breaking down and having to replace them), time (improved performance means less waiting time and less breaking down means more usage) and protects your data (by backing up the data, for example).Computer Maintenance ProceduresQuite a few things can be done to maintain your computer and you do not need to be a computer technician in order to do so. Here is a list of some of the Computer Maintenance Procedures you can do yourself:1. Hard Drive Maintenance2. Privacy Software3. Updating Your SoftwareHard Drive MaintenanceOne of the most important components is your computers hard drive. On the hard drive all the operating systems files are stored along with programs and files of your data. Practicing good hard drive maintenance will ensure your hard drive is fast, efficient and will last for years.Hard Drive Maintenance ItemsThere are a few things that are part of hard drive maintenance that you can do. Things such as running scandisk, disk defragmenter and hard drive storage are essential steps in maintaining your hard drive and keeping it in peek conditionScanning the Hard Drive In order to scan the hard drive, you need to run Scan Disk. Scan Disk is a built in Windows System Utility program used to check for errors in the hard drive. To do this in any Windows 95 and newer operating system, refer to the next section “Running Scan Disk” What Does Scan Disk Do?Scan Disk is used to check for errors on a hard disk. If Scan Disk finds errors, it will try to correct these errors automatically. If there are problems with areas on the hard disk that Scan Disk cannot fix, Scan Disk will mark them as “bad”, and Windows will not write to these bad areas on the hard disk.Errors on the hard disk can occur from improper Windows shutdown, programs ending incorrectly (either through crashing or the power being turned off when the program was trying to save) or just basic “wear and tear” of the hard drive.Running Scan Disk1. Double click on my computer on your desktopn My Computer2. Right click on the hard drive, and select “Properties”n Accessing hard drive properties 3. In Windows XP, under “Tools”, select “Check Now” under “Error-checking”n Starting Scan Disk Windows XP4. In Windows XP, check off “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”. Click “Start” n Checking the hard disk Windows XP5. Windows XP will state that it will need to restart Windows and will run the check next time it starts up. Click “Yes” and restart Windowsn Scheduling Scan Disk Windows XP6. In Windows 95/98/ME, under “Tools”, select “Check Now” under “Error-checking status”n Starting Scan Disk Windows 95/98/ME7. In Windows 95/98/ME, select the drive you wish to check, under “Type of test”, keep “Standard” selected unless you feel that you may have problems with the hard drives surface; if so, select “Thorough”. Check off “Automatically fix errors” and then click “Start”n Scan Disk Windows 95/98/ME8. Scan Disk will take from 10 minutes to a few hours, depending on the type of test, amount of errors was in the hard drive and/or the size of the hard drive9. Once Scan Disk is finished in Windows 95/98/ME, there will be a brief summary of the results. Click “Close” to end Scan Diskn Scan Disk results Windows 95/98/MEDefragmenting the Hard DriveIn order to defragment the hard drive, you need to run a Disk Defragmenter program. Disk Defragmenter is a built in Windows System Utility program used to defragment the hard drive. To do this in any Windows 95 and newer operating system, follow the steps outlined in “Running Disk Defragmenter” Defragmenting the Hard Drive, a WarningIt is highly recommended that the power to the computer should not be turned off when running Disk Defragmenter. Since Disk Defragmenter is copying and moving around files, shutting off power to the computer can cause damage to your hard drive and possible data loss! What is Fragmentation?Fragmentation refers to the condition of a disk in which files are divided into pieces scattered around the disk. Windows will try to write the file contiguously, (basically meaning, all information in a row, in the same area or in clusters on the hard disk), but sometimes the file is too large in order to do so. So, Windows will store parts of a file in non-contiguous clusters. This is entirely invisible to users, but it can slow down the speed at which data is accessed because the disk drive must search through different parts of the disk to put together a single file.It is recommended that you close all programs or applications, turn off your screen saver and let Windows run Disk Defragmenter. Any other hard disk access will cause Disk Defragmenter to re-read the drive information, therefore causing Disk Defragmenter to restart.Running Disk Defragmenter1. Double click on my computer on your desktopn My Computer2. Right click on the hard drive, and select “Properties”n Accessing hard drive properties 3. Now, select “Tools” and select “Defragment Now”n Accessing Defragmentation Windows XPa. In Windows 95/98/ME, under “Defragmentation status”, it will tell you when the last time you have defragmented the drive. Click “Defragment Now” to start Disk Defragmenter.n Accessing Defragmentation Windows 95/98/ME4. Now in Windows XP, click on “Defragment”n Starting Disk Defragmenter Windows XP5. Windows 95/98/ME, Disk Defragmenter should already be runningn Disk Defragmenter running Windows 95/98/ME6. Disk Defragmenter is now running. Depending on the size of your hard drive and/or how fragmented the drive was, it may take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours to be completed.n Disk Defragmenter running Windows XPPrivacy SoftwareWhat is Privacy Software?Definition: Privacy SoftwarePrivacy Software is software that ensures your privacy is maintained when you are on the Internet. Many different programs that you use on your computer, from a web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer) to Instant Messaging (MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger) keeps track of who you are, sites that you have visited and other such information through cookies, browser history, username and password storage and temporary files. Privacy Software ensured the deletion of these files and prevention of this information being transferred to other sources. Why Use Privacy Software?Using Privacy Software ensures the privacy of you and your information on your computer, but also cleans up space, prevents the unauthorized installation of software (spy-ware, adware and dialers) and frees up your Internet bandwidth.Types of Privacy SoftwareThere are many different kinds of privacy software out there, all claiming to protect you from hackers, stop pop-ups and prevent spyware. Most of these programs add to the problem instead of fixing it (since they contain spyware and adware). There is a program that I feel is one of the best programs out there for privacy software, plus this program is free to download for personal use. Spybot Search & Destroy Spybot Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didnt intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you dont see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Spybot Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer with other users. Spybots best feature is “Immunize”, where as Spybot will create mock spyware and adware entries on you system to “fool” the spyware and adware into thinking that it has already been installed, so it does not install itself on the computer.Running Spybot Search & Destroy1. First, go to /en/download/index.html2. Under the “Download” heading, click on the Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 link3. Click on a mirror site to download Spybot Search & Destroy.4. Once downloaded, double click the file to start the installation process. Agree to the License Agreement to start installing. Keep the default install options to install Spybot Search & Destroy.5. Check off the “Dont show this message again.” under Legal Stuff (besides, programs that need advertisement robots to run are spy-ware/adware), and click “OK”n Legal Stuff6. Spybot will ask you if you wish to create a registry back up. This is a good idea to do just in case something goes wrong with the registry. When done, click “Next”n Spybot-S&D Wizard Registry Backup7. Since we will be updating Spybot anyways, we can skip the “Search for updates”. Click “Next”n Spybot-S&D Wizard Updates8. After we download the latest database for spyware and adware, we will immunize the computer, so skip the immunize and click “Next”n Spybot-S&D Wizard Immunize9. Now, click on “Start using the program” n Spybot-S&D Wizard Starting the program10. Now, we must download and install the latest updates. Click on “Search for Updates”n Search for Updates11. Spybot will now search the update server for the latest updates for Spybotn Update progress12. Check off the items you wish to update, and click on “Download Updates”n Downloading and installing updates13. During the install process, a DOS window may open and Spybot will restart. 14. Now, click on “Check for problems” in order to see if there is spyware and adware on your computer.n Checking for problems (spyware, adware, etc.)15. Now Spybot is checking your computer for spyware and adware.n Running spyware and adware check16. Whatever spyware and adware Spybot finds, it will list them. You can read up on the selected problems to see what they do if you wish. Once done, click on “Fix selected problems”n Removing spyware and adware17. To use the Immunize feature of Spybot, click on the “Immunize” button on the side menu. A pop-up window will appear stating how many threats your system is vulnerable. Click “OK”. Now, click on the green cross Immunize button to immunize your computer.n Immunizing your computerUpdating WindowsKeeping your software (Windows, anti-virus, etc.) up to date will ensure that the latest fixes and updates are installed and available on your computer and your computer will run smoothly. Updating your anti-virus software should be easy as clicking on a “Live-Update” button or visiting the companys web page of your anti-virus software. Steps to updating the software should be contained in the website or in the documentation included with the software.Why update Windows?Updating your Windows operating system is very important. Microsoft puts out security fixes at a rapid rate, since people will find problems with the operating system; but hats off to them for addressing and fixing the problems.Versions of Windows from 98 up contain a direct link to the Windows Up