Maintaining a Computer



Maintaining your computer is rather easy to do, and it can extend the usable life of your computer by keeping your hard drive, CPU and Windows at its fastest.

Automatically maintaining your Windows 7 computer with TuneUp Utilities 2012 System Utility Software
TuneUp Utilities 2012 is a Windows System Utility software which can automatically maintain your Windows Operating system, so it runs better for many years because TuneUp Utilities will automatically defrag your hard drive, remove junk files and registry keys, and do many more other tasks to make sure Windows is running at it's best.


1. You should run Windows Disk Defrag when your computer hard drive is very fragmented. Windows Disk Defrag, and most disk defrag programs both free and pay usually have an Analyze button to analyze how fragmented your computer hard drive is. If it is very fragmented, your disk defrag program will tell you that you have to defrag your hard drive. To defrag your hard drive all you have to do is press the defrag button, and wait for disk defrags to be done. You should never defrag flash drives and non-mechanical drives like Solid State hard drive since they do not require defrags. Doing a defrag on flash and SSD drives will shorten their lives.

2. Run a Scan disk  once a month more or less depending on how often you use your computer. To run a scandisk you go to the "Computer" section/program on Windows and right click on the hard drive with your mouse, and pick properties then tools. There is an Error Checking section which has a button that saids check now. Lastly, click the start button. The scan disk will begin, and when it finishes it will gives you a report if it fixed any errors on a disk.

3. Before you do a scan disk or disk defrag, you should do a disk clean up by typing in disk cleanup in the Windows 7 start menu and picking the drive which you want to clean up. Doing a disk clean up will clean up all the un-necessary files you do not need anymore like temporary internet files, files in your recycle bin, and temporary files. After the disk clean up, your computer should have more free space, and might run faster. There are also a lot of Free and Paid disk Cleanup utilities like CCleaner, BleachBit, TFC, and ATF which can clean your computer hard drive of junk temporary system files.  However, the safest temporary system file cleaner is Windows Disk Clean up since it is made by Microsoft, so it is less likely to delete something important. However, 3rd-party disk clean up programs usually delete more useless junk files, and have a preview/analyze mode which tells you what files will be deleted before you delete them, so you can choose to run disk clean up or not. Doing a disk cleanup for your web browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc can also make them faster and more reliable when playing back video or flash games.

If you still need more space, you can clear logs in event viewer by typing Event Viewer in the Windows Vista or 7 start menu box. In Event Viewer you can right click on the event longs found on the left side of EV and pick Clear log.

4. Uninstalling programs which you do not need or want anymore can also maintain your performance in Windows since  some software made for Windows run in the background even when you are not using them making it slow. Most Software for Windows comes with an Uninstaller to uninstall them.

5. Keeping programs on your computer updated can also increase speed since newer versions of software come with bug fixes and better performance usually.

6. If your computer is running very slow, you might be infected with a virus. It is best to scan your computer on a weekly basis for virus and spyware programs with an anti-virus and anti-spyware program.

7. On a yearly, or 6 month basis, you should open up your computer case and use a can of compressed air to blow out dust which over time can damage your computer parts. Do not use a vacuum cleaner since the static electricity which the vacuum generates will break your computer. Your computer will also run at its fastest since dust won't be over heating your computer causing your computer to slow down or turn-off to prevent overheating. Only use computer vacuums and dusters which were made for cleaning computers and electronics since they don't generate static which can zap your parts making them broken.

If you place your computer on a desk instead of the floor, it won't suck up as much dust since there is less dust on your desk compared to the floor.

Note: Be sure not to touch any of the computer parts inside your computer with your hands since the static from your hand may damage your computer. Also, unplug your computer from the wall power outlet before cleaning it.

8. Make sure to use a power surge protected power bar to plug your computer into to protect your computer from power surges which can fry your computer parts making your PC broken. If you use a cable modem, or telephones. Make sure to get a surge protector which will also protect your coax cable modem, and telephone cables which is plug into your phone modem, or DSL modem.

9. If you use your USB ports/plugs a lot, I recommend you get a powered USB port with an AC adapter. By using a USB hub, you'll not wear out your USB ports on your computer which can be difficult to replace. I bon't recommend USB hubs without a power adapter because having too many USB devices which draws a lot of power can cause your un-powered USB hub to not work properly, and cause problems for your PC.

10. Some people claim that cleaning your Windows registry can increase performance while other people claim it is a bad idea to clean your Windows Registry. I personally clean my Windows Registry with TuneUp 2011, CCleaner, Glary Utilities, Slow-PcFighter, Auslogic Registry Cleaner, and Iobit Advance System Care , and Windows 7 have never broke for me when I cleaned my registry, but some people claimed registry cleaners broke Windows. However, most registry cleaners can backup your junk registry keys, so if it deletes something needed for Windows to run, you can run the backup and restore registry wizard to restore deleted registry keys.

USE REGISTRY CLEANERS WITH CAUTION SINCE BAD REGISTRY CLEANERS CAN BREAK YOUR PC!

I cover the most basic computer maintenance tasks. I recommend you buy a copy of TuneUP Utilities 2011 to make maintaining your Windows Operating System and hardware more easy.


TuneUP Utilities 2011 is a great System Utility which I use for doing scan disks, disk defrags, disk clean up, registry clean up, registry defrags and other maintenance tasks on Windows computers. TuneUP also has a program deactivater , so you do not have to uninstall programs for better perforormance. You can just deactivate them, and activate them again when you need to use them.

If you also want to maintain your own computer hardware instead of hiring a computer technician to maintain your computer which can be expensive, I recommend you buy a copy of CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702) .

Maintaining a computer can be very difficult since a computer has so many parts which need to be maintained for optimal performance. I highly recommend you buy a copy of  CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702) because it will teach you everything you need to know about computer maintenance, trouble shooting, repair, Windows operating systems, networking and more PC topics.