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Maintenance Routine
How often you might maintain your computer will depend a lot on how and how often you use it. It can be wise to have a schedule of maintenance to avoid possible problems banking up. Your system will be safer and work faster with a little care.
A routine might look a little like this:
Daily
- allow your operating system to update itself - don't put it off. In Windows a little shield looking thingy with an exclamation appears in your system tray - bottom right hand corner. DON'T IGNORE IT!
- allow all your anti-virus & anti-malware to update themselves and depending on how many risky sites you visit, allow it to scan your hard disk. NEVER allow your subscriptions to lapse or not worry about it.
- same goes for software if it wants to update. Do it. Especially MS-Office.
Monthly
- defrag your hard disk. For Mac users you don't have to worry. For Windows users read this
- manually check for updates just in case the automation has ceased to work
Every 1/2 year
- do a scandisk (Win) / check permissions (Mac)
- check your backups - try restoring some files
- run a reputable registry cleaner (Win)
- evaluate computer. Is it time for a new one yet? Or does it just need a little more RAM and a bigger drive? Read this for further ideas on it.
All the time
Keep an eye and an ear out! Subscribe to security RSS feeds. Watch the news. Keep an eye on the paper. Listen to your friends. Make friends with computer "nerds" - ah - I mean experts.