Computer maintenance is kind of like taking care of your body. In the short term, one can neglect practicing good health such as eating right, frequent exercise, routine teeth cleaning, etc., but in the long run everything will catch up with you. Are you proactive or reactive when it comes to your computer maintenance? If you are reactive, then you only take action after you have lost valuable data, your PC has been hacked, the PC overheats because of blocked air flow channels, etc. If you are proactive, you conduct regular computer maintenance to prevent the failures from happening.

The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is very true. Here are some recommendations to steer you in the right direction for good computer health:

    1. If you are still running Windows 10, you should migrate to Windows 11. The latest version of Windows 11 runs very smoothly and is much more stable than the early versions. You can easily lock down the Windows 11 config so that it is not sending private info to someone on the Internet. A clean install is recommended for the installation of Windows 11 as opposed to an upgrade.
    2. Windows 11 will run slowly with only 4 GB of memory. Upgrade your PC to at least 8 GB of memory to get optimum performance.
    3. Windows 11 comes with a built-in anti-virus app – Defender. It is actually quite good and you may not need to install an after-market anti-virus app.
    4. Solid state drives (SSD) are very inexpensive. A high performance 256 GB model is less than $100. If you need more storage space, then install a 256 GB SSD for your operating system and applications. Install a 1 TB SATA drive for storage of your data.
    5. Make an initial image backup of your hard drive after a new install of Windows and then make a new image backup about every 3 months. The image backup option is standard with Windows 10 and Windows 11.
    6. Perform daily backups of your data. A full data backup should be performed at least once a week.
    7. Insure that the Restore Point option is enabled for your C: drive. This will allow you to quickly recover from an abnormal operating condition.
    8. Do not keep a lot of browser windows open at the same time. After several hours, some of the browsing sessions will start consuming a high % of your CPU resources.
    9. If your PC contains sensitive private data, then you might want to enable the Bitlocker option. This option will protect your hard disk drive from data sharing if it comes into the hands of unauthorized parties.
    10. Blow out the inside of your PC every 3 months. The accumulation of dust/link can block cooling air flow passages, resulting in your CPU overheating.
    11. For a wireless network, use at least WPA2 encryption and hide the broadcast of the SSID.
    12. Do not allow any external users to have remote access to your PC unless you totally trust the person. Never use RDP for remote access to computers in the Internet. The Splashtop app is an excellent tool for remote access.
    13. Telephone trouble calls from “Microsoft” are bogus. The caller is trying to hack into your PC.
    14. Run your PC from a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). The quality unit is about $100. This will protect you from data corruption as a result of short 1 to 15 second power outages that seem to happen on a frequent basis.

Please give Telechron Consulting a call (or send an email) if you have questions about computer maintenance or any other computer issues.