The Anonymous Widower

How to Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly

This post really has been brought about because many of my friends seem to struggle keeping their computers working smoothly.  And it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are Macs or Windows PCs.

Children and Young Adults

A lot of the problems I have found seem to stem from allowing teenage and sometimes older children to use the machine, as they gum it up with massive video and music files and inappropriate software.  This would not normally be a problem, but many older people are careful with their computers and often run one that is a bit older and therefor short of both disc space and memory. 

So the answer should be no, when your child asks if they can update their iPod.

Not Enough Memory

I also find that a lot of PCs don’t have enough memory, so make sure that you have at least two gigabytes. To find out how much you have go to the Control Panel and display the System.  This should tell you.  It is usually a simple matter to purchase more memory from someone like Crucial over the Internet.  Installation is not difficult on many machines, but if you can’t do it yourself, there are plenty of your friends who can do it.

Slow Starting Up

Slow start-up of a computer is often caused by loading too many programs at the beginning.  Many software companies think that their products are so important that they preload every time you start the machine.  But do you really want them loaded every time. This page says how you remove them for Windows XP.  For Vista it is quite similar except that you’ll need to find the Run command, which is in Accessories.

Updating Windows and Programs

I also always update my computer to the latest versions of Windows.  Some people set the settings to do this, but set it for the middle of the night and then it either doesn’t get done or makes your computer extremely slow in the morning.  If your computer always seems to have a hangover when you start it up, move the update download to a more convenient time.

Backing Up

And then there is the need to backup everything regularly.  I backup all my important documents and my e-mails to an external hard disc at least once a week.  Good external hard discs, usually cost about £50 and just plug in to your USB ports. 

You can also back-up to SD cards, like you get in digital cameras.  This is to be recommended for important documents and pictures, that say go with a particular project you have worked on.  Can you be sure that DVDs will still be readable in twenty years?  I suspect they will, but I reckon SD cards are a better bet.  You can get very affordable and good ones from Memory Bits.

Cleanliness

A last point and one that is often forgotten.  Keep your computer clean!

August 6, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | Computing | Hardware, Internet, Software