Computer Maintenance Schedule

<font face="Arial">Computer Maintenance Schedule

<font face="Arial" size="2">For all recreational computer users: As a computer professional and an avid user I have developed a maintenance schedule for the average computer user. If you follow this guide it should keep your computer running fast and smoothly.

<font face="Arial">Weekly:

<font face="Arial" size="2">Remove all temporary files found in the folder(s) C:\temp and C:\windows\temp. These directories are used by programs and your operating system as a temporary place to store information or files that are currently in use. All of these files are safe to delete (unless you save personal data to these directories).

<font face="Arial" size="2">Note: You may receive an error in the process of  deleting these files. This means that one of the files you are trying to delete is currently in use. Just skip that file(s) and delete the others.

<font face="Arial" size="2">Internet Explorer has a nasty habit of filling people's hard drives. Everything you view is stored locally in the Internet Explorer Temp directory. To curb this habit Microsoft has gives us a very useful tool. First of all you need to Open Internet Explorer. From there click on the Tools Menu at the top of the screen. Next, select Internet Options. This will open a dialogue window with many options, you then click on Delete Files under
Temporary Internet Files. Click the checkbox on that allows you to delete
All Offline Content.

<font face="Arial">Monthly:

<font face="Arial" size="2">Do you have over 30 programs listed in your start menu? I recommend removing programs that you do not use. This will free hard drive space and clean up your Registry - a text database where windows and all applications keep settings and personal information. It is not recommended that you directly edit the registry unless you are an advanced user.

<font face="Arial" size="2">You can remove programs by navigating to Start> Settings> Control Panel> Add/Remove Programs

<font face="Arial" size="2">New versions of windows include a Disk Cleanup feature found at Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Cleanup. This will delete the majority of trash files on your system. You should select all under the files to delete option once you open the utility. You should also run the utility for all hard drives.

<font face="Arial" size="2">Windows Update - This keeps your operating system updated with the latest features and security patches. If you have a Dial-Up connection (modem) and are updating for the first time you will probably need to run the tool overnight. Help keep your computer hacker-proof and use this tool. It is found in Internet Explorer under Tools> Windows Update.

<font face="Arial" size="2">Disk Defragmenter!!!!! - Uses this often and always. By default your hard drive writes data to any available location on the physical disk. If you create a document and save it is will be in a specific location. If you edit the file several times over the next few days your computer will save the updated sections in different places on your hard drive. The next time you open the file your computer has to search in several locations for that one file. This will slow down your computer. Defragmenting your hard drives allows your system to reorganize the data on your disk so you file is kept in one location. Please use this tool. It is found at Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter.

<font face="Arial" size="2">That's it. Follow these useful tips and you should add 1-2 years to your computers life. Remember you are responsible for your own computer.

<font face="Arial" size="2">For those of you who want to take it to the next level of efficiency I recommend use one of the following three tools:

<font face="Arial" size="2">Windows Washer -$30 - A simple program that can virtually automate your weekly cleanup schedule. I use this program religiously.

<font face="Arial" size="2">Evidence Eliminator - $150 - For all you paranoid people. Not even the FBI can recover data and settings that you remove with this program!

<font face="Arial" size="2">Fix-It Utilities - $50 - A tool used to customize windows, clean your registry, and clean your hard drive. A great tool!

<font face="Arial" size="2">If you do not feel comfortable with any of the previous instructions do not use them. We are not responsible of liable for your actions on your system.