If your having trouble with your old PC or if you have just purchased a new PC, proper home computer maintenance is essential so that you can get the full life out of your it that you expect without the headaches and problems that a cluttered PC can bring.
There are many different aspects to proper home computer maintenance and here are just a few you need to stay on top of:
* Spyware / Adware
* Viruses / Trojans / Worms
* Open Ports for Hackers / Firewall
* Registry Entries
* Unneeded Installed Programs
* Temporary Files
* Cookies
* Startup Programs
* Fragmentation of the Hard Drive
* Fragmentation of the Registry
* Optimal Settings for Individual Needs
* Data Backup
* Hard Drive Errors / Early Failure Notice
* Windows Updates
* Driver Updates
* Physical Cleaning
This list describes the top concerns, but there are also other elements that a good quality all in one home computer maintenance and security software package will detect and repair for you. If you surf the internet you will find yourself, someday, with a computer that will show symptoms like:
* Being slow or unresponsive
* Freezes and lock ups
* May be redirected without your permission to a website you didn’t want to visit
* You may get warnings of virus, spyware, or trojan infections (which are probably caused by spyware if you don’t practice home computer maintenance)
* Pop-Ups
* Loss or corruption of data or files
* May be unable to even use your computer at all
If your PC starts freezing or locking up you may still be able to save your files, pictures, music, etc. With your home computer maintenance software you can scan, clean, and diagnose your computer and usually bring it back to the state it was in before it got clogged and infected.
If this standard home computer maintenance does not fix it’s problems you may need to use a recovery disk, which is provided by the better home computer maintenance and security software packages. The recovery disk will restore your computer to a point where it was working fine, and your files will be recovered.
If this still does not work you may need to completely re-install Windows and re-format your hard drive. This will cause you to lose all your files, pictures, music, games, etc. that you installed over time. This brings up the last (or maybe it should be the first) point to home computer maintenance: Data Backup. This is an often overlooked step, but really is one of the most important things to do before it is too late. There are several ways to back up your data:
* Using an external hard drive
* Using an online data backup service
* Burning your files onto CD or DVD
* Using flash drives
For complete and proper home computer maintenance you need to look at your computer as an investment that needs to be protected, and the best way to do that is install a good quality all in one home data recovery software package. This will help you keep your computer running like new and let you get the full life from it that you paid for.
