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Computer
Maintenance
Computeropathy
Specialists aim to provide valuable information to help protect
your computer system. Basic computer maintenance is the
key.
Warning!
Computeropathy
Specialists do not provide support for this page, all computer
environments are different, you may encounter factors that may
contribute to your success or failure when applying any of the
suggested procedures posted on this page, use the information
at your own risk. We welcome
your comments and suggestions.
Why
Maintenance?
Computeropathy
Specialists consider this topic the center point where the customer
and the technician share maintenance tasks. Most of these
maintenance tasks correct and prevent computer issues, making
of maintenance an un-avoidable path for technicians when troubleshooting
a problem, the down-side is that they are time consuming, increasing
the overall repair cost dramatically.
Some
businesses ignore computer maintenance all together, which could
be very expensive in the long run, depending on the role of the
affected machine, damaging factors include, slow productivity,
employee frustration, virus attacks, corrupted data, company
downtime and customer frustration as well, you get the point.
The
good news is that they are easy to perform, and that's why we
created this page, mainly for our customers, but open for
everyone, this page provides step by step instructions on common
maintenance tasks, feel free to place a service
call request, should you have trouble performing system
maintenance or if it is counter-productive or cost-effective for
your business to have a certified technician perform these
maintenance tasks, due to the amount of computers.
Call
us at (813)985-1408
or place a service call request, if
you would like to sign your computer network up, for our maintenance
plan.
Computeropathy
Specialists provides computer, printer and network services,
covering multiple technical aspects that affect small and medium
size businesses. Looking to find out more about our services?
Call us or email us at support@computeropathy.com,
we'll stop by and take the time, to match our services to your
business' needs. In Florida, Computeropathy Specialists
services the Tampa Bay area.
First...
The
results of computer maintenance vary from system to system, the
following factors may have a direct impact on your maintenance
efforts:
-
Internet
Access
-
Firewall
Protection
-
Operating
System
-
Virus
Protection
-
User
Habits
Internet
Access
Internet
access is required to perform Windows updates, download drivers
and other patches. We recommend Cable Modem or DSL. Consider
DSL service over dial-up access, remember... "Time is Money!"
Firewall
Protection
Firewall
protection is extremely recommended, an anti-virus program alone
will not protect you against worm-viruses or hacking attempts,
think of it as your home at night, with the door wide open, while
everyone's on vacation. Need a firewall? Let
us know!
Windows
XP has a built-in firewall, seems to do a good job, the problem is
that it is still part of the operating system, Computeropathy Specialists
recommends a firewall device if you have more than one computer
with different operating systems (Say Windows XP and Windows 98).
Operating
System
When
it comes to security, the older the operating system, the less
secure, simply because more defects are found and exploited over
time, also, there's a point when the software maker stops
providing updates and patches, forcing the user to upgrade or
simply deal with the problem once the system is compromised.
Computeropathy Specialists
recommends Windows 2000 Professional for businesses, and Windows XP
Professional for home users, Windows 2000 and XP work well in
either environment, but its not our first choice. Companies can
also benefit from Windows 2003 Server.
Having
the wrong operating system can destroy your maintenance efforts at
every turn, Computeropathy Specialists performs upgrades from scratch.
Click
here if you want Computeropathy Specialists to upgrade your PC.
What
about other Windows operating systems?
Windows
3.11 - Outdated - Unsecure - Not Supported*
Windows 95 - Outdated - Unsecure - Not Supported
Windows ME - Outdated - Unsecure - Not Supported
Windows NT4 - Outdated - Fairly Secure - Not
Supported
Windows NT4 Server - Outdated - Fairly Secure -
Not Supported
Windows
98 - Outdated - Unsecure - Supported**
Windows
2000 Pro - Active - Secure - Reliable
- Supported
Windows
2000 Server - Active - Secure - Reliable
- Supported
Windows XP Pro - Active - Secure - Reliable
- Supported
Windows XP Home - Fairly Secure - Unstable - Supported
Windows 2003 Server - Active - Secure - Reliable
- Supported
Windows Vista "All" Active -Secure - Reliable -Supported
*Not
supported by Computeropathy Specialists, **Supported by Computeropathy
Specialists
Virus
Protection
Virus
protection is very important if you browse the internet, download
programs or receive emails. You may also find an old
virus stored in a floppy disk, whichever way you encounter a
computer virus, you can only hope your system can recover from it.
Viruses
cause headaches, Computeropathy Specialists recommends you purchase
the very latest antivirus program of your choice. Computeropathy
Specialists is a Grisoft
AVG Software Partner, Let
us know, we'll get it for you!
User
Habits
Create
computer habits for yourself, maintenance is all about protecting
your investment and your data, performing maintenance at least
every month is crucial, the longer you wait, the bigger the
time-window for hackers and viruses to break in.
The
following is a small list of good habits for computer users to
protect the machine and the data.
-
Position
computer in a well ventilated and cool area
-
Obtain
a surge protector or UPS, electricity may fluctuate
-
Avoid
drinks and food around workstation area
-
Organize
and secure wires, provides safety and reliability
-
Avoid
magnets close to or on top of main computer unit
-
Avoid
fans or other electrical devices close to monitor
-
Obtain
a user password and change it as often as needed
-
If
confidential data, lock workstation when not present
-
Install
a software-firewall if always traveling with laptop
-
Be
alert, viruses may come in innocent email attachments
-
Be
alert, some websites may compromise your PC
-
For
credit card transactions, 128-Bit encryption is a must
-
Deal
with known and reliable company websites
-
When
submitting personal data, recognize secure sites
-
Increase
email security by encrypting and zipping files
-
If
connected to server backing up data, save files to server
-
Perform
a second backup of your data, on CD or DVD disk
Now
you have high speed internet access, a good firewall in place, a
reliable and robust operating system, a fairly new antivirus
program and a good set of computer habits. You're good to
go...
Now
what?
Now
that you have a good data-housing structure, you have to maintain
it. Rest assured that your maintenance efforts will have a
more significant impact on your system, which will translate into
security, reliability and performance.
The
following are the most common maintenance tasks recommended by
Microsoft and the computer industry in general.
We hope to provide clear step by step directions, corrections (if
errors are found) are more than welcome, as well as suggestions.
Covered
Maintenance Tasks
-
Verify
antivirus status - Every Week
-
Perform
Windows critical updates - Every week
-
Install
Service Pack as soon as available
-
Perform
Temporary File clean up - Every month
-
Perform
Scan-Disk - Every month
-
Perform
File Defragmentation - Every month
Verify
antivirus status - Norton Antivirus
1.
Click on Start - Programs - Norton Antivirus - Norton Antivirus
2. System Status should be OK, indicated by a check mark.
3. Items without the check mark require attention
Upgrade
your Antivirus every 12 months, virus definitions should download
automatically, otherwise run LiveUpdate manually. And
don't forget to Scan for viruses at least every month.
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Perform
Windows Critical Updates - General
1.
Click on Start - Windows Update
2. Browser should open up - Click on Scan for Updates
3. Click on Review and Install Updates
Some
items may need to be installed by themselves, if this is the case,
then remove them for now and re-run procedure after finishing
4.
Click on Install Now
The
process may take from less than a minute, up to one hour,
this depends on your internet connection and the amount of updates
your system requires.
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Install
a Service Pack - General
A
Service Pack is a group of updates, tested for a specific operating
system. Be extra careful when installing service packs.
Your system will need to be rebooted.
Microsoft
releases service packs as they come available, Computeropathy
Specialists checks frequently for newly released service packs
and installs them for customers that may benefit from them.
The
following link shows new and earlier service pack releases
Microsoft
Service Packs
Select
the correct Application program and version, follow download
instructions as well as installation instructions provided on
Microsoft's website.
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Perform
Temporary File Clean-Up - Windows 2000
Make
sure all programs are closed.
1.
Double click on My Computer - Located on your desktop
2. Right-click on C: drive
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on Disk Cleanup
5.
Place a check mark on Temporary Internet Files
6. Place a check mark on Temporary Files
7. Place a check mark on Recycle Bin (If you wish)
8. Clear all other check marks
9. Click on OK - System will now get rid of Temp Files
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Perform
Scandisk - Windows 2000
Make
sure all programs are closed.
1.
Double click on My Computer - Located on your desktop
2. Right-click on C: drive
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on Check Now
6. Leave the two check marks un-checked
7.
Click on Start
8. There are 3 Phases, should not take too long
Both
options to automatically fix error and to check for bad sectors
require exclusive access to the hard disk, this will be performed
the next time you reboot your computer. It is
optional. We suggest enabling those two options if you
suspect data corruption.
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Perform
File Defragmentation
Defrag
really moves things around, it re-organizes your data for faster
access, prevents data corruption and may extend the life of your
hard disk.
Make
sure all programs are closed.
1.
Double click on My Computer - Located on your desktop
2. Right-click on C: drive
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on Defragment Now
6.
Select the appropriate drive - Usually C:
7. Click on Analyze to obtain more information
8. Click on Defragment to start the process
Depending
on the size of the hard disk and current capacity, the process may
take from 5 to 30 min.
Perform
the same procedure on any other hard disk installed on your
system, it is not required to analyze the disk, you may click on
Defragment directly.
Need
Help? Click here to have a
technician stop by . . .
Thank
you for visiting Computeropathy Specialists, we hope the information
provided here has been useful to you, once again, let us know
if you need products or technical assistance, we're here to
help!
Computeropathy
Specialists LLC.
http://www.computeropathy.com
support@computeropathy.com
Phone (813)985-1408
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