pc maintenance
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PC Maintenance. How to keep your computer healthy. Areas We’ll Cover. Software Hard Drive Networking Hardware. Software. Update your Internet Browsers e.g. Mozilla Firefox, MS Internet Explorer It’s important to keep up with browser upgrades - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
PC Maintenance
How to keep your computer healthy
Areas We’ll Cover
Software Hard Drive Networking Hardware
Software
Update your Internet Browsers
e.g. Mozilla Firefox, MS Internet Explorer It’s important to keep up with browser upgrades The latest versions usually contain important security
fixes Firefox: Help Check for Updates… IE: Tools Windows Update
Software
How to safely uninstall software
Start menu Settings Control Panel Add or Remove Programs
Software - Unresponsive
Dealing with Unresponsive Software
Sometimes, software will freeze on you and you’ll get a “Not Responding” message
To shut it down:– CTRL + ALT + Delete– Task List– Choose application and End Task
Hard Drive
Maintenance - Defragmentation
A few times a year, you should defrag your computer Defragmentation reorganizes your computer’s
contents, placing files closer together and creating large areas of free space. This will make your computer faster.
Start Programs Accessories System Tools Disk Defragmenter
Hard Drive
Maintenance – Disk Cleanup
Every few months, you should perform a Disk Cleanup to remove or compress non-critical files and clear space
Start Programs Accessories System Tools Disk Cleanup
Hard Drive
Maintenance – Recycle Bin
At least once a week, you should empty your Recycle Bin. Too many files in the bin can slow your machine
Right-click on the Recycle Bin Empty Recycle Bin
Hard Drive
Backup Your Data
Just wait until you lose a 10-page term paper – you’ll wish you had!
Methods of backing up:– Writable CD-R (650 MB) or CD-RW (700 MB)– USB Flash Drive: 8 MB – 64 GB– External Hard Drive (can be huge)
Networking
Anti-virus Software
Be sure you have software like Symantec Norton AntiVirus and keep it updated (it can be set to automatically update itself)
Will prevent or eliminate viruses or worms from messing with your machine
You can download this for free– goWMU– Student Services tab– Virus Protection Downloads window
Networking
Anti-spyware
Spyware can take partial control of your machine and send information about your activity over the web or will launch pop-up adds
Download and run Ad-Aware SE (free).
Networking
Stop Hackers
If you have fulltime access to the Internet you may be vulnerable to being hacked by other users
If you’re concerned, download a free firewall program like ZoneAlarm (free).
Networking
Safe email
Phishing scams– http://www.antiphishing.org/
Other scams– http://antivirus.about.com/od/emailscams/– Search Google for others
Attachments and images embedded in emails
Hardware
Computers ain’t cheap – take care of them!
Monitor wipes Keyboard vacuum Remove dust from back Open and clean your mouse (ick)