Computer Maintenance…Don’t Let Adware or Spyware Harm Your PC

Computers can be wonderful tools to accomplish multiple tasks (all at once, if you are like me!) in quick and efficient manner…At least, that’s the ideal. If you own a PC of any sort, you’ve probably experienced the computer-maintenance-meltdown. You proudly bring your brand new computer- which looked incredible at the store- home, set it all up and watch in awe as everything works as it should. The first night you have it you are up until midnight discovering all the things you’d been missing with your old version (which was amazing when you first bought it, too). In fact, for the first couple of weeks, you couldn’t be happier with your purchase. You gladly click “download” more times than you can count, simply because you can.

Then, it happens.

Your once quiet modem starts clicking away, grinding out the simplest tasks. You click an item twenty times with no response, only to have forty objects pop up five minutes later. Your beauty has turned into the beast. The ol’ routine isn’t hard to remember: run your virus and spyware removal programs, spend hours cleaning or maybe even reformatting the whole thing and then patch the hole you made in the wall while banging your head against it.

Maybe, this time, there are a few things you could do differently. Your computer, like your vehicle, is an investment and should be regularly maintained in the same way. No, you don’t need to change its oil, but there are a few simple things you can do to avoid the meltdown.

First, clear your computer of any useless programs. Most systems come with a set of programs that you will never use in your life; sometimes, we are the ones who are download-happy. In either case, you can utilize your computer’s “Add/Remove Programs” function to clear away the pointless programs. You can also set your system to run in “Safe Mode,” which only runs the minimum amount automatically.

Second, clear your computer of harmful programs. Adware, Spyware and viruses attach to your computer without your permission or knowledge and are generally at the root of your troubles. Using a software to clear them away weekly will keep you from having to clear thousands (or so it seems) off at once. Running a scan daily, possibly at night while you sleep, won’t hurt prevention, either. Adding a firewall to your browser is also an added measure of protection.

Finally, once you clean anything, reorganizing follows hand-in-hand. Defragmenting your disk drive periodically will rearrange your files to be sure you are running at peak performance. Your computer will assess itself and tell you if a defragmentation is necessary, usually in the system tools area. This may take awhile to run, so you may want to do it overnight.

Computers may be incredible machines, but they aren’t yet self-maintaining. Until then, if you do your part to take care of your PC, it will return the favor.

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• Presented By: EETimes

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