The Computer is a Tool. A very useful tool. Like many other useful tools in our lives, how we take care of it makes a difference. An axe left out on the ground in the yard will not be in as good a shape as the axe that was cleaned and hung up on a bracket in the garage. You may not leave your computer out in the yard-at least we hope you don’t! But there are little things that you can do to help brighten your computers day and by extension, yours.
Remove Dust
Your computer works tirelessly, day in and day out, it gets hot and tired. One of the things that make it the most hot and the most tired is-DUST.
Dust in the environment can get into your computer and make it very, very unhappy. Some people go so far as to run a HEPA filter next to their machine. We don’t all have the money to give our computer its own HEPA filter, but if you have your pc under your desk in a dusty area, regularly taking a flashlight and vacuum to the area will have your computer breathing a sigh of relief.
You can also, with care, knock out dust inside the computer with commercially available cans of air, like CleanDR or Dust-Off, that safely blast away dust on the interior of your machine.
Update your Software on a schedule
You know you should do it but it’s so easy to put off. Make a schedule and keep to it.
Updating your software not only makes your computer more cyber secure by keeping up to date with the software manufacturers security measures-it helps your applications from developing annoying bugs that confuse and baffle you until you realize-you haven’t updated that application for over a year.
Disable automatic Startup Programs
There are many programs that startup automatically when you start your computer and run in the background. Automatic startup is helpful with programs that you use every day but not so helpful with ones you don’t. Starting up programs you won’t be using slows the whole startup process down.
Choose the applications that you don’t use regularly and disable the automatic startup. Don’t know how to do this? There isn’t enough space here to go through all the different operating systems, but if you get on the internet and search “How to disable automatic startups in (enter your operating system here)” you should be able to find step-by-step instructions. To get you started, here is a link to information on disabling unnecessary startups in Windows 10
Uninstall Unused Programs
Look through your programs and find out what you didn’t know… how many programs that you never use and never will use are on your computer. Look through your program files and delete any you know you won’t use.
Get More RAM
More RAM makes everything just so much better. If you’re running a lot of applications for work or running large files, you could experience slow-downs or freezes, with insufficient RAM. More RAM will make you and your computer happy.
Install a Bigger Hard Drive
If you have a hard drive that is running at 85% capacity or above, you need to seriously consider getting a new hard drive. I’m assuming that everything on your hard drive is necessary, or at least mostly so. Your hard drive may not be full but that doesn’t mean it is working at maximum efficiency. Hard drives, like people, work best with a little elbow room. Getting a larger hard drive could make you both a little happier.
So, take care of your electronic friend and put a little time into making it happy. It can make your life happier too.
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