General Computer Maintenance Part 1

Do you know how to care for your computer? For many people, a computer is just a tool that one uses until it breaks or stops working. However, like any tool, a computer needs to be cared for, otherwise its lifespan is greatly reduced and it will quickly become sluggish and prone to crashing. In this and the next article, we are going to take a look at several simple things that you can do to make sure that your computer works its best for as long as possible.

First, make sure to clear your temporary files daily. Temporary files are files that your computer creates daily to do certain tasks; however, if these files are not cleared daily, the files will pile up in your storage and cause your computer to slow down. These include thumbnails, app temporary files, delivery optimization files, temporary internet files, and graphics system clean up files, all of which need to be removed daily to make room for the next day's temp files. To clear these files on Windows, hit the windows key on your keyboard which will bring up your pinned apps and a search bar. In the search bar, write "temp" and in best match you should see "delete temporary files." Click on that and it will take you to the storage page, where you will need to click the "temporary files" box. Once you have done that you will see a list of items that can be checked and a remove files button at the top. Check all items and click the remove files button. You will then get a prompt asking to to confirm and then you are done and can close the window.

Second, make sure to keep your disk optimized. Disk optimization is much like a library full of books. An optimized library is one in which every book is upright on the shelf and in its correct place, while a non-optimized library is one in which some books are sideways on the shelf and in places they should not be. Usually, a library is optimized at the start of the day, but gets messy as it is used and has to be cleaned up at the end of the day. It is the same way with your computer's storage, through daily use your computer's storage gets messy, so it needs to be cleaned up. Otherwise, you will gradually loose computer storage space and your computer will slow down. Normally, windows optimizes weekly on your computer by default; however, if you just ran a large program, downloaded a large program, or your computer is being slow, you should manually optimize your disk. There are two ways this can be done. First, some antivirus software programs, such as Norton and McAfee, have a button to allow the program to optimize your computer. These typically work very well and you can often set the program to do it automatically when your disk reaches a certain "fragmentation" percentage (usually 5-10%). Second, you can optimize manually by following these steps: hit the windows key on your keyboard and go to the search bar. In the search bar, type "defragment and optimize drives" and click on the box that says the same. After you click it, you will be taken to the "optimize drives" window where you will select the drive you want to clean and click "optimize." Once you have done that, you are done.

Finally, make sure your computer has the latest updates. Computers cannot run for to long on their own, but instead need to be maintained every few weeks. This is why windows releases at least two updates every month, and every major computer brand (Dell, Apple, HP, etc.) does monthly updates. To check if your computer is fully up to date, first hit the windows key and type "search for updates" in the search bar. Then, click on the box with that says the same and you will be taken to the update page in settings where you will see a "check for updates" button. If updates come up, click "download and install," then after they are downloaded and installed you will need to click "update and shut down" on your power menu. After that, or if no updates come up, you are done.