Basic Computer Maintenance

One common concern for most computer users is that over time the performance of they're system gets slower and slower. This process of diminishing speed is quite normal due to the nature of Operating Software and can be addressed quite easily. The two key sources of this diminished processing performance is clutter and files in sections being stored all over the place on the hard drive. Other but less normal aspects affecting performance would be a virus or viruses and spyware crippling the productivity of the system and then it should not be overlooked the natural aging process of hardware and hardware components but of the three possibly performance bottlenecks; clutter, virus / spyware and hardware deterioration the former is the most basic and less time consuming difficulty to address.

Disk cleanup and file compression should be an ongoing part of computer preventive maintenance and this is true for all Operating Systems save for perhaps Sun Microsystems Solaris and the various forms of Linux which claims that these Operating Systems do not accumulate clutter from usage, be that as it may keeping the computers hard drive clean and orderly is expedient for maintaining a high performance level. To this end a good procedure is to take the time on a monthly basis to clean the hard drive of old unneeded files and defrag the disk. These two basic procedures can also be scheduled to automatically take place under the controls of the task manager but just to ensure that they actually get done it is probably more prudent for the user to perform these tasks manually.

There is more than one way to perform these two basic maintenance tasks on a PC that is running under the Microsoft Windows Operating System environment. One way is to click Start, then select Programs, and then select Accessories, and then select System Tools and then click Disk cleanup from the dropdown menu. After the Disk Cleanup application initializes a checkbox will appear that contains a list of maintenance options, check all of the listed options that you want to perform and then click OK. Be advised that on Microsoft Windows Operating Systems prior to Windows XP this disk cleanup process is very slow so be patient. Once Disk Cleanup has been performed the next step is to defrag the files that are stored on the hard drive. Again we go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then click Disk Defragmenter.

Again on Microsoft Windows Operating Systems prior to NT5, better known as Windows 2000 this process of Disk Defragmenter is very slow and this also includes Windows ME that received its build based on Microsoft Windows 98 and not NT5. One of the things that Disk Defragmenter does is to compress files into a contiguous string and then places them in sequence which alleviates the need for added processing cycles to locate all of the different sections of the same file that as been stored throughout the disk, reassemble it and then process it. Hard Drive space is neither increased or reduced by the Disk Defragmenter because data is not being added nor subtracted by this process but a single file does become a whole as it is reassembled from its different parts that may have been written on multiple sectors of the disk. Disk Cleanup increases disk space.

Microsoft Windows Operating Systems were used as an example but this preventative maintenance routine is prudent to perform on Mac's or any other Operating System that is being used. Depending on how cluttered the Hard Drive has been the user may not notice a difference in processing speed but that does not mean that the systems performance level has not been accelerated because there are processes running in the background that functions without the need of user interaction such as all of the routines that are needed to keep the Operating System operating. Allocating once a month to perform Disk Cleanup and Defragmenter is a routine that will not only maintain high performance levels but will also reduce the ware and tare on the Hard Drive by reducing the number of seeks that it must perform during the read cycles.

There are some very basics upkeep and maintenance procedures that anyone can easily perform but most people opt to take the unit to a repair shop mainly because they have no idea of what to do when the system is not functioning properly. One thing that a user must keep in mind is that a computer is only a machine and like all other machines they come with user guides and manuals and like any machine that is being used in the home when something does not seen to be functioning properly the first thing that a user should do is pull out the guides and manuals just as they would on any other type home appliance and device.