Maintenance Plan for a Small Network or Single User

Computer maintenance should not be an option it should be required. Regular maintenance can head off problems and issues that could render a system unusable for days. Although maintenance seems tedious and bothersome it is actually an important part of maintaining your computer systems. What follows is my idea of a valid maintenance plan for a small company sporting 80 to 100 computer systems.

The first and most important part of maintenance is documentation. Each computer system should have its own maintenance notebook. This notebook should contain the type of maintenance preformed, the date of the service, which employee did the maintenance and a comments section for problems or issues that need attention. The notebook should also cover local devices for that particular computer system. This could be a scanner, printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. It is important that the notebook cover the system as a whole and not skip devices. This can provide very useful information to your IT staff if the system should fail.

Another consideration with maintenance is time or when particular things need checked. For instance, you do not need to check your CMOS battery every week but it should not be forgotten either. Deciding when things need done and by whom is as important as the maintenance notebook. There is no need to waste an IT person's time when a user can perform the task at hand. With this in mind let us discuss who should do what and when.

Every system should have a weekly maintenance route. This should be performed by the computer user. A good time for this to be done would be an hour before closing every Friday. Though many managers will see this process as a waste of time it will in the long run help save the company money and should not be skipped. The following list should be implemented weekly by the computer user.

1) The entire outside of the computer system, including devices such as scanners and printers, should be cleaned with a soft rag. An antistatic electronic cleaner is also a good idea. Some cleaners available for this purpose would be Pledge for Electronics or End Dust for Electronics. Both are safe for the entire system including the monitor.

2) All air vents should be cleaned of dust, paper bits, fuzz, debris, or blockage from wires or cables. The vents can either be cleaned using canned air or a vacuum designed for the process. This should be done for all devices attached to the system.

3) All printer supplies should be checked and stocked for the next week.

4) The computer user should also run a disk cleanup and backup files during this time. These processes can be done while other maintenance is taking place ensuring proper use of time and resources.

Monthly or yearly maintenance falls to your IT staff and should be done religiously. The following represents my suggestions for an IT staff regular maintenance routine.

1) Cleaning: The IT staff should clean all computers and devices monthly. This includes removing the case and vacuuming dust. While cases are off wires, cables, cards, chips, fans, and power supplies should be checked for any visible damage. (Andrews, 2006) Wires and cables on the outside of devices should be checked and replaced if necessary.

2) Updates: IT staff should schedule virus scans and update virus software, defrag, update drivers, and flash BIOS if necessary. This maintenance should be done at once a month.

3) Other maintenance that should be monitored by IT staff by require unusual schedules would be maintaining the printers rollers, cleaning nozzles of ink-jet printers, checking track function of scanners, and checking the CMOS battery. These and other maintenance will be discussed in the manufacturer documentation which should be reviewed by IT staff and entered into the maintenance notebook upon installation. (Andrews, 2006)

This represents a basic maintenance plan for both system users and IT staff. I feel that it will serve to prevent maintenance issues from arising and should be beneficial to the single user as well as a network.