Remember the Wireless Network when Maintaining Computer Health

If you have a slow computer, perhaps you should stop complaining about it and start doing something about it. Aspects of your computer such as hard drive space, viruses and malware, bloated registries, corrupt hard drive sectors and more can all play a part in making your computer slow, prone to crash, and a detriment to your work.

One of the most important things to check on a regular basis is the amount of free space on your hard drive. If you download a lot of videos, programs, or music, you will use up limited disk space in a hurry. If you are using Windows, you should be sure to empty your recycle bin as well (deleting files will not result in freed disk space until you purge the recycler). If you have a large hard drive, or want to make it easy to find the files that are using the most space on your computer, you should try a program like Tree Size Pro from Jam Software that will search your hard drive and allow you to drill down to the folders that have the largest files and delete them.

While you are freeing up space on your computer, be sure to go to control panel to see what programs are installed on your computer. Take some time to review the entire list, uninstalling the programs you rarely (or never) use. Another thing to do is periodically opening your computer case and blowing out the dust with a can of compressed air. Over time, dust accumulates on your motherboard and drives, trapping heat and facilitating failure. By clearing dust off the components inside your computer, you make sure that you have the best possible air circulation and the least chance of failure due to excessive heat.

While working to preserve the health of your computer, don't forget to take a look at your wireless network. Be sure to check the log files on your wireless router for unauthorized access attempts. Change the admin password on your router and change the encryption keys for network connections. If possible, turn off the broadcasting of your network's SSID to help keep hackers at bay. Check your router at least once every month or so to make sure that your wireless network has not been breached.

With so much to be concerned about, the best thing to do is make a calendar entry in Outlook or on Google Calendar to remind you to perform maintenance functions. By investing some time to check on your computer you will make sure you get the best possible life and performance from it.