The Wholesale Forums

[Comspec]

PC Preventive Maintenance

Sept 2007

Most PC users do not think about their computer having problems – until they actually happen!
Comspec have compiled a list below of Preventive Maintenance measures which can easily be carried out by users themselves. These measures can help reduce breakdowns, maintenance costs and generally improve the lifespan of your PC.


1) Physical Environment

• All PC cases have air vents. These are crucial to the interior airflow within your PC case and to keep your components cooled to a safe temperature. Ensure that when you position your PC none of these vents are covered, and have a reasonable distance between them and any walls or other surfaces.
• Do not place your PC too close to any heating or cooling source (eg. Radiators, direct sunlight, air conditioners, etc). Excessive heat and cold can damage your PC.
• Ensure your PC is not situated anywhere which builds up moisture. Moisture is really bad for your internal components.
• Do not position your case directly onto a carpeted surface. If you are not putting it onto a desk, then place something underneath the case. The carpet can reduce air intake and/or increase heat build up.
• Do not smoke around your PC. You would be amazed at how much damage smoke causes some of your PC’s components.
• Regularly vacuum around your PC case to remove the potential build up of dust or dirt. This can clog up vents and extraction fans to the point of destruction.
• Always turn off the power to your PC before moving it, even if you are only sliding it along the floor a little.

2) Storage Devices

• Always take regular backups of important data. This will be crucial if/when you have a major crash.
• External Hard Drives or USB memory devices are inexpensive, but very effective for backing up data. Remember it is not advised to backup data onto CD/DVD media as these are not reliable enough.
• Store backups away from your computer, preferably in another room or building entirely.
• Remove unnecessary programs from your computer. This can either be done using an ‘Uninstall’ routine supplied with it, or under . Ensure that you know what you are removing and do not remove any programs you cannot identify (they may be part of your system and needed).
• The Disk Cleanup utility (free with Windows) is very useful for removing clutter from your PC. We recommend that you run this once a month. This program is found under . Ensure that all of the following options are ticked prior to running the cleanup:
  • Downloaded Program Files
  • Temporary Internet Files
  • Offline Webpages
  • Recycle Bin
  • Temporary Files
  • Webclient/Publisher Temporary Files
  Do not choose (tick) the option to Compress Old Files – this is unnecessary and may cause confusion at a later date.
  Ensure that you run this utility for ALL hard drives on your PC.
• Disk Defragmenter is another useful utility which comes free with Windows. As with Disk Cleanup, this should be run regularly, but only about every three months. Please ensure that you run the Disk Cleanup prior to running the Defragmenter. It can be found under .
  Once you choose to run it, click the ‘Analyse’ button for a fragmentation report, this will tell you if you need to actually defragment or not. Ensure you run this utility for ALL hard drives on your PC.

3) The Internet

• The internet is a source of numerous problems for PC users from Viruses, Spyware, Spam etc. Preventive Maintenance is crucial to keep your PC running smoothly.
• Ensure you have Anti-Virus software running at all times on your PC. This should be automatically loaded when your PC starts up and set to automatically update itself from the internet regularly.
• At reasonably regular intervals (or when you think your computer is slowing down) run a full system scan manually from your Anti-virus program yourself.
• Check your Anti-virus program ‘exceptions’ list from time to time. Sometimes a virus can amend this and it can prevent your AV program from finding it.
• Whilst Norton is a widely used Anti-Virus package, we at Comspec recommend AVG as it takes up less of your PC’s resources and is much easier to use. Please see the notes at the bottom of this article for further information regarding AVG and their range of products.
• Ensure you have Anti-Spyware software running and updated regularly too. Again, a regular manual full scan is useful – even if your software runs its own scheduled scan.
• No matter what email system you use, whether it be Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Webmail, Mozilla, etc – ensure you use the email Rules functionality to set up rules to catch spam emails and place them into your junk folder. Unfortunately Spam is a certainty in this day and age, and must be dealt with as well as possible to avoid it becoming a problem.
• Never click on any email you cannot identify, and definitely never open a spam email. Opening a spam email lets the sender know they have reached a ‘live’ person and it will increase the number of spam emails you get.
• Never open any attachments to emails unless you are certain of the sender. Again, opening an attachment could infect your PC with a virus or dramatically increase the number of spam emails you will receive.
• Avoid using shareware or free to download wallpapers or desktop backgrounds. Some of these will require extra resources to run and may slow your PC operation down a little.
• Ensure that your Windows Firewall is turned on. If it is not, you will probably get a message from your PC anyway, but ensure that you put it on.
• Be extra careful when using these Peer-to-Peer sharing/downloading sites (Limewire, Filedonkey, Kazaa, etc) as these can leave your PC wide open to viruses and infection. You can also be very vulnerable to hacking and your files could be in danger if not protected properly. If you are unsure about ANY download, do not open it (remove it immediately).
• When giving your email address to someone on a chatroom or a forum, ensure to use ‘at’ instead of the ‘@’ symbol in your address – leaving them to manually substitute the correct symbol. This will reduce the chances of spammers/bots using the address.
• No organisation will ever ask you to confirm your personal details via email. ANYONE who asks you for personal details via email (be it address or financial details) is trying to SCAM you, so be wary. Some of the scammer emails you will receive may look real enough (‘Ebay’ or ‘bank’ scam emails look very official), but they are not.
• Ensure that you have some sort of Parental Controls installed before allowing children to access the internet. These can either be provided as part of your ISP’s service, or bought from a 3rd party. Parental Controls are not foolproof, so ensure you are aware of what your children are actually doing while online.
• If you are not totally certain of a company you are going to buy something from online, check they have full contact details (an address, not a PO Box, plus a telephone number), and call them to test their validity.

4) Power

• Ensure that you are not plugging any PC equipment directly into home/office wiring. Always use Anti-Surge devices (be it an anti-surge power block or a UPS).
• The monitor belonging to your PC should always be turned off when not in use. This will extend its life. Even if your PC is still on, you can switch your monitor off.
• Ensure that you always power off your PC before cleaning it or around it. A slight vacuum around the case is useful, but ensure you are not trying to vacuum near an operational fan, etc.

5) Peripherals

• Print a test page occasionally to any inkjet printers which are not being used. This will help keep the nozzles clean and avoid ink clogging them up.
• Clean your mouse occasionally. If it is a ball mouse, then remove the ball and gently clean the contacts inside with a cotton bud. If not, clean around the underside with a cotton bud.
• Turn your printer off using the power switch on it rather than just unplugging it. The printer knows the difference!
• Turn your keyboard upside down and shake it to clear crumbs, etc. You can also use a brush to lightly clean between the keys (a clean paintbrush will suffice).
• Magnets or Electric Motors can cause PC problems, so keep these away from your PC at all times.

[anotheruser]

Great advice, Comspec - let's hope a few more folk take note of it.

Just two small points I'd add:

Never click on any email you cannot identify, and definitely never open a spam email. Opening a spam email lets the sender know they have reached a ‘live’ person and it will increase the number of spam emails you get.

Do not have the preview pane open. That's where you can see at least a part of the message before you actually open it. The preview pane is, in fact, the email opened and it tells spammers they have reached a valid address.

There is a programme in all Microsoft browsers, i.e. all versions of Internet Explorer, called ActivX. Ensure yours is switched off. It doesn't do anything for you on the vast majority of web sites and is a gaping hole for spyware and other malware, automatically bypassing your anti-malware for those crackers who know how to exploit it.

Even better, try another operating system for internet and networking use. Veering away from the standard PC set up, maybe, but almost all malware problems are there because the M$ operating system is so insecure and people are unwilling to spend the amounts of money or take the amounts of time needed to keep it safe. Linux, for instance, is free and very easy to batten down against attack, whilst remaining fully functional. That's why a large majority of servers on the internet run on one form or another of Unix, of which Linux is but one.

There are a number of different "flavours" of Linux. As a newcomer to the operating system, I'd go for Ubuntu because of its ease of installation and use. Especially if you've got an old machine and you'd like to get more useful life out of it, Linux is a very efficient platform and doesn't need all the hardware resources to do a similar software job.

[Comspec]

Thanks - our problem with this article was we had to try to keep it as simple as possible, to allow our 'home users' to read it without losing the power of their legs

I have a couple of other articles which I might well get around to posting as well, if people find them useful.
The weird thing about the PC Preventive Maintenance one is - all of it is common sense, yet people just are not doing it !!

[anotheruser]

Tell me about it! I am very active within this (geographic) region in a well know business organisation. I am their regional spokesman on IT security, among other things.

But mention it to the members, i.e. the small business community, those very people at highest risk of losing their livelihoods, savings, and a whole lot more: their eyes cloud over and I simply don't get through. Talk about doing better in the search engines or google rankings and they're all there, agog.

Is there a way to make this, let's face it, dry topic interesting?

[Saajan]

Nice article. I got a question though, I have a Dyson hoover and as you know the suction is so powerful on Dysons that I'm scared it will remove bits inside my PCs case. Should I be worried? Can you get special hoovers for cleaning inside PCs?

Thanks

[Comspec]

You should always be careful when vacuuming the inside of your PC - ensure you don't actually 'touch' any of the components. Use a low-wattage vacuum where possible.

The type of vacuum we use when providing our 'computer cleaning' service is designed specifically for the job. I use one of THESE

HTH
Mark

[Saajan]

Originally Posted by Comspec

You should always be careful when vacuuming the inside of your PC - ensure you don't actually 'touch' any of the components. Use a low-wattage vacuum where possible.

The type of vacuum we use when providing our 'computer cleaning' service is designed specifically for the job. I use one of THESE

HTH
Mark

Got any other cheaper options?

[BillyA]

Simply an awesome article - thanks!

[Comspec]

Originally Posted by Saajan

Got any other cheaper options?

LOL - they are a little expensive for the normal user.

Either use a basic low-wattage vacuum, or turn down the suction-knob (or whatever its called) to the lowest setting. Ensure you do not actually touch the internal components and you should be fine.

PC internals are becoming a bit more resilient than they used to be - I even know a guy who has put his mobo into the dishwasher to clean it

[Pete]

First a very important addition to the list - If you have a phone line connected to any part of your system (or just in general, actually) be sure and have a surge protector on the phone line as well.

More motherboards and fax machines (and all in one printers) get zapped through the phone lines than from power surges. I can't tell you how many people have learned this the hard way. Lightning striking a phone line will travel to the end of your system and kill.

And don't skimp on your UPS / surge devices. (Most of them are from China - need I say more?)

Two personal experiences. I had a mini-computer system for my auto parts stores. The next step up from a PC, which they call a micro. It was UNIX with "dumb terminals" and other serial devices, including a bunch of cash receipt printers. We suffered a lightning strike one night while the store was closed - through the dedicated phone line that connected to my branch stores. It went through the entire system, good sized computer, a number of treminals and large printers and zapped a receipt printer piggybacked off of one of the terminals.

Second experience, I swear it's true. - I had sold a computer system to a guy for use in his auto repair / towing business. He had his shop and tow storage yard behind his home, and had a small stand-alone building for his office, where the computer was. I was with him in the office when suddenly there was a flash of light so bright it seemed like it came right through the walls! There was just one little octagonal window and that much light could not possilby all come through that window!

Then the lights went out and the computer died. We opened the door and there was a building materials truck parked just outside. He was adding on to his shop and they were unloading some materials. Well, in so doing the truck operator struck the main power lines with the boom on the truck. And it just so happened, that while this was a family type neighborhood, this was the last property before a major rail line, and the right of way was shared by the power company and a major power line was hit, not just something affecting the neighborhood. A big area was left with no power for many hours.

The truck was smoking when we walked out the door. The tires on the truck were melted to nothing and it was sitting on the rims. The operator was lucky, he was unhurt. I'm told that when they went to move the truck the wheels would not turn, since the bearings had melted and fused to the axles. It was hot!

Anyhow, the next day I got a call from the guy telling me to come on down, he wanted me there when he restarted the computer. Well, I got there and was told that all of the electrical appliances in his home were fried. Refrigerator, washer and dryer, stove, etc. All toast. Not only that, he said that some of the neighborhood houses had been hit so bad that the fuses literally flew out of the fuse boxes, bending the doors on the front of the boxes.

I think you get the picture. This was a big deal, with a lot of expensive consequences.

Anyhow, we went out to his little office building, dreading the worst. We hit the switch on the surge protector that controlled everything and the computer fired right up and ran as if nothing happened. I was certainly relieved, but must admit I had my fingers crossed. Electrical carnage everywhere, but that Tripplite surge protector did it's job. It wasn't some junk, just to say I included one with the package, it was a good surge and it sure proved it's worth.