Think of your computer much like your car, it needs maintenance occasionally. Sometimes the old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is more relevant than we realize. I have never been a big fan of health and/or property insurance, but when things go wrong, I sure am glad I paid those premiums, the peace of mind knowing I’m covered is nice too.
Here are 10 tips on how to possibly prevent computer problems from interrupting your day.
- Repair or Replace: Most quality desktops should give good service for 6 to 8 years depending on the usage, if your machine is not more than 2 operating systems old, repairing may be better than replacing.
- Battery Backup: Protect your PC with a surge protector, preferably one with a battery backup. My battery on my surge protector died and I had it replaced for under $20.
- Software: Viruses are the #1 problem for computers, don’t believe that your machine will not get a virus because it’s an Apple product, it will! Install good anti-virus and malware software to protect from viruses.
- Surfing: Be smart and avoid the websites that carry a lot of viruses. Sites that encourage visitors to upload pictures, music and data often are loaded with viruses. The 3 main sites to avoid are: porn sites, peer to peer sites, free gaming sites.
- Download: Be careful where you download software from, if the software seems valuable to you, research it first and download it from a credible site like download.com.
- Passwords: Periodically change your passwords and never use the same one over and over. Strong passwords should be at least 8 characters, mixed case and have a special character.
- Shut Down: Always safely shut down your PC, your machine has numerous things running behind the scenes that you can’t see, holding the power button until it’s off is always a bad idea.
- Backups: I advise using a remote backup of your files. Carbonite is my preferred vendor, but there are several good backup providers.
- Maintenance: Scheduled maintenance will help immensely; set your anti-virus software and the varied maintenance programs to run automatically so you won’t have to remember to do it.
- Desktop: I use my desktop as a holding folder, I will put many things there temporarily to use or file the data accordingly. A clean desktop will help you stay organized and efficient.
I hope these 10 tips will help you get more life and better service from your computer. If you would like more information on how to make your PC operate at top efficiency, call me personally. I will be happy to be your Statesville Computer Guy. 
John McCann
704-662-6845
John McCann & Associates, Inc.
IT Management for Small Business
Computer Services, Solutions & Support
www.McCannAssociates.com