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Good Computer Maintenance - Part One |
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Normally we think of maintenance as a chore, something we
have to do to keep things running smoothly and prevent problems
down the road, whether with our car, house, or computer. But
with a PC, maintenance can actually be fun ... approached
from the right perspective.
Automatic Updates
The "joy" of computer maintenacne takes many forms.
These days, automation is the byword. Operating systems such
as Microsoft Windows and Symantec's Norton Interenet Security
let you automatically keep crucial parts of your computer
system up to date. It's fun to watch the technology keep tabs
on itself.
The security vulnerablilites of Windows are legion, and this
forces you to download patches and updates if you want to
minimuze your exposure to hackers seeking to break into your
system over the Internet.
You can run Windows Update periodically through Microsoft
Internet Explorer, which automatically detects which versions
of Windows components you currently have installed and, by
checking with Microsoft's site, which have newer versions.
Or, if you are running Windows XP Home Edition, you can automate
things even further by directing Windows to check for "critical
updates" by itself at the frequency and time of your
choosing. From the Control Panel, go to System and click Automatic
Updates to specify your settings.
Website Updates
You can keep your other software up to date by periodically
checking the Websites of the respective manufacturers. Typically,
by pulling down the program's Help menu, you will quickly
be directed to the site. But the Website VersionTracker (www.techtracker.com/products)
does something similar with multiple programs, for free, whether
you have a Windows PC or a Mac. The ad-supported site has
30,000 programs in its database. Pay versions, starting at
$24.95, automatically alert you when new updates of programs
that you're using become available.
Using Utilities
Staying up to date is crucially important these days in keeping
the bad guys away from your computer and those using it. A
good utility suite for this is Norton Internet Security (www.symantec.com),
which combines such crucial tools as a firewall, anti-virus
program, porn-blocker, spam filter, spyware detector, and
pop-up ad blocker. If you use the program, make sure you let
its LiveUpdate feature automatically keep your virus definitions
and other components up to date.
Symantec's other utility suite, Norton SystemWorks, is less
useful, and if you need system tools more powerful than those
provided by Windows itself, a better package overall is V
Communications' SystemSuite (www.v-com.com).
SystemSuite includes tools for preventing and recovering
from hard disk crashes, recovering accidentally erased files,
completely uninstalling programs you no longer need, and completely
shredding sesitive files. It also has an excellent file manager,
PowerDesk, that makes quicker work of copying, moving, deleting,
and otherwise manipulating files than Windows Explorer.
With today's large and fast hard drives and more efficient
operating systems, one maintenance task that's no longer as
necessary is disk defragmenting. When working with files over
time, they invariably wind up stored in places at different
locations on your hard disk. Running a defragmenter gathers
up the pieces and places them together in one contiguous location.
Recent testing by the computer magazine PC World, however,
showed that defragging no longer improves performance the
way it used to. It still makes sense to defrag once in a while,
though unless it's for a network file server, there's usually
no need to buy a separate program for this beyond what comes
with Windows itself.
So in all ... even automated maintenance can be fun in that
it is automated and can leave you more time for other endevours.
About the Author:
Marv Ko has many years of experience in business, marketing,
security, writing, and varied hobbies. He is is the senior
editor of www.upublish.info ... your source for free original
content articles. Authors always wanted!
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