I think if you take care of a new computer, you’ll get a lot of good use out of it. With me, …I know how to take good care of equipment, so when I keep something - it usually lasts a long time. The main things for a computer system are:

1. Make sure it is plugged into a real SURGE PROTECTOR (not just a power strip, because some aren’t protected).
2. Know how to open up the case when the computer is turned off, and regularly (every month or so, more often if your house/apt gets a lot) vacuum out all of the dust.
   You can choose to use one of those cans of compressed air to blow it all out instead, but then you leave dust all over your desk/floor. Using both the can and a vacuum would probably prove most effective. Be sure not to shake or tilt the can…it should remain top side up and erect.
3. Keep specific software tools on your computer, keep them up to date, and use them often. Such tools as these would prove to keep your computer in top shape with not too much effort:
   • Spybot Search & Destroy
   • AdAware
   • Auslogics Disk Defrag
   • Auslogics BoostSpeed
   • Dr. Web’s Cure-It for antivirus (I would not use any antivirus that scans everything that is opened.)
     *** I highly discourage the use or purchase of: Norton (anything by them) Antivirus, Security Suite, McAfee AntiVirus or Security Suite, Trend Micro PC Cillin or Security Suite, AVG Antivirus, any other memory resident antivirus program.
     All of these programs are “resource hogs” and effectively slow your computer down. Usually the better written spyware and virii are capable of disabling these in spite of their resident scanning features. Go with Dr. Web’s Cure-It or something like it, you can scan any time you like and scan specific files you want.
4. Reboot or shutdown your computer from time to time. It helps to clear the memory that is used for operating the system and helps keep bugs from showing up. It also helps when you install new software so that it “finalizes” the installation.

I hope that helps. I would like to even offer my expertise through remote administration of your new computer, so that I can personally ensure that your computer is clean, and optimized and in top shape. I would really encourage you to have me start this as soon as you get the computer set up for the first time if you are able.

Cleaning and optimizing from the get-go is really crucial because, almost every new computer anymore comes with some form of spyware preloaded (usually not malicious, but enough to get the ball rolling). I would want to remove everything suspicious, and make the machine completely optimized right from the get go, and that will mean a lot more use and a lot less problems early on and down the road.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 7:52 am and is filed under Productive Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.