Is your PC or Laptop Due for a Tune-Up?
If you’re like most PC users, regular computer support is a chore that often eludes you. Still, all too often we witness the harmful—and expensive!—results of failed preventative maintenance.
If you’re looking to cut down on costly computer repairs and replacements, it might be time to give your machine a performance tune-up. Don’t worry, it’s easier than you might think.
Why you need a tune-up:
Computer tune-ups are important simply for the fact that they extend the life of your machine, reducing the need for expensive repairs—or worse, replacement. In addition, proper computer support will allow your machine to operate at optimal speeds, so you’re not left waiting in frustration for that little cursor-timepiece to disappear.
When to tune your computer:
Preventative maintenance extends the life of your computer, so it’s imperative that you tune your machine regularly. Depending on the program, you should be performing updates, scans, and other essential functions on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. If your computer continues to perform at noticeably slower rates, your regular maintenance isn’t quite regular enough.
What to do:
There are a number of solutions to ensure your computer is functioning at high efficiency. Some methods are easy to perform on your own, but some may require the supervision of an experienced computer consulting service. As a general rule, if there’s a program or process you don’t fully understand, seek advice and support from a computer technician.
- Remove unused and broken programs. As time goes by, some programs are simply forgotten and lost in the fray. Removing programs that are unused or unusable will provide more space and energy for your machine to allocate to other necessary components. Typically, a user can remove these programs through the use of standard software like Windows’ Add/Remove or the Uninstall feature of a given application, but these are notorious for leaving traces of programs behind. If your machine is particularly old or cluttered with programs, it might be helpful to utilize the more advanced tools of a computer consulting service.
- Clean up your start-up. Often when your computer takes a long time to boot, it’s because there are a number of applications automatically opening at start-up. By reducing the number of programs that open automatically, you should be able to increase the speed at which your machine is ready to go. But use caution when deciding what programs to stop. For instance, essential functions like your antivirus software and firewall are both programs that merit automatically running at start-up. Your media player or instant messaging service can probably wait.
- Organize your desktop. Additionally, desktops filled with shortcuts and icons are also a known inhibitor for start-up performance. Limit the number of desktop icons to the ones you use on a consistent basis.
- Evaluate your hard disk. How much space are you using? IT experts say to leave 25 percent of your hard disk free for optimal performance. If you’re close to maxing out the amount of free space on your hard disk, it’s time to either add more space or do some serious clean up.
- Check for hardware issues. Slow computer performance could be the result of old or malfunctioning hardware. Unless you’re comfortable dealing with the physical components of your machine, I’d recommend allowing a computer repair professional to analyze and address any hardware issues.
- Beef up your security. Poor computer performance can also be attributed to poor computer security. If you’re not guarding your system against viruses and other malware, it’s highly possible that unwanted applications are slowing your machine down. Make sure whatever security protocols you utilize are checking for problems regularly and staying up-to-date.
- Don’t get behind on updates. Finally, many operating systems are issued updates on a regular basis as engineers fix bugs and plug security holes. It’s important that your system receives these updates on a timely basis in order to protect your computer from harm and ensure it functions at an optimal level.
The last thing you should have to worry about is replacing or repairing your computer, especially since computer technologies play such a vital role in our world today. If you can commit to performing regular performance tune-ups for your machine, whether you do so yourself or you utilize a computer consulting service, you’ll find the extra effort easily pays off in the long run.
~Richard McNeal, 2010
