| If you haven't you are at huge risk of catastrophic | | | | requires you to reboot your PC. I do this monthly |
| failure! | | | | and I start it before I go to bed at night so in the |
| Here are five tips to ensure your computer's viability: | | | | morning it has completed. Defragment for hard disk: |
| I guarantee you, you will have problems if you do | | | | Once you have checked your hard disk follow the |
| not follow these simple tips and when it happens, not | | | | same steps above but this time select |
| if, you will be kicking yourself! Many of us including | | | | defragmentation instead of error checking. This |
| myself believe our computers are reliable and that | | | | process again may take several hours to complete |
| we will never have a computer or hard disk crash | | | | so let it run overnight. These two simple tips |
| until it happens. Yes, computer reliability has increased | | | | (3&4) will keep your hard disk fit and healthy |
| dramatically reducing the risk of failure, still no matter | | | | and will keep your PC performance at its best. |
| how reliable you believe, you cannot protect yourself | | | | TIP 4: Cleanup your internet files and cookies: I don't |
| against the unexpected, whether it is accidental or | | | | know if you realize that when operating on the |
| malicious. Once you have a problem all hell breaks | | | | internet many small files are created on your PC, |
| loose as we begin to realize the potential of what we | | | | some are temporary files that are deleted when you |
| may have lost and just watch your stress level | | | | leave a site other files like cookies (aka HTTP |
| rocket!. All small businesses including my own | | | | cookies, web cookies, tracking cookies) are not. |
| CANNOT rely on a single system with no form of | | | | They remain on your PC and these cookies store |
| checkup and redundancy, it is just crass lunacy. Yet I | | | | information about your PC that websites use to |
| bet some 95% of us just do that. Sure we | | | | maintain specific information about users such as site |
| understand the need to check the health of our | | | | preference, contents of your shopping cart, signed |
| computers, sure we make commitments to do it but | | | | on status, including encrypted passwords etc. It is |
| it all comes down to a decision and sure enough we | | | | advisable to clean these files on a regular basis as |
| get distracted, we promise ourselves we will do this | | | | they do provide some website owners interesting |
| but we don't. | | | | information about you and your preferences. I use |
| You need to follow these five simple tips, they | | | | the internet a lot, it is a part of my business and so |
| require no expertise on your behalf, these are easy | | | | weekly I cleanse my system of these cookies and |
| and simple to do: | | | | temporary files. It is very simple to do. Go to your |
| TIP 1: Backup Your Hard Disk: Always have a | | | | web browsers, I will use IE (v7.0) for this example, |
| redundant hard drive that basically mirrors you're PC's | | | | select tools on the toolbar menu, then internet |
| hard driver. This means that every file you create as | | | | options, then browsing history under the general tab |
| you are creating it is also created on a backup drive. | | | | then click on the delete button. You will get a host of |
| This is really easy to do, there are external hard | | | | options but I usually select the delete all. You are |
| drives that you can purchase with built-in software. | | | | done, that's it! |
| These drives can be plugged into your PCs USB port. | | | | TIP 5: Get virus protection for your PC: This is an |
| As an example I used Seagate Freeagent , if you | | | | absolute must. If you do not do this, you will regret it |
| Google them you will find a selection of good low | | | | as viruses effectively corrupt your hard drive putting |
| priced drives (TIP 2: Check The Health Of Your PC | | | | you data at huge risk. There are many good |
| Register: Your PC registry, basically controls all | | | | products on the market. I use AVG Internet security, |
| software running on your PC, frequently corrupts | | | | it just works quietly behind the scene doing its thing |
| which can cause a host of problems from | | | | and today (touch wood) I'm still virus free and |
| unexplained performance issues and sometimes | | | | believe me I've been around some very shady areas |
| unexpected system crashes. For less than $30 you | | | | on the internet |
| can get a registry cleaner and optimizer; this keeps | | | | I've been in the IT industry for over 25 years and I |
| your system in tip-top shape and really does maintain | | | | think I have seen it all, but what is most potent is |
| your system's performance. The product I used was | | | | when a system crash happens to a small business |
| regCure which was simple to install and use. It | | | | whose livelihood is dependent upon its data. It can be |
| detects problems in your PC registry and fixes them | | | | devastating and very costly to recover data if at all |
| without any intervention from you! | | | | possible. With the explosion of the home based |
| TIP 3:Check The Health Of Your Hard Disk: System | | | | businesses using PCs on the internet, the risk of PC |
| performance is not only about the registry it is also | | | | failure has compounded many fold. Those who use |
| about your hard disk. There is a FREE option in | | | | computers just to access the internet have become |
| Microsoft's windows operating system that allows | | | | complacent because we understand that our PCs are |
| you to check your hard disk for errors and for the | | | | like our autos, we know how to operate them but |
| file fragmentation, namely pieces of a file can be | | | | we don't know what to do if they need fixing and |
| stored in many locations on your hard drive, the | | | | unlike our autos we may actually lose something |
| defragmentation tool brings those file pieces together | | | | important that we cannot get back. |
| which makes your disk access faster as the system | | | | DON'T PREVARICATE, just follow these five simple |
| finds the file in one location and loads it. To find | | | | tips and you will avoid the stress of losing your |
| where these FREE tools are located on your PC | | | | access to your livelihood. There is of course no 100% |
| simply select your hard disk icon in the 'My Computer' | | | | guarantee that you will have no problems but at least |
| icon on your desktop, right click on it and select | | | | you will have significantly reduced the likelihood of |
| properties. In properties you will find a tool tab select | | | | problems and if you do get any catastrophic failure if |
| it and then select error checking. Make sure you | | | | you have used a mirrored approach to your hard disk |
| check both the automatically fix file system errors | | | | as I explained in tip 1 you will be up and running in no |
| and scan for bad sectors and recover. This process | | | | time with no loss of data. |
| normally takes several hours to complete and | | | | |