Protect Your Computer and Data Before It's Too Late!

It's time to start thinking about how to best protect your investment, both in the money it costs to purchase your computer, and the time it would cost to replace all the data if it were to ever be lost. Here's a quick guide to help make the most of your computer.

UPS If you are tired of the power going out and causing problems with your computer and data loss, get a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). A UPS is simply a power strip with a built in battery. If the power goes off, your computer will run off the battery for typically 3 to 5 minutes. This gives you plenty of time to safely shut down. When in doubt about which to purchase, buy one with plenty of running time.

Surge Protection The electricity that comes into your computer is far from perfect. It goes through spikes and dips and can cause havoc on your computer. A surge protector helps to even out those spikes and dips to create clean electricity. Buy a good surge protector for the most protection for your computer and additional equipment. We recommend surge protection for home stereos, entertainment centers, TV's, anytime you have expensive electronic equipment.

Power Down / Shut Down A popular question we receive is, "Should I leave my home or small business computer on 24/7?" Computers of today don't share the same problems of older computers (before 8088's). So, the short answer is, go ahead and shut your computer down if you don't plan on using it for 8 or more hours. Otherwise, your computer is receiving more than its fair share of wear and tear. Why put that extra wear and tear on your computer when you don't need to? One of the greatest dangers of leaving your computer on 24/7 is a sudden change in electricity, such as a brown out, or the electricity flickering on and off, or lightening. If you aren't around to turn your computer off during such events, it's very likely your computer will sustain damage. Why do some say to leave computers on? Older computers received a lot of wear and tear when their internal parts heated up and cooled down. Therefore, it was suggested to leave the computer running to minimize any "thermal" wear and tear. While it is true that today's computer still goes through thermal wear and tear, it is much less of a wear and tear than the computer sitting there running 24/7 and actually only being used a handful of hours. Many years ago, they used to recommend leaving your TV on due to the same reasons as the older computers. You don't leave your TV on 24/7 anymore due to it's state-of-the-art technology. The short answer is, for the majority of us, turn the computer off when you don't plan on using for 8 or more hours. Note that certain environmental conditions such as high humidity, factories, etc., may warrant leaving the computer on 24/7.

Storm Coming? Turn off the computer and if you have a modem, unplug the phone cord from the modem. We replace many modems because lightening seems to enjoy zapping the phone lines, thereby damaging the modem. Do your yourself a favor, and save a few bucks, unplug the computer and modem before lightening strikes!

Heat is a Computer's Worst Enemy Help your computer breath! Clean all the internal fans inside your computer case. Common fan locations include, power supply fan, front and/or back of the case fan, video card fan, and the CPU fan. Clean the motherboard and any internal components. Make sure to use equipment that is anti-static. If you don't feel comfortable performing this task, let us know and we will be glad help your computer begin breathing right now! Click here for details.

Backup Before Its Too Late Backup before you loose that special file, or the hard drive crashes, or your computer is stolen, or there is a fire, etc. We don't like to be so grim, but lets face it, sometimes we do wish we had a backup of all our important data. Don't wait until it is too late. There are many solutions from hardware, software, and the Internet.

Scandisk Perform Scandisk on a regular basis. Otherwise, your hard drive errors will continue to grow larger and larger. To start Scandisk, click Start, Run, then type Scandisk. Scandisk Tips Perform Scandisk at least weekly or every two weeks. Perform Scandisk from a fresh re-start or when you first start your computer Typically choose "Standard." "Thorough" is used once every 6 months or so.

Anti-Virus Odd or strange behavior could be caused by a virus. Update your anti-virus software data files to the absolute latest version. Typically, most anti-virus software is updated at least once or more EACH WEEK. After updating, do a full scan of all your files. More about viruses...

Is your Software or Hardware still acting strangely? We can help with any computer related question, email us and we will reply to you!
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Remember, we don't rush out as soon as the job is complete. We gladly help answer questions, guide you through your new software and/or hardware, offer various suggestions to help improve efficiency and safety, etc. We are here to help!

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