PC Preventive Maintenance
This is the last assignment that was given by Sir Ahmad which is on 28th May 2015. The task of our assignment is to know more about PC preventive maintenance and identify some of the function of various type of software eg. check file system for errors, scan disk, files for virus, etc.
What is Preventive Computer Maintenance?
Every user need to take care of their own PC. But sometimes their PC will make their own problems that need to be solve in the first place. That's where preventative maintenance comes in. User need to check the computer hardware and software and ensure it run or operate the computer properly.
A good preventative maintenance program incorporates a completely in understanding in backup plan, measure to secure the system against malicious exploits, periodic hardware and software maintenance, and steps to maintain general system tidiness. The objectives of preventive maintenance are to reduce the system hardware failures, durable of the system, minimize system crashes cause by outdated drivers, software problems, secure the system against viruses and other malware, and prevent data loss.
Here’s are the basic step for preventive maintenance program steps you can take with your computer or computer hardware.
· Operating & Environment Conditions
Do not place your computer near a heating or cooling source such as air conditioners. Both excessive heat and cold can damage a PC. This includes putting the PC in which the PC is directly expose with sunlight.
Keep the PC's air vents and fans unobstructed or unblock and free of dust.
Do not smoke near the computer. Cigarette smoke can damage exposed metal contacts.
Do not place a computer near water sources that can splash onto the components.
Do not connect power sources directly into wall outlets but first connect them to some form of surge protector. Surge protectors prevent electrical surges from damaging the hard drives and erasing data.
Make sure to turn off and unplug the system before you clean any of the components inside the case.
Be more cautious when moving a PC from one location to another. This prevent the small jolts from accidently dislocating the chips and expansion boards.
Back up your documentation first that comes with your PC and its components.
Always shut down your system properly (in Windows use the Start --> Shutdown method) whenever possible. It is also important to respond to warnings and error messages to prevent the data loss or file corruption.
· Operating System & Data Maintenance
Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest patches and updates for your computer, especially on a Windows. These updates more into bugs fix and security exploits.
Keep the root directory organized. Only keep your system's startup and software initialization files in the root directory. Application files and their data belong in a separate directory from the root directory.
Do not store any data files in the same directory that you store the software. This is to preventing the probability accidentally erasing or overwriting a software file.
Keep a set of back-up rescue disks for the operating system.
Back up the copies any important data on removable drive. Make sure you have more backed up copies in more removable drives. Please use a secondary hard drive in your system for saving files. Your main drive, which is accessed frequently is prone to mechanical drive failure sooner than your less frequently accessed secondary hard drive would be.
Sometimes when you installed and uninstalled software, add and remove devices and drives, you’ll be left with extraneous system registry entries, which can slow down the performance. So you can use system utilities which can be purchased or download the software for free, that can help you to keep the windows system registry cleaned.
· Hardware & Hard Drive Maintenance
Make sure to records of any expansion cards you install and follow the procedure to install them.
Disk clean up function in Windows can remove temporary files created by programs. This can make more available space in hard drive.
Defrag your hard drives which can organizes your hard drive so that access to files and program is more efficient.
Make sure clean your monitor with standard glass cleaner and a lint free cloth. Be sure to spray the cloth with chemical cleaner and then wipe the monitor. Note : Do not spray the monitor directly.
Most LCD monitor can be cleaned with isopropyl. However, you should read the instruction and recommendations for cleaning the displays.
Turn off the computer if not using it. This can be also the point to extend the lifespan of your computer.
Be sure to update drivers and software for your expansion cards, such as video or sound cards. By using updated drivers your hardware usually will run better.
· Software Maintenance
Make sure to backup copy of original software, either on CD, DVD or removable drives. This type of software copying is perfectly legal.
Aware of installing file sharing and other peer-to-peer software as they sometimes may risk your PC. While the software itself may very well free from virus and not represent a security risk, sharing your files, and downloading other users files.
Purge your software. Getting rid of unused software may free up additional system resources and hard disk space. To uninstall software on a Windows PC, use the "Add/Remove Programs" function from the Control Panel.
For better system performance, avoid using shareware (or freeware) wallpaper, screensavers, and similar audio and visual apps. These will usually require extra system resources to operate.
· Antivirus Protection
Make sure to install an anti-virus program that automatically scans for viruses when the system boots. You will need to update the virus definitions daily to ensure your system is protected against the latest threats.
Do not download any files from internet unless you are confident that the source is not containing a viruses.
Do not use any storage device that has been used in another computer unless you are certain the other computer is free of viruses and will not pass the virus on to your system.
Never open e-mail attachments from people that you don't know; and don't open any file attachment that ends in '.exe., All downloaded files should be scanned by the anti-virus application first before you run or install it.
Function of various types of software
Check for hard disk error
1. First open the computer by clicking the start button, and then search .
2. Next, click Right-click the hard disk drive that you want to check and then click properties.
3. Then clicking the tools tab, and then under error-checking, click check now. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
4. To automatically solve the problems with files and folders and folders that the scan detects, select automatically fix file system errors. Otherwise, the disk check will simply report problems but not fix them.
To perform a thorough disk check, just select scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. This scan attempts to find and repair physical errors on the hard disk itself, and it can take much time to complete.
To check for both file errors and physical errors, select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
5. Then click Start.
Depending the size of the hard disk, this may take several minutes. For best results, do not use your computer for any other tasks while it's checking for errors.
Defragment and optimize drives
Fragmentation makes your hard drive do extra work that can slow down your computer. Removable storage devices such as USB flash drives can also become fragmented. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your disks and drives can work work more efficiently and smoothly. Disk Defragmenter runs on a schedule, but you can also analyze and defragment your disks and drives manually. To do this, follow the steps :
1. First open the computer by clicking the start button, and then search .
2. Under Current status, just select the disk you want to defragment.
3. To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk if you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk , you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Runcolumn. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk.
4. Next, click Defragment disk if you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer device during the defragmentation process.
