Computer Maintenance

Last Updated: 7 November 2006

You've no doubt been in a situation where your PC "freezes" and nothing will get it going again so you have to switch the power off. You will notice that Windows doesn't like that and runs ScanDisk to check for errors. You've probably found that the system has always recovered fully - but eventually it won't.

System "crashes" are a major cause of data loss and system failure. Although system failures are part of computing, you can reduce their frequency by keeping your system running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. This is done by running maintenance programs on a regular basis to clear up disk space, help programs run faster, check for hardware problems, etc.

You get most of the necessary programs with Windows and there are also many commercial products available that are very good. The kinds of programs you should schedule to run regularly include:

• ScanDisk
• Disk Defragmenter
• Disk Cleanup
• Virus Scan (anti-virus software)