Maintenance
It is important that you perform simple maintenance of your computer to ensure that it works at peak performance.
Weekly | Software cleanup | Use Disk Cleanup or safe |
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| temporary files that accumulate and slow down your system. Also, check for |
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| programs you no longer need and uninstall them. |
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| Defragmentation | Run Disk Defragmenter to keep your hard disk in good condition and improve |
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| system performance. Frequently performing this task does not harm your |
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| system. |
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| Virus scan | Perform a full virus scan every week to catch viruses that might have slipped |
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| through unnoticed. Most antivirus products have a scheduling feature to keep |
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| track of this automatically. |
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Monthly | Hardware cleanup | Thoroughly clean the inside and outside of your computer. |
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| Software updates | Use Windows Update to fix operating system bugs and improve performance. |
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| Also, be sure to check for driver updates for your hardware and new versions |
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| of your favorite programs. |
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| Windows Update | Run Windows Update monthly to install updates. |
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| Hard disk | Sometimes a failing hard disk can be caught beforehand by using Hard Disk |
| diagnostic | Diagnostic. |
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Yearly | System Recovery | In time, your system might still get bogged down, depending on the computer |
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| usage. Use System Recovery to wipe your Windows operating system |
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| installation clean, restoring it to the original configuration when you first started |
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| your system. Make a backup of important data files before proceeding with |
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| a System Recovery. See System recovery on page 18 for further details. |
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As | Backing up your | Use CD or DVD recording software that is installed on your computer to create |
needed | data | (or “burn”) backup discs of important information, including personal files, e- |
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| mail messages, and website bookmarks. You can also move data to an |
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| external hard disk drive. |
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16 | Chapter 3 Troubleshooting and maintenance | ENWW |