Weekly Computer Maintenance
First...you must go through some maintenance procedures
that will keep your computer running smoothly. Let's go through a list of things to do
with your machine on a weekly basis or when your computer becomes slow and clunky.”
1. Antivirus Software
Make sure you have an updated anti-virus program installed. Virginia Tech provides
its students, staff, and faculty with Norton Antivirus. Using this software, you can
schedule virus scans and downloads of the new virus definitions to ensure your
computer remains virus free. You can download this software at
http://antivirus.vt.edu. It will ask for your PID and password. Once you download this
file, you can install it and run the Live Update feature. If you need help, you can
contact ITSU (housecal@vt.edu or 1-9203).
2. Run Windows Update/Software Update
Microsoft is constantly finding “security holes” in their operating system. When a “hole” is found Microsoft will develop a software patch to fix the problem.
Sometimes a window pops up on your computer and informs you that there is a
critical update for your computer and you can follow the directions for downloading
the patch. Otherwise, do the following:
a. Look for Windows Update in your Start Menu.
CHRE – Information Technology Services Unit
b. If you have never run Windows Update there may be more than one
critical update. Once you have downloaded all of the Critical Updates, you
probably will not see more than one or two new Critical Updates each
month.
c. If you need help, you can contact ITSU (housecal@vt.edu or 1-
9203).
3. Back up Files
We have all experienced that feeling of dread when we are in the middle of a
document and the machine crashes. Now take that feeling and multiply it by 100
when all of your files are lost because your hard drive fails. Backing up files is very
simple. Most of us keep our files in the “My Documents” folder on the desktop or in a
couple of folders on the desktop. The simplest way to backup those files is to put a
zip disk in your zip drive and open “My Computer” and drag the “My Documents”
folder to the drive with the “Zip Drive” icon. What do you backup?
a. The general rule is only backup those files you have created, not software.
So, you’ll want to make back-ups of only those folders that contain the
files you’ve created. If you have files in folders separate from your
application folders, then doing a backup should be fairly simple. If your
files are mixed within your application files (for example, all your Word
documents in the Word folder) it is probably worthwhile to create a
separate folder for your Word files.
b. Other files you should consider backing up are your bookmarks/favorites
files.
c. You also may want to make backups of your Eudora files. To do this, got
to “My Computer” and open the C: drive. Go to “Program Files” and for
newer versions of Eudora look for “Qualcomm” or for older versions of
Eudora look for the “Eudora” folder. Now drag the found folder to your
zip drive.
d. If you need help, you can contact ITSU (housecal@vt.edu or 1-
9203).
4. Run Disk Defragmenter
This is easy to do. Simply left click on the start menu, choose
Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->Disk Defragmenter. When you run this
program, your computer will be reorganized to ensure your files are compressed in
limited locations rather than being stored haphazardly in the computer. Frequent
creation and deletion of files (including installing and uninstalling programs) can
cause your computer to slow down. Defragmenting helps your computer regain its
footing and run better. You will want to defragment when you are not actually using
the computer as the process will take longer if you are working on the machine. If
you need help, you can contact ITSU (housecal@vt.edu or 1-9203).
5. Office Updates
Every once in a while Microsoft will have an Office Update that fixes a security issue
CHRE – Information Technology Services Unit
or vulnerability within Office or one of the Office Programs. To find out if there are
any Office updates go to the Windows Update icon in your START menu. Once the
Microsoft page opens there should be an icon near the bottom left-hand side of the
screen that will say “Microsoft Office Products Updates.” Click on that icon and you
will be taken to a site that will automatically look at your Office products and give
you a list of updates, just like the Windows updates. One drawback to doing Office
updates is that you will need the Office CD to do an update. If you need help, you
can contact ITSU (housecal@vt.edu or 1-9203).
6. Shut down computer completely
Computers do need a rest every once in a while, so it is good to shut the computer
totally down at least once a week. When a program is opened memory is assigned to
that program and then when the program is closed that memory is suppose to be given
back for other uses. It would be nice if everything worked that smoothly, but it does
not. Many times the program just does not want to give back all of the memory and
will keep just a small portion. All of this adds up over time and eventually you might
try and open a program and get a “not enough memory error”. Restarting the
computer, forces all programs to give everything back and your omputer will have
full memory again.
