Lesson 10 - Maintaining your computer
Cleaning:
Read: Cleaning Your Computer
Make sure that your computer's cooling fan is working, has air circulation ie, is not up against a wall or other obstruction, and periodically vacuum any dust from it.
Occasionally your mouse will "stick", that is it will not roll smoothly. Its inner workings need to be cleaned.
It's a good idea to cover your keyboard. Dust and bugs can get into your keyboard and make its operation less than smooth.
Some BIG BOX mini-towers come with a sliding door so you can cover your floppy drive and CD-Rom openings.
Use the door to keep particulate matter out of the mechanisms.
Your monitor screen is glass. It is better to clean it with the computer off. Spraying glass cleaner or other liquid on your monitor screen when the computer is on can cause the glass to shatter. Clean it the same way you would a mirror or a window. In arid climates or in places where static electricity is a problem, dusting it off with a fabric softener sheet will help.
Protecting your computer:
While we are on the subject of monitor screens, keep magnets away!! Putting a magnet on your screen will distort the colors and may seem like great fun to a child but can do permanent damage to your monitor.
Surge protecters are an absolute must. Most power sources are unreliable and can be affected by storms, magnetic radiation, traffic accidents, human error, etc. Remember the black-out in New York? A power surge can destroy your computer. It can erase not only what you are working on but also your operating system.
While most people know about surge protectors, you should also have a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).
It is a battery back-up system which will keep your computer turned on in case of a power failure, giving
you time to shut it down properly. It also protects your computer modem if your telephone lines go down.
Think about it.....your computer is connected to the outside world in two ways.....the wall plug to the
electric service and the modem to the telephone or cable service.
Backup information:
In the old days, 10 or 15 years ago, it was considered extremely important to back up your information.
That was because most data was stored on 5 1/4" floppy disks which were sensitive to heat, light, moisture,
bending, etc.
Today, most data is kept on your hard drive, on 3 1/2" diskettes, or on CD's. But the need for backup is just
as important. Until you've had a computer crash, you cannot believe how much information you keep on your
computer.
Over time you will have address books, financial information, letters, reports that you write, pictures you save, etc. If everything is on your hard drive and your computer crashes, you may never see it again!
A cardinal rule of computers should be: If it's important at all, have at least two copies.
You back-up your files on diskettes. You can make back-up copies of most of your programs. You can buy
a CD-RW which is a Readable/Writable CD and use it to back up your CD's.
Scan Disk
You find Scan Disk under Start/Programs/System Tools/Scan Disk. Or some of you will find it in
Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scan Disk. Scan Disk can check the files and folders on your
hard disk for data errors and check the physical surface of the disk and repair damaged areas. If you are having trouble with Drive A,for example, run a Scan Disk on Drive A to check it.For Help on items in ScanDisk, right-click the item, and then click What's This?.
You should periodically use Scan Disk to check and repair all your drives.
Disk Defragmenter
You use Disk Defragmenter to speed up access to your hard disk and to rearrange files and unused space on your hard disk so that programs run faster.
You can start Disk Defragmenter by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking Disk Defragmenter. To change the Disk Defragmenter settings, click Settings.
You can use your computer for other tasks while your disk is being defragmented but your computer operates more slowly, and Disk Defragmenter takes longer to finish. We advise you to run Disk Defragmenter when you do not need to use your computer for awhile.
Task Scheduler (in Windows 98*)
Task Scheduler is a tool that enables you to schedule tasks (such as Disk Defragmenter) to run regularly, when it’s most convenient for you. Task Scheduler starts each time you start Windows and runs in the background.
The Task Scheduler icon appears next to the clock on the taskbar.
To open Task Scheduler, double-click on its icon or double-click on My Computer and select "Scheduled Tasks" folder.
In the list of tasks, click Add Scheduled Task.
You can schedule a task to run within a specified time frame such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
Make sure that the system date and time for your computer are accurate. Task Scheduler relies on this information to
know when to run scheduled tasks. To check or change the date and time, double-click the time on the taskbar.
Viruses:
Always be careful of what you get from the Internet. You've no doubt heard about viruses so just use common sense. Don't ever open an attachment to an E-mail if you are not sure who the sender is. In fact, make it known to those you share E-mail with that you will not open an attachment unless they notify you that they are sending something. There are virus scanners
available but don't forget that they need to be upgraded periodically as new viruses are constantly being developed.
End of Lesson #10
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*Windows* refers to Microsoft Windows 95® or
Microsoft Windows 98®.