10 Tips for Computer Maintenance to Keep Your Machine Running Smoothly

Computer Maintenance to Keep Your Machine Running Smoothly

It’s not difficult to keep your computer running smoothly, and it can save you money if you take some time every month or so to ensure your machine is running as efficiently as possible. Make sure you clean out the dust regularly, back up your important files, update your software when needed, and perform these 10 other simple steps of computer maintenance to get the most out of your computer purchase.

10 Tips for Computer Maintenance 

1.Check for Malware

Malware is short for malicious software, and describes programs designed to damage or otherwise impede your computer’s functionality. Typically, it describes a kind of virus or adware, but any program designed with malevolent intent qualifies as malware. To help keep malware from wreaking havoc on your computer, make sure you have up-to-date antivirus software installed on your computer.

2.Clean Your Registry

If your computer’s performance seemsseemsseemsseemsseemsseemsseemsseems slow, or if you have problems with random errors, such as system crashes and application hang-ups, one of your first steps should be to clean out your computer’s registry. 

Windows and other applications create thousands of files when you install them, but those files don’t always get properly deleted when you uninstall them. 

This creates a lot of extra junk in your registry that can slow down your machine significantly.

3.Defragment Hard Drive

Often, a computer’s hard drive is fragmented when you run too many programs or save files. When your hard drive is defragmented, it will restore it back to its original state and in turn improve speed and performance. 

To perform a disk defragment in Windows: 

1.Right-click on My Computer icon; 

2.Select Properties; 

3.Click Disk Defragmenter; 

4.Click Analyze then click Defragment button.

4.Delete Temporary Files

When you delete a file, it’s not actually erased—it remains on your hard drive until it is overwritten by other files. Temporary files can quickly consume space and slow down your computer, so deleting these temporary files is necessary when you want to free up hard drive space and speed up your computer. 

You can find these files in C:\Windows\Temp or C:\Documents and Settings\YourUsername\Local Settings\Temp. These are just two examples of where temporary files may be located; however, they will be placed in different locations depending on your operating system. If you don’t know how to access your Temp folder, check out our guide: 

How To Access The Windows Temp Folder .

5.Update Windows OS

Not a lot of people know but keeping your operating system up-to-date is one of the most important things you can do. When you install new software, some may require additional updates for them to work properly, and if you don’t have those updates installed then your machine could become vulnerable to viruses. If you want your computer running as quickly as possible all of time, then it is always a good idea to keep Windows updated.

6.Update Antivirus Software

Make sure your antivirus software is always up-to-date. Older versions of antivirus programs can make it harder for your computer to run smoothly. Even if you don’t notice a decline in performance right away, outdated software could be clogging up your system and bogging down speed and performance. The time you spend updating might seem annoying, but it will pay off in keeping your computer running at its optimal level.

7.Use Ad blockers

Ad blockers are some of the simplest ways you can improve your computer’s speed and performance. Studies have shown that as many as 75% of ads take up more resources than necessary, making browsing much slower than it should be. With ad-blockers installed, you get a faster, cleaner experience every time you go online. Plus, they’re free! If you haven’t already, install an ad blocker on your web browser now. You won’t regret it.

8.Optimize Startup Programs

To many startup programs can bog down your computer, slowing it down and leading to performance issues. If you’re having a slow-down problem, start by optimizing your startup program load with these tips: 

Uninstall programs that you don’t use. Make sure you run anti-virus software (and keep it up-to-date). Consider using CCleaner. Run Disk Cleanup regularly. Run Disk Defragmenter regularly. Turn off services you don’t need running in background or at startup. Delete temporary files regularly.

9.Monitor CPU Usage

The central processing unit (CPU) is a vital component of your computer’s performance, and monitoring its activity can help identify ways to speed up your computer. There are many tools out there for doing so, but we recommend using Task Manager. To access it, simply press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC or search Task Manager from your Start menu. Click More Details at the bottom of its window to display additional information about CPU usage. 

The graphic below shows you what each field means. You can also use Resource Monitor, which is built into Windows 7 and 8; however, Resource Monitor isn’t as user-friendly as Task Manager.

10.Avoid Duplicate Downloads

It is a common mistake that most of us make, when we download something or install a program or software on our computer, it gets saved at some place in your machine and you end up with duplicate files. That can clog your computer and slows down its speed and performance. In order to get rid of these unwanted files, you have to do some maintenance work on your machine regularly. It won’t take much time but will save a lot of time from future trouble shooting efforts.