Computer Regular Maintenance : For the smooth and efficient user

1) Clear your internet cache and cookies. This will improve your internet performance and computer speed. If too many things are cached on your computer, it is possible to lose connectivity entirely. I recommend you delete such files every 2 weeks.

Using Firefox:

Click Tools Clear Private Data
Clear the following items:

1) Browsing History
2) Cache
3) Cookies
4) Offline Websites
5) Authenticated Sessions

Using Internet Explorer:

Click Tools Internet Options
Under the Browsing History section click DELETE...

I recommend clicking Delete All... However if you want to keep your saved passwords individually go through the ones you would like to delete.

1) Temporary Internet Files
2) Cookies
3) History
4) Form Data (This is things you have typed multiple times into forms. This can severely slow down browsing experiences if you have too many things stored)
5) Passwords (This fills a password automatically for websites you have visited. If you want to keep your passwords filled in, don't do this.)


2) You should delete additional unwanted files. To do this you should use a system tool called Disk Cleanup. I recommend this once every week.

How to use Disk Cleanup

1) Start menu Program Files Accessories System Tools Disk Cleanup
2) Click Disk Cleanup and it will open a window. Wait a few moments for it to analyze the files.
3) The next window will prompt the files you may want to remove. I recommend check all of the boxes. There is no critical files there. Choose the options you would like to delete.

Downloaded Program files
Temporary Internet Files
Offline Webpages
Recycle Bin
Temporary Files
Compress Old Files
Catalog Files For Context Indexer

Click OK.

4) Click advanced options button

There is 3 new buttons:

Windows Components (This IS NOT recommended.)
Installed Programs (This will open the add/remove programs window. Scroll down the list, if there is anything you do not use or recognize you may wish to delete it. Be careful to avoid things like your Virus Scanners, Java, Microsoft packages, Audio and Video Drivers, Internet browsers, etc. If you don't know what to avoid, do not use this.)
System Restore (This will delete all of the older system restore points. It will keep only the more recent ones. This is not recommended if you are unsure about restore points.)

When you are Finished Click OK.


3) Disk Defragmenter. This system tool helps make more space on your hard drive. When you delete a file it leaves a "void" on your hard drive. This pushes all of the empty places together and puts files where they belong. When you delete something, it is possible for files to get "separated" which means when you access an application your hard drive may have to search in more than one place to locate the entire file. I recommend using this utility once a week.

1) Start menu Program Files Accessories System Tools Disk Defragmenter
2) Defragment

**This process can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 or 3 hours depending how long it has been. It is recommended you let your computer idle (do not use your computer) while this is running. If you execute a file it may make the entire process start over which will make it take a very long time.

4) System scanning. Virus scanning is one of the most important things for computer security and performance. There is a plethora of tools and utilities available. I recommend a complete virus scan one a week.

There is several free and very good programs for virus scanning.

Spybot Search and Destroy
Ad-Aware SE
Avira Antivir
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

5) Desktop and boot up. Has your computer ever loaded really slow when you reboot or turn it on? Chances are you have too many services on start up and or because you have too many desktop icons.

To make your computer boot up faster you need to use a utility called MSCONFIG

1) Start menu Runtype MSCONFIG and hit ENTER
2) This will prompt a window that has numerous tabs including:

General
System INI
Win INI
Boot INI
Services
Start up
Tools

3) Click Start Up tab (This will display all user programs that are running when you reboot or turn your computer on. Every program there is OPTIONAL)
4) You can turn off every program there. However, I recommend you leave a few things on such as Messenger Services, Anti Virus programs or anything you use every day, all of the time and immediately.
As example, I have my Avira and MSN messenger running on start up, everything else is disabled.
5) After you turn off the start up programs,click APPLY, then click OK. This will prompt another message that will say for the changes to take effect you will have to reboot. You can exit without reboot or you can reboot.

6) House keeping. Dust, dust, and more dust! This is the most common culprit for almost every problem imaginable with a computer. From bad performance to system failures! I recommend this once a month.

Here is a few things you can do to keep your computer tidy:

1) Clean your computer screen. Use a mild soap and water to clean your Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors. For Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) monitors you can use a glass cleaner.
**Do not use a glass cleaner or alcohol on a LCD screen. It can physical MELT the screen.
2) Clean your keyboard and mouse. Spilling soda and food can make the keys gunk up. Dirt can make your mouse jump. You can use a vacuum cleaner, mild soap and water to clean your keyboard. You can use a q-tip or cotton swabs to clean dirt from the optical mouse or mild soap and warm water for the ball mouses.
**If using a vacuum cleaner make sure to remove the keys from the keyboard or you could suck them into the bag!
3) Clean your computer tower externally. Use a soft COTTON towel. Do not use anything that makes friction or static. Do not place the tower on the carpet. Keep metal objects and paper away from your tower.
4) Clean your computer tower internally. The most common way to clean your tower is compressed air. It usually cost around $5 a can at staples, bestbuy, office depot and other computer department stores. (I know it is expensive and seems like a rip off).

Best practices while cleaning the inside of your tower:

1) Use compressed air or an anti-static vacuum
2) Remove components such as the Network Interface Card (NIC), Video Card, and RAM then place them into a static-shield bag.
3) When using compressed air I recommend the following;

1) Clean the fans first! Blow out the Power Supply Unit (PSU). Blow out the heat sink over the processor. Blow out any additional case fans. This is where dust clusters the most.
2) Clean the Integrated Components from the rear of the computer. Blow into the usb ports, ps/2 ports, all of the external ports that are integrated into the mother board
3) Clean the hard drives. Blow all of the dust from the hard drives and disk drives.
4) Clean the motherboard. Blow all of the dust from the top to bottom. Make sure to get into the slots where the video card, network card, and ram were.
5) After all of this, finally clean the rest of the tower. Blow all of the dust from the bottom of the tower and touch up on the residual that blew around or use an anti-static vacuum to suck everything out.
6) Replace the adapter cards and ram you had previously removed, make sure they are seated fully and properly.
**Note, when using compressed air NEVER tilt or shake the can. There is a liquid inside that can destroy computer components. Always hold it level and steady.

This is my regular maintenance for all of my computers at home. This will ensure a clean, properly running computer that will maximize component life and keep everything running strong.