Just like your car, you computer needs regular maintenance to work optimally.  A computer tune up is a process you should run from time to time to ensure that your PC works the way you want it to.

The process is pretty easy to follow but takes a great deal of time; therefore it is best to save a proper tune up for a day when you won’t need to use the computer for several hours.

Backing up the PC

If you have never run a back up on your system, this is the time.  Ideally you should be backing up your data daily, but most people don’t.  To run a back up go to the Start menu, select All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then Back Up.  For an initial back up select All Information on this Computer and stand by to change out CDs as needed.

Cleaning and Tuning Your Computer

There are several scans you want to run at this point.  First check the hard drive for errors by going to Start, My Computer and right click on the volume you want scanned.  Select Properties, then Tools and finally, Check Now.  Opt for both types of scan.

When that is complete defragment the drive.  Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Defragmenter.  This will bring together all the little bits of files scattered around your drive and place them near one another.  This reduces retrieval time.

Run a virus scan.  Removing any malware, spyware and other trash will also help speed up your PC.  Finally, remove any old programs you no longer use and old restore points that your computer is hording in the system.

Finish up by running another back up and rebooting the system.

Registry Cleaner Instead
If all this seems time consuming, it is.  It is much simpler to run a registry cleaner and have it take care of errors in the operating system registry instead.  Truly these two functions are complimentary, but a registry cleaner is much faster and can be run more frequently; a computer tune up – light, if you will.  Download a good registry cleaner to keep your PC optimized when you don’t have time to run a full level clean up.

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The thing that I really hate about malware attack or OS malfunction is data loss. I could deal with having to reinstall applications or even reformat my hard drive. While they may be time-consuming, they’re nothing compared to the time that you’ll spend in rewriting or recreating the files that have been damaged or deleted.

Antivirus

There are many ways by which one could prevent data loss, first and foremost of which is by installing security suites. The saying that “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” also holds true with regard to PC health. Indeed, why flirt or invite disaster when you could rid yourself of the worries from the start by making sure that no unwanted programs would be able to access your system. True, antivirus programs could cure and treat infected files. However, there are cases where files get corrupted beyond repair.

Backup

While antivirus programs are very effective in keeping your PC secured from unwanted intrusions, they are not 100% fool-proof. There will come a time when malware would be able to break through the wall and infect your system. When this happens, there’s pretty much nothing that you could do about it other than to resort and to restore the second or third copies of the files that got destroyed.

Since security suites are not a hundred percent reliable, you have to take another precautionary measure in order to ensure that you won’t lose the precious files in your hard drive. A very simple but efficient and practical solution to possible data loss is by backing up. This task or procedure is not complicated. Backing up data simply means making second copies thereof and saving them in another media.

Brainless Task

You don’t need a program in order to perform this task. However, doing it manually can be quite tedious, especially if you have thousands of files saved in your hard disk and scattered in different folders. This is the reason why there are several back up programs in the market despite the fact that the task simply involves dragging folders into the disk where you intend to save your data.

You don’t need a third party software if you’re using Windows Vista, though. Backing up in Vista is an effortless task. Its back up feature takes care of everything from file selection to file destination. All you have to do in the process is to change the disks or drives whenever they’re already full. It’s as simple as that.

Save Often

Back up regularly. Take note that you’re adding new files or modifying existing ones everyday. The file that you’ve saved a month ago might already be entirely different from the one that you have right now. Make sure that the media where you’re going to save the file is reliable. DVD disks, as well as external hard drives, are among the dependable storage devices. Flash drives could also be viable alternatives. However, data could be easily erased therein.

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