The Chronicles
April 2011
Salutations dear readers and fellow Laurentian neighbors,
This month I'm going to explain to you all a very important notion: how to clean your computer. And the first thing to know is that this task should be done both outside and inside!
When cleaning the outside of your desktop or portable computer, there are three elements to take care of. The first is the screen: I recommend using the same kind of cloth as the ones used to clean your glasses. Give a squirt of your glasses' cleaning liquid into the cloth to moisten it and wipe away. The second are the fans and keyboard: I really like using a can of compressed air. Be very careful however not to create a white, wet foam and to avoid this make sure you shake the can well and hold it upright. In the case of a portable therefore, you will need to lift it. The third element is the actual body of the computer which can be cleaned with any damp cloth.
Now that the outside of the computer sparkles, let's turn our attention to the inside. And no, I am not talking about physically opening up the computer to clean it. I mean using some (free) programs that will do the cleaning for us. Doing this clean-up job will keep your computer healthy, preventing faulty start-ups or the slowing down of your machine over time. I like to do the following once a month (sometimes even more, depending on the number of tasks I've performed with my computer) ...
1. Run my cleaner program which will not only eliminate all traces of my Internet use, but will also do the same with each program I've used. It will also fix any Registry errors which can occur after having uninstalled programs for example.
2. Run my anti-malware program. Even though we all have anti-virus programs (whether commercial or free), it is important to check for Malware. If your computer becomes infected, the program will identify and remove this malicious software from it and restore your machine back to optimum performance.
3. Run the Windows Defragmenting Tool. "Defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation." (ref. Wikipedia). It is not absolutely necessary to defragment each and every time, which is why we can ask this program if the computer needs this service. If so, I suggest performing the operation overnight as this can take a looong time. (A side note: it is not necessary for you to Defragment if you have Windows 7 as it will be taken care of for you.)
That's it my Friends! Do these three easy steps, then Restart your computer to finish getting rid of all that "dust". Your computer will be grateful indeed. Oh! and one last thought, don't forget to take this opportunity to perform a back-up ...
Take good care of yourselves,
questions.monamilordi@gmail.com
This article originally appeared in Main Street – The Laurentians' English Language Community Newspaper.
