COMPUTER PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

Computer devices like any other electronic devices in its everyday use are subject to wear and tear and loosing proper functionalities. Generally, all Electronic devices need preventive maintenance performed on them often just to ensure it keeps functioning properly. It is a very simple process depending on how often it is done. The goal of Preventive Maintenance is to help ensure you are operating devices safely and at their optimal performance, reduce data vulnerability and avoid data loss, help minimize wear and tear of the devices ensuring longevity of the device.

Sometimes you may notice for example, a properly functioning laptop stored away for a long time may not work well when you retrieve it. At this point you would require reactive maintenance to restore the device, but note that if you regularly carry out preventive maintenance, your device should not conk out on you. It can be scheduled monthly, quarterly or every half a year depending on the device.

Most people only do PM on the office computer as its probably scheduled by the Office IT guy but what about your home device? That too needs to undergo the Preventive maintenance so when you can, set a day with your office IT guy to bring in your work computer to ensure it functions well for longer. You can also learn to do this yourself and be your own IT guy. Preventive maintenance is done on both the hardware and the software components.

Computer Organization

First part of PM is organizing the computer and its accessories or as I say the ‘computer situation’. This is just how and where the computer sits. Especially if it is a desktop in an office, the cleaning personnel may not have a way to clean the floor near where your computer is situated or people keep passing near your computer and keep tripping because of the way the wires from the computer to the socket are placed. Get an extension cable if necessary, tie up and manage the charging and network cables well, replace broken cables and ensure the computers vents are not blocked on the wall. This will go along way in ensuing the computer is working well and it is safe.

Also, at home ensure the computer safe from the reach of children, you know how these little ones end up everywhere tagging on cables and touching on the computer screen leaving little dirty hand-prints. aha!

Cleaning Computer Device

Secondly Preventive Maintenance involves cleaning the computer. Yes, literally cleaning it. Most home computers are usually laptops and being at home one may often eat on it or drink near it therefore pouring little crumbs or sticky juice liquids on it which may clog the keyboard and you may find it hard to press some keys.

You can visit an electronic shop in your area where they can recommend a product i.e. Klear Screen that can be sprayed onto a lint-free cloth and wiped on the computer screen and keyboard. Also, we should just avoid eating or drinking near or computer devices.

Also, it could just be regular dust you may need to clean off. There is a device called a blower which is better at removing lots of dust. Desktop computers that are placed in one location for long tends to collect a lot of dust causing the fan not to properly function therefore the computer overheats and loses functionality. Therefore, the blower literally blows off all the dust, and this is recommended to be done outside. So, if these cleaning can be done quarterly, then the duct and food particles do not need to reach a point for clogging the device.

Update Computer Programs

Third part of the process is updating various software that is installed on the computer.  You may have noticed that some software products require regular updates which may contain new features, updated functionalities and security features. One may decide to ignore these updates and in a few months the program may crash with all your data.

They may seem annoying but one can schedule updates to a certain time to avoid inconveniences and also get to experience the full range of a product. Most products require updates maybe quarterly so you may schedule this with the PM. The computer drivers also need regular updates and you can manually update the drivers as follows; Right Click on My Computer > Choose Manage Option > Device Manager > Choose the driver to update.

Also, it is advisable to delete unused or unwanted programs regularly. Since you are not checking on them, they may lack updates hence leaving you vulnerable to attacks. Also deleting the programs properly and completely uninstalling them is important.

Run Security Updates (Firewall and Anti-Viruses)

Fourth step of preventive Maintenance is checking for malware or viruses. Everyday viruses get stronger and often find a way to bypass security features of a computer device. Therefore, it is advisable to allow those pesky annoying updates that pop up every so often to ensure the content of your computer stays safe. Make a habit of looking out for updates. The best thing about these is a provision of scheduling when to run these updates so as not to feel inconvenienced by them in the idle of a work da or worst of all in the middle of a zoom meeting…yikes! The more you put it off, the more vulnerable your device is to an attack.

If you have downloaded an anti-virus, check for them regularly and do not disable the notifications to keep up-to-date. Run full malware scans every so often to ensure your programs are safe and have no malicious content.

Data Back up

The final step of this whole process is data backup. We often run out of storage space on our computers but regular back up of important files and deletion of unnecessary ones is vital in ensuring you have space for more important files. You can save your important stuff off the computer on an external hard drive or on the cloud therefore securing data in case the computer crashes.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to do preventive maintenance on your computer as often as possible. Here at DewCIS Solutions Limited, we offer preventive maintenance services amongst other IT Services to our esteemed clients who include; individuals, small businesses and large organizations too. We value our client’s businesses so we offer Preventive Maintenance services with the aim of helping run everyday business procedures smoothly. We carry out Preventive Maintenance on desktops, tablets, laptops and even office servers. So if you are in need of preventive maintenance today for your personal computer kindly contact us today to schedule a session on your computer device.