| Tips and Advice |
| There are many things you can do when you run into the occasional computer "glitch". The first of which, is always to restart. Restarting your computer resets all of its settings and can usually repair most computer problems. The main problem that I see when going out to customers homes here in Phoenix is that they haven't done any basic maintenance. There are a few simple programs in Windows Xp and Vista that you should run monthly (more often if you install and delete programs frequently or if you download programs frequently). The first and most important thing to do is to run your disk defragmenter. You can find this by clicking "start", "all programs", "accessories", "system tools", and then disk defragmenter. With a slower computer, this can take some time so you may want to run it over night or while you are out. This usually makes a noticeable difference to the speed at which you can navigate windows. The other item is in the same place, but on the last part, click on disk cleanup. This will wash out Internet and other unused files. It will run much faster than the disk defragmenter. These also increase the life of your computers' hard drive. One of the fastest growing threats I see in the computer repair field today is viruses, spyware and adware, downloaded unknowingly on the Internet. E-mail and instant messengers are another window hackers will use to get into your computer. Its my firm opinion that no one should even get online without an anti virus program, a firewall, and hard drive space permitting, at least a few good spyware programs, to avoid costly computer repair issues. The good news is that you can get basic programs that cover all of the above mentioned areas free online! Of course if you pay for the product you get more coverage and added benefits, but the basic ones will work. I personally have a mix of paid and free programs on my computer and I'm online for hours a day, and for years now (knock on wood!), I've never had a virus get in, and I keep my spyware to a minimum. I say minimum because there probably no such thing as a computer that's been online that has no spyware or adware in it. This is why i recommend using more than one spyware program. Different programs use different engines and parameters causing them to find things another scanner would miss. |
| Compudoc, home computer repair for Phoenix and Scottsdale Arizona! |