CUBA'S - techlife magazine

illustration by Derek lue
[ HOW TO ]
if it’s true you’re only as good as
your tools, your productivity is
likely linked to the performance of
your computer. when it’s slow and
temperamental, probably you are,
too. to keep your machine running
like it’s just out of the box – laptop
or desktop – reg westly, chair
of nait’s computer and network
engineering technology programs
and network administrator
program, offers a plan. follow
this schedule of simple maintenance tasks for a
healthier, happier hard drive that will have both you and
your machine operating at peak efficiency.
— Scott Messenger
DaIlY
BaCK uP fIleS.
Westly ranks this task high on the
to-do list: “If you don’t have the files,
it doesn’t matter if your computer is
performing well or not.” Preferably,
use an external hard drive over
DVDs (which spoil over time), and
one with twice the hard drive space
of your computer.
WeeKlY
DOWnlOaD uPDateS.
Windows and antivirus programs are
works in progress, constantly in need
of improvements, security patches
and defence against new threats.
Set your computer to automatically
download these updates at least
once a week, Westly advises.
mOnthlY
DISK CheCK.
“Hard drives tend to fail in a
logarithmic crash,” says Westly.
One week there’s a single error,
for example, the next, seven, the
next, 40 – each corresponding to a
section of hard drive flagged by your
computer as unusable, thus limiting
space. Monitor system health via the
Control Panel. “As soon as you start
getting more and more errors, it’s
time to buy a hard drive – before a
catastrophic failure.”
DISK CleanuP.
Temporary Internet and download
program files are among the old,
unneeded files this Windows tool will
suggest for removal. Delete what
it recommends. “That usually frees
up a lot of hard drive space all of a
sudden.”
DefRagment.
To efficiently use hard drive space,
computers fragment files to fill
storage gaps. Ironically, this slows
retrieval as it forces the system to
pull the file together from multiple
locations. Speed things up by
defragmenting over a lunch hour,
letting Windows reassemble files for
quicker access.
BIannuallY
TECHNOfILE
DetaIlIng.
Twice a year, chase out the dust
bunnies. Open your desktop case and
apply a can of compressed air to fans
and the motherboard. Unplug and
re-plug cables for fresh connections.
You should not open your laptop, but
can put a shine on the monitor with
flat-screen TV cleaner sprayed on a
microfibre cloth. As for any keyboard
crumbs, you’re on your own, says
Westly with a laugh. “If you’re getting
grime in there, that means you
shouldn’t be eating at the computer.”
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