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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 08:38 AM
Is this for you or for a company?
If this is for you, throw the list out.
Once a year, back up your important documents, pictures, music, etc. and completely wipe and re-install your computer.
It doesn't matter if this is a PC or a Mac. Both suck and will start to get crusty.
You can try and fight it by dumping caches, defraging, etc etc. but nothing will slow the gradual march towards a slow computer. The only thing that helps is clearing the junk out once a year.
Since I've owned Macs for awhile Apple has a pretty consistent policy of having completely new versions of OS X out once every 2-3 years which simplifies the whole process. Never use the "upgrade in place" option, always back up and completely wipe the hard drive to start fresh.
If this is for a company, I'd suggest using a program that deletes everything on shutdown and then forces the computer back to a new image. Use network shares for user data. The less access a user has to the core OS the better. Terminals were awesome back in the day.
As for fighting viruses and the like. I suggest using a browser like Chrome or FF with adblock plus. Almost every virus that you will come into contact with on the net comes from hackers hijacking flash and banner ads with malicious content. Secondary is to always keep your browser plugins up to date (Flash, Java, etc).
This can be done on the enterprise level by pushing an advertising block list through the hostsfile. You can set up a local DNS server to do this or push a hostsfile through active directory with a group policy update.
I use Microsoft Security Essentials as my virus protection of choice. It's free and works faster than the bloatware of Symantec and the like.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Experience: 6 years of working in enterprise IT support
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 09:00 AM
Learn about hard drive partitioning. Figure out how to setup a computer to dual boot 2 different operating systems. You should at least be able to clean install Windows.
Learn how to recover files from a corrupted OS that won't boot.
Max out your ram and install Windows on a SSD.
Team Nachos
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 09:17 AM
Great topic for a post. I was also thinking about asking something similar, what are some good programs I shoudl have on my computer to run maintenance tasks, protect from viruses and malware and all that.
My girls brother is an IT guy at a university. He helps me out with my computers from time to time. He's a big advocate of Glary Utilities. THey have a one click maintenance thing that checks and repairs your registry, cleans junk and does a bunch of other stuff. There are also individual tools you can use to do other things as well.
Anohter program he always recommends to me is revvo uninstaller. I'm not too saavy but from how he explains it even when you delete something from your computer there are files leftover nad pieces still onyour registry. Revoo does the best job of removing any tidbits of files leftover which may slow you down or cause problems or take up space.
He also recomends malwarebytes. I've also heard a number of IT and compuer guys say they are big fans of avast for antivirus. For any computer guys, is it necessary to have something like avast and malwarebytes or is one sufficient?
Lastly, I heard someone on this forum mention you should use a guest account on your own computer. If I recall I think they said if anything happens only that profile is corrupted not the admin profile. Is that really the case?
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 09:51 AM
Run your OS from an SSD and then store all of your documents on a hard disk in your PC. Buy a NAS drive, plug it into your router and use that to back up all your important documents. For extra safety encrypt your most valuable documents and upload them onto some kind of cloud storage.
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 10:46 AM
That's a good list, however it's from 2003 and mentions Windows 95. I'd skip anything that mentions specific things like floppy drives or cleaning mice (they're optical now).
Clearing temp files is always a good idea, however since Windows XP came out, it automatically defrags the disk when not in use.
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 11:16 AM
Assuming you're using a PC to work, here’s a monthly maintenance checklist to maintain your computer. Make sure to follow it every month. Doesnt change much if you're using a Mac. Only some steps need minor changes.
1. Run Disk Cleanup – Running disk cleanup will remove temporary files, compressed old files, offline web pages, downloaded file programs and empty the recycle bin. You can run Disk Cleanup utility tool by going to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. You can also use CCleaner for this.
2. Update Windows regularly – Microsoft releases system security patches on Patch Tuesday, which is the second Tuesday of each month. If you haven’t already done it, be sure that you run Windows update and install the patches. To run Windows Updates, go to Start ->All Programs -> Windows Update.
3. Update Installed Software – In addition to updating Windows, you will also want to make sure that the third-party software installed on your PC is also current. This especially rings true for Adobe Reader, Flash and Java since they are often exploited in cyber-attacks. So make sure they are all up-to-date with the latest security fixes.
4. Do a Full-System Antivirus Scan – Double-check that your antivirus program is up-to-date with the latest virus definitions and perform a full-system scan to verify that your system is still clear of any Trojans, viruses, or other malware.
5. Complete Data Backup – You should be backing up your files on a weekly basis, but in the event that you’ve been slacking off, be sure to do a full system backup on a monthly basis. That way you can pick up with the most recent backup if anything were to happen.
6. Delete & Organize Files – Chances are you create or adde plenty of files throughout the month, so go through your files and clean them up a bit. Remove any files you don’t need and organize the ones you do so they are easily accessible for later use.
7. Uninstall Unused Programs – If you have the tendency to install a lot of programs then review the list of the ones currently installed & remove any that you don’t need.
8. Clear Dust – Dust can clog your system fans, lead to overheating issues and even cause hardware failure if it’s allowed to get too out of hand. If you have the technical know-how, carefully open up your computer and use a can of compressed air to remove any dust that has collected. Consult a computer professional if you don’t feel comfortable opening up your PC and/or cleaning out the dust.
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-24-2014, 10:09 PM
I had a 'tech' ( just a guy who knew his way around computers) go through my computer at a Starbucks. In half an hour, everything was snappier.
So, I'd recommend a tech going through your computer. But my issue with this has been, trust. I've had a tech check my computer for .jpg's. Just that one incidence had me distrust techs because they have access to my stuff.
So, here's a service I'd use: A remote technician.
There's software available that allows a technician to logon to your computer from another location. Once he's in, he can move the mouse around and use whatever software tools he needs to do his work....and I can keep an eye on the whole process. If hardware work needs to be done, I'd simply get that done locally, but, remove the hard-drive first.
I tried using some brand of Registry Cleaner once, big mistake.
Antivirus, Comodo Firewall, Firefox with Adblock, never had problems.
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Paging the the IT Guys - Computer Maintenance Checklist?
09-25-2014, 12:05 AM
Install MINT and you never have to worry about a virus again.. I have 2 linux partitions and one for windows and as soon as windows stops working I just switch to Mint (which is just like a shitty bloaty windows).
