Healthy Computing - How to Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly

I’m often asked by friends, and strangers, about problems with their computer. By far the most common problem is that of computers that are slow, or unresponsive. So here’s my short prescription of how to keep your computer healthy. This works best if you have a new computer, and can apply these steps before your pc starts to show signs of trouble, but it may also be useful even if your computer is already in the trouble stage.

Operating System: Make sure you are running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, or Home, and that it is at Service Pack 2. If you are running any previous versions of Windows, including XP Service Pack 1, you are leaving your computer susceptible to viruses and worms. Windows Vista may be ok, but I haven’t used it so I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending it right now. (Also, keep in mind that these tips are for Windows computers. I don’t have any real experience with Mac’s are Linux, so if you are running one of these operating systems you can stop reading now.)

Firewall: Every computer connected to the internet needs a firewall in place to prevent the spread of viruses and worms. (Computer viruses and worms are malicious code that when executed can cause any number of problems, including data loss and computer sluggishness.) Fortunately, if you are running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 there is already a Firewall included in the operating system, and this is the one I recommend.

Anti-Virus: No matter how good your Firewall is, it’s still possible for viruses to find there way to your system. (There are some things we can do to reduce this risk that will be discussed later.) I currently recommending the latest version of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (available here: http://free.grisoft.com/). I recommend this over other Anti-Viruses applications because it works well, it doesn’t use as many system resources as some of the more popular Anti-Virus applications, and it’s free.

Anti-Spyware: Spyware can be installed on your system in a number of ways, and once it’s own your computer it will cause your computer to respond slowly. The application I recommend to remove Spyware from your pc is Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free (available here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/). There are lots of other Anti-Spyware applications, some that will cause more harm than good, but Ad-Aware has been around for a while, and I find it to be the most reliable.

Web Browser: Most people use Microsoft Internet Explorer for there web browser because it’s included with Windows. However, in my opinion, Mozilla Firefox (available here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/) is a better alternative. I find that because Firefox is not yet as popular as Internet Explorer it is less of a target for attacks. Firefox is also easy to use, and is able to render nearly all web pages without any problems.

Additional steps that can be taken to prevent computer problems are to be mindful of what you click on while browsing the web, and what additional software you install on your computer.

While these tips are not guaranteed to keep your computer running smoothly, they are steps in the right direction. Again, these tips work best as prevention, if your computer is already experiencing problems there are steps that can be taken to repair your computer, but they are outside of the scope of this note. Feel free to ask any questions, or offer any suggestions are criticisms in the comments section.

Thanks for reading.

Published on Facebook 08/03/2007