Many Computer Users Skip Routine Maintenance

It probably comes as no surprise, but it seems most people ignore routine computer maintenance and only think about it when disaster strikes. You know, like falling victim to more than 3,000 viruses. At once.

A survey done of Staples "EasyTechs," indicated that more than 80 percent of the chain's customers don't bother with routine maintenance and most of the problems they call in the techs for could have been prevented.

The problems the techs found included the personal record number of viruses cited above as well as some much, much ickier ones:

• Enough dust inside to fill the tech's hand-held vacuum
• A family of cockroaches living quite comfortably, thankyouverymuch
• A bee's nest. Yes, a bee's nest. You know, those flying things that go "bzzzz" and sting you? A nest of those.
  

The techs suggested some easy tips for users that could potentially result in the techs having less work to do, but possibly getting fewer bee stings:

• Keep your antivirus software up to date. Only a third of the 105 techs reported their customers had the current versions.
• If you have a Windows computer, use Windows Disk Cleanup to safely get rid of temporary files.
• Keep your computer in a well-ventilated area and clear out any dust or dirt that's gotten into the case.
• Defragment your hard drive regularly; it organizes your hard drive to maximize your performance
• Check regularly for updates to your OS, whether it be Windows, Mac, Linux or other, and make sure you download any security patches.
• Back up stuff that's hard or impossible to replace - photos, music, important files - on an external hard drive or flash drive. More than 85 percent of the techs said virtually none of their customers backed up data.
  

In other words: Don't be like most people and wait for your computer to crash and die an ignominious death before seeking help.