PC Maintenance Tips & Best Practices

Make sure your system has at least 15-20% of FREE SPACE on your Windows Volume (Hard Drive). On most Windows Operating Systems ("OS"), you need at least 15% free space to perform disk defragmentation ("Defrag").

• Remove Unused Software
• Remove Old Content & Archive Your Backups To External Media
• Defragment You Hard Drive
• Install Microsoft Updates & Windows Updates

REMOVE UNUSED SOFTWARE

If you haven't played one of your PC games in a long while, chances are that you probably won't fire it up any time soon. If you are lacking hard drive space, consider uninstalling some games and programs that you don't use.

Best PC Value recommends to remove all unused browser toolbars from your system. Outdated toolbars may cause your browser to start up very slowly or crash.

• Windows XP: Click START Menu > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
• Windows Vista: Click START Menu > Control Panel > Programs and Features
• Windows 7: Click START Menu > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program
• Run Dialog Box: appwiz.cpl (Windows XP & Later)

REMOVE OLD CONTENT & ARCHIVE YOUR BACKUPS TO EXTERNAL MEDIA

Delete or archive your user files. If you don't access a group of images all the time, but they mean alot to you, burn them to CD's/DVD's and put them away or back up these files to an External Storage Device. Files that aren't being used on your main hard drive just take up space for other files or software that you may want to use more frequently.

For example: Some of our customers have pictures of their children and/or grandchildren on their hard drives that have been taken more than 3 years ago. Most hard drives live only 3-5 years of constant use. If your hard drive fails, not-so-oftenly viewed, but priceless images may be lost. Some customers are fortunate to have back-ups. Do you? If you are in need of data recovery services, visit our friends at Drive Savers - www.drivesavers.com and mention the reference number DS12791 for special discounts through Best PC Value.

DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVE

On traditional Hard Disk Drives, information is stored in between the gaps of other files on your computer. Just like a music track on a record player, the read/write arm on the hard drive has to move to different parts of the drive to access information. If that information has scattered in too many places, it will take several more rotations of the disk or swings of the read/write arm to get that information. By defragmenting your hard drive, the information is reorganized as tightly as possible to allow your hard drive to read that information as fast as possible.

Running Disk Defragmenter on a badly fragmented drive can increase your performance dramatically and may resolve other unexplainable errors or bugs on your system.
If your hard drive is full, Disk Defragmenter will not be able to reorganize this information properly.

• Windows XP: Click START Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
• Windows Vista: Click START Menu > Progams > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
• Windows 7: Click START Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
• Run Dialog Box: dfrg.msc (Windows XP); dfrgui.exe (Windows Vista & 7)

INSTALL MICROSOFT UPDATES & WINDOWS UPDATES

The Microsoft Security team is hard at work looking for and patching potential security risks on your system. Make sure that your computer is up to date and your firewall is enabled and your Antivirus/Antimalware software is up to date. Don't be fooled by the phrase, "Automatic", most antivirus/antimalware software have important updates only available by manually checking for updates.

Best PC Value recommends Microsoft Security Essentials - www.microsoft.com/security_essentials which is great for home and small office use. As of 2010, Microsoft Security Essentials can be installed on up to 10 home/office computers in one location.

• Visit Microsoft Updates: http://update.microsoft.com