Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

Taking care of business.

I think that it is easy to forget that your computer is a machine. It needs to be serviced like any other machine. It just does not have a lot of moving parts to fail. There is nothing for you to oil or lubricate. And the semiconductor components are amazing. They are so stable and reliable as of late, it seems that they rarely fail.

There are, however, some things you can do to keep it running without any problems and maintain the performance you had when you bought it. One enemy is dust. Vacuuming the places where air enters the computer and the monitor on some regular basis is a good idea. Keeping the computer out of a dusty environment is another. Vacuuming the keyboard, mousepad and the underside of the mouse is a good idea too, just don't do it while the computer is on. Clean the ball of the mouse occasionally; follow the directions in the literature you received with your computer. These will tell you how to open it and how to clean it. Keeping the mouse pad out of the flow of dust will also keep the mouse working well. A slide out drawer for your keyboard and mouse that rolls under the monitor keeps the dust away. Cleaning the monitor screen regularly will make it easier to see what you are doing. You can buy special wipes to do this, as I have, and a box lasts a good while.

Other maintenance should include a regular check to make sure that any vents on the monitor or computer are not blocked. Also avoid any heat source near your equipment or wiring. Check that the source of the power plug in strip is not getting noticeably hot. Don’t keep anything magnetic near the computer or your supply of floppies. And keep liquids away from your keyboard and mouse.

Actual component failures are often such things as a fan burning out. There are several of them in your computer keeping the processing chip from overheating. Monitors have been known to fail before the warranty is up. A poorly soldered joint on a circuit board within your computer or monitor can be OK for a long time and then fail. There is very little you can do about this. A good technician can spot that kind of problem and repair it. A hard drive might fail for mechanical reasons and will have to be replaced, but this is rare.

Over some time your computer may seem to slow down while you are surfing the net and that can sometimes be due to an accumulation of files. These temporary Internet files should be emptied regularly and this can be done easily in Disk Cleanup, which is accessible from Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools. This will delete unneeded files that can slow the performance of your computer. From the same location you should run ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter regularly as well. ScanDisk checks your hard drive(s) for errors and can warn you if there is serious damage to the surface. This damage can occur for a number of reasons, the main one being the inadvertent shut down while the hard drive is operating, such as a power failure or when you accidentally shut the power down.

As you run your computer the hard drive is constantly accepting data and deleting it at your command. This results in the computer spreading files around to many locations on the drive. This fragmentation of the files results in a longer time to access them. Running Disk Defragmenter allows the computer to put all the pieces together. Run Standard regularly and Thorough every third time. These operations can be done when you wish or you can use Maintenance Wizard to do this on a regularly scheduled basis even when you are asleep. For further information on the Maintenance Wizard, type "Maintenance" in the computer Help (Index). Computer Help is just above the start button after you have clicked it. If, when you run any of these maintenance program, you get a message indicating that some open program is slowing down the process, you can take the following action before you start your maintenance procedure. Hold down Ctrl and Alt at the same time and then tap Delete. This will bring up all the running programs. You can delete them one at a time by highlighting each one and clicking on End Task and clicking on End Task again when another window shows up on the screen. Continue with more of these, closing most, except DO NOT CLOSE "explorer" and "systray". If you then run ScanDisk and Disk Defrag, those programs will proceed without interruption.

A slow down in your computer’s start-up time can be the large number of icons you have on your desktop. The time it takes to load them is really wasted if you are not using them. These are short cuts to programs that you use frequently. Those icons that are not used regularly should be dragged to the recycle bin, and then deleted from there. This does not eliminate the program which you will still find after you click the Start button and point to Programs.

It will also help your computer’s performance if you empty the recycle bin regularly. Click on the icon, click on File in the window that opens and then click on "Empty Recycle Bin." Check your printer ink levels and get a new cartridge before you actually need it. Keep your scanner lid closed so that it doesn’t accumulate dust and check the glass regularly for marks and dirt streaks.

By taking care of your computer it will continue to give you top performance.

TAKE NOTICE: PA. Tax-free Computer Purchase program is back again. Save by buying your computer, peripherals and software during the week of Feb. 18 to 25.

Next time in Mouse Clix: Improving your print quality.