7 Easy tips to extend your PC’s life span

By Jeandre de Beer / Pc World

MOST MODERN PROGRAMS can run just fine on PCs that are several years old. And thanks to the rise of cloud services, older PCs are even less of a drag on productivity these days. 

Extending the useful life of your computer doesn’t have to involve expensive upgrades. Keeping your system physically clean following some basic preventive measures, and exercising common sense can add years of life to your machine.

1. Keep your PC sparkling

Virtually every computer becomes laden with dust, dirt, hairballs, and other junk given enough time.

The grime can suffocate the hardware inside your PC, generating heat and putting stress on the components—which in turn can reduce performance and even contribute to a component’s premature death. Clean your computer thoroughly every 6 to 12 months. 

2. Give your PC room to breathe

Your PC’s heat sinks and fans will struggle to keep it cool if the machine’s surroundings are stuffy. Ensure that your PC has plenty of ventilation.

Don’t enclose the tower inside a cabinet under your computer desk, and don’t place the PC near a heating vent or a space heater.

3. Stop hard-drive issues before they blow up

Hard drives can suffer from file-system errors and bad sectors due to improper shutdowns, crashes, and other problems.

The resulting corruption can damage files, cause system instability, and prevent Windows from starting. Fortunately, Windows’ own Check Disk tool can find corruption and repair it. (Such issues are more of a concern if you’re using Windows 7 or earlier. Improvements to error handling in Windows 8 can fix more file and drive issues automatically.)

For your initial scan and every few months thereafter, perform a full scan with Check Disk, enabling automatic repair of file-system errors plus the scan and repair of bad sectors. The scan can take a few hours, and if you’re running it on the system drive you can’t use the PC.

You can run Check Disk without automatic repair for a less-intensive scan that takes just five to ten minutes and allows you to use your computer. You might want to run this quick check every month and follow up with a full check if it finds errors.

To run Check Disk, first open Computer, right-click the desired hard drive, and select Properties. Then select the Tools tab and click Check Now in the ‘Error-checking’ section.

For the full check in Windows 7 or earlier, enable both options and click Start. You’ll be prompted to schedule the check for the next restart. Then, restart the PC, and it will begin the check before booting Windows.

For a quick scan, disable both options and click Start. Once the scan is done, the tool will display the results. In Windows 8, once you open Check Disk it will indicate any issues.

If it sees errors, it recommends a full scan and repair. If it detects none, it allows you to do a quick check. Once that’s done, regardless of whether errors crop up, it then lets you do a full scan if you prefer.

The full check’s results run by quickly, but you can retrieve them later in Windows: Press <Windows>-R, type eventvwr.msc in the Run field, and press <Enter>. Double-click Windows Logs, right-click Application, and click Find to run a search for chkdsk

4. Defragment your hard drive

Data on mechanical hard drives can become fragmented, or spread throughout the drive, slowing down the drive and causing it to work more. Defragmenting the drive helps to reduce this extra labor.

Modern versions of Windows (that is, newer than XP) defragment hard drives automatically, so you needn't worry about running the tool.

5. Protect against power surges

Computers are masses of sensitive components, and any fluctuation in power can upset them. Surges or spikes can put stress on your PC, and in extreme cases they can damage the power supply and other components.

Surge protectors can lose their protection mechanism with just one substantial surge or spike, yet continue to power devices, giving you a false sense of security. Check your surge protector’s status. (Some surge protectors have a status light, but on others the light may simply mean the unit is receiving power.)

Don’t forget about your laptops and other mobile devices: When you need to charge them, try to plug them into a working surge protector.

In rare cases, power surges can flow into your computer via phone and cable lines. Consider a surge protector that can protect such lines as well.

Also note that surge protectors are rated to guard against a certain amount of surge at the maximum, but it’s still wise to unplug electronics during potentially high-surge times, such as lightning storms.

6. Guard against power loss

A sudden loss of power can cause you to lose unsaved documents and may also lead to drive or file corruption. For desktop PCs, consider using an uninterruptible power supply, which is essentially a surge protector with a battery that engages if your home or office loses power.

How long a UPS will power your PC depends on its battery capacity and the watts required for your equipment. Even smaller capacities should give you at least a few minutes to save files and properly shut down the system.

Many also come with software that monitors the UPS and initiates a PC shutdown if you’re not around to respond

7. Fend of malware

Don’t forget about software-based prevention. Although viruses and malware typically don’t cause physical damage, repairing their destruction of your files can cost you big time.

Some even encrypt your entire system and refuse to let go unless you pay a hefty ransom—or nuke your hard drive and start over from scratch.

Run a good security suite to combat viruses, malware, and intrusions.

IT Experts are specialists in this field –  contact us for any assistance that you need.

In a matter of minutes we can remotely log into your computer – safely and securely – to assist you with any issues you might experience. What is remote support? Click here to find out.

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