Useful Equipment and Software Checklist:

  • Canned Air (purchase at most stores)

  • External Hard Drive (500GB or more Recommended)

  • Screen or monitor cleaner

  • Lint free microfiber cloth

  • Rubbing alcohol

  • Anti-Virus (we recommend Malwarebytes): https://www.malwarebytes.com/

  • Temperature Monitor: https://openhardwaremonitor.org/

  • Backup Software (OneDrive works well for this)


Daily Maintenance:

      -Turn your computer off nightly: This will help to refresh background processes running on your PC and can sometimes resolve minor issues or glitches. 

      -Let your antivirus run a quick scan: Quick scans are typically run daily by your antivirus to make sure no malware, viruses, or potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are not staying on your PC. These scans are relatively quick as they only look at the most recently used files and folders.

      -Verify your Cloud Sync is active: If you are using onedrive for this service you will see a cloud icon in your system tray:

From the picture above you can see when you mouse over the cloud icon it will say that OneDrive is up to date. If the cloud has an X through it, that means there is a problem with syncing that needs to be addressed to avoid data loss.


Bi-Weekly:

     - Clean up desktop files and documents:  Delete any unneeded documents off your computer. Create a folder system for storing your documents, often folders are named after the document type, or by dates if preferred. Organize your documents into these folders to make searching for documents easier and to prevent digital clutter.

     - Clear your temporary internet files: Often a lot of hard drive space can be stored from your computer saving files it gets from the internet for faster loads the next time. You can get to the program to do this by searching “Disk Cleanup” in the windows search bar:

Once open, disk cleanup will show you the storage amounts held in each folder and how much space it will clean off your drive.


Monthly: 

     - Clean your Mouse and Keyboard: using a microfiber cloth, dampen with a small amount of rubbing alcohol and wipe down both your mouse and keyboard.  Use canned air in between the keys of your keyboard to blow out any dust or debris under the key caps to prevent key failure.

     - Clean your monitor screen: While not always necessary, it is good practice to wipe down your monitor with a lint free microfiber after spraying it with a bit of screen cleaner to remove any fingerprints or spots on the monitor. 

     - Run computer updates: most of the time windows will update automatically, but it is always good to double check that everything is up to date. By typing “Check for Updates” in the windows search bar you will bring up the settings menu that shows if updates are good or not. As long as it states “you are up to date” with a green checkmark you are good to go.

     - Delete unused programs: Unused programs often go without updates and give attackers or viruses an attack vector into accessing information on a computer they should not be able to. By searching “add or remove programs” in the windows search bar, you can peruse your list of programs and remove any programs you are no longer using on a regular basis.

     - Transfer important files to an external hard drive: back up any files that you do not want to lose onto an external hard drive. This will help to provide redundancy for any important data.

     - Remove unneeded programs from startup: a lot of programs will want to start when the computer boots up. In the windows search bar if you type “Startup programs” you will bring up the setting that shows all the programs that can open on startup. 


3 – 6 Months:

     - Dust out your computer: Dust will often build up in the fans and the insides of your computer over time. This causes heating issues and can greatly lower the lifespan of your PC. Using canned air, you can blow out your pc to help extend its life and prevent issues from overheating. A couple tips to help in this are:

- Hold down fans while using canned air to blow them out. Spinning the fans while blowing them out can ruin the bearings inside the fan and cause them to stop functioning properly leading to a grinding noise. 

- Use short spurts of canned air as constantly holding the trigger down will reduce the air pressure coming out of the can as it gets colder

- Wear a facemask, or dust out your pc in a well ventilated room to avoid breathing in dust and debris.