A machine is designed to function correctly at any time. But from time to time it needs certain maintenance tasks to keep it working like the first day and last longer. The same thing happens with our computer.
We all like to turn on our computers and have the login screen appear immediately. We enter a username and password, open a couple of programs and they appear on the screen in seconds. That’s how it feels good.
But over time, our computer suffers. Not because of the hardware, but also because of the software: installing and uninstalling programs, filling the disk with files and the mere daily user wears out Windows and slows it down.
It is something inevitable but it has a solution: PC maintenance. There are automatic maintenance tasks that the system itself is in charge of doing for you, but in general, there are actions that we must execute ourselves, which do not take many minutes but that we do not usually take into account because they are boring and “we don’t always have time.”
Many will sound familiar to you, but it doesn’t hurt to make a list of tasks for PC maintenance. It will be very practical for you to apply it throughout the year and not leave you with anything to do. Your computer will thank you and you will see the changes yourself.
Monthly PC maintenance tasks
We will start with the tasks that we should perform each month, regardless of whether we are on vacation, working, or studying. If we don’t do them, nothing happens, our computer will not explode into a thousand pieces.
But spending a few minutes on these tasks (half an hour at most if you follow them all) will make your PC run better during the month.
Empty the trash
It depends on how many files you delete, but it is advisable to empty the Trash once a month. More than anything if you delete it before, you may miss a file that you deleted prematurely, especially on your work PC.
Before emptying the Trash, it doesn’t hurt to look at the content in case there is something that you will regret if you delete it permanently.
Delete temporary and caches
Either with the Windows tool called Disk Cleanup or with third-party tools like CCleaner, once a month it doesn’t hurt to get rid of remnants of programs and the system itself.
These are temporary files and folders generated when installing or uninstalling programs and games or by the mere operation of Windows. Deleting them once a month will give us more disk space and will lighten the system in the long run.
Defragment the hard drive
This advice is one of the oldest but no less practical. If your PC has a solid state drive (SSD), it is not necessary, but regular hard drives do, since due to the nature of the Windows file system, files are usually dispersed in parts and, eventually over time, it slows down its performance.
In Windows 10, for example, the defragmentation task is automatic. In previous versions, and even to be sure in Windows 10, we must perform this task by hand.
Once a month is more than enough for the contents of our hard drive to be in good condition. As a recommendation, before this task I recommend having performed the two previous actions: empty the Trash and delete temporary and caches.
Review startup programs
There are programs that, when you install them, place various updaters or assistants in the Windows startup list so that those programs open along with Windows.
Most are harmless, as well as useless, but if too many accumulate, the Windows startup that lasted 10 seconds may end up degenerating into 20 or more.
It doesn’t hurt to review that list once a month and consider which programs should open themselves when Windows starts and which ones are better to remove from there.
You can do it from msconfig, a Windows tool that you can open from the Run option or from the search engine itself.
In msconfig, go to the Windows Startup tab and uncheck any programs that you see as useless. Of course, if you don’t know what they are for, don’t touch them. Some have to do with hardware drivers. Make sure beforehand. In any case, you can mark them again at any time.
Backup
It may never have happened to you, but don’t tempt fate. At any time your computer can crash, or Windows can stop working and you will be left without access to your files and documents.
Every week (if you work with very important files) or monthly, it doesn’t hurt to back up the contents of your hard drive.
There are many ways to do it. The best is to use an external drive independent of your computer.
To make the backup you can use the default Windows tool or use one of the many third-party tools, such as Genie Timeline, which we saw a long time ago on Blogthinkbig.com.
You can make a copy of the entire system or just your files. I prefer the latter and reinstall Windows and other programs in case of major problems so that they are as good as the first day.
Check updates
Although Windows has its updater, which usually checks for new patches and solutions to vulnerabilities, it is worth checking that it works correctly and that we have Windows up to date.
Once a month will be enough. We check for updates, download them and Windows will install them. This way our computer will be more secure and stable than before.
The same goes for the other programs. In the case of Office, it is updated just like Windows, but third-party programs require a manual update.
We don’t need to check all of them, just the ones that tend to be most vulnerable, such as Flash or Java, and the ones that we use most often.
Scan the disk for viruses
Who says virus means malware in general: Trojans, worms, rootkits, ransomware… There is a whole fauna of programs with harmful intentions that should be kept at bay.
As I have commented in previous articles, it is advisable to have a firewall and antivirus, in addition to being careful with which pages we visit and what links and emails we open.
Furthermore, once a month, to make sure, we should do a thorough scan of our hard drive in search of harmful programs, either with our default antivirus or with an additional one. Many security firms offer free versions of their antivirus that work from the web browser or do not require installation.
Restart the computer
If you use a desktop PC, this advice will seem absurd to you. But if you use a laptop, you may be more inclined to hibernate the computer rather than shut it down.
Current laptops allow you to hibernate the system instead of turning it off, simply by lowering the screen until it makes contact with the keyboard. The advantage is that when you exit hibernation, everything will continue as it was without waiting for the usual Windows startup. Plus, it uses little battery power, especially if you use a solid-state drive.
So from time to time, you should restart your laptop so that Windows “cleans” the running processes and thus relieves it of so many tasks after having been on for so long.
It can be daily, weekly, or once a month. It is also advisable to turn off the computer if you are not going to use it for a long time (a whole day, for example).
Once a year does not hurt
The above PC maintenance tasks are common throughout the year. But annually, before going on vacation, for example, we should perform certain additional tasks to the previous ones.
Review installed programs
Although we install and uninstall programs every day, either because they have been recommended to us or because we have to use them for a specific project, once a year we should review what programs are installed in Windows and if we can get rid of any.
This advice is designed especially for video games, which usually take up a lot of disk space and, if we are not going to play them anymore, it is advisable to uninstall them to leave space and system resources for other games or programs.
Clean Windows installation
This tip is old school and depends on how much time you have and how well or poorly your computer is working at the moment.
Reinstalling Windows once a year allows you to have a clean installation and thus forget about temporary files, partial uninstallation, and configurations that slow down your PC and the good work of Windows.
Simply back up your files, make a list of installed programs, and reinstall Windows, formatting the drive in the process, to remove the previous installation completely.
This option can also help you save all the previous advice, except for the backup, of course.
