ABC of Computer Maintenance

To alot of people, computer maintenance is the last thing that they want to be thinking of, but you may not realise that a lot of your IT issues may be due to lack of maintenance. We want to make it simple for you with the ABC of computer maintenance. So what is the ABC of computer maintenance? Antivirus, Backup & Computer updates. These three things are the most important elements of computer maintenance that could save you time and decrease your need for IT support of small errors.

Antivirus

New viruses constantly emerge out of nowhere. It is important that you keep your antivirus up to date as viruses can cause many IT issues including stealing your personal information, decreasing your productivity at home or work and making it difficult for children to use the computer for school and study. The definitions within the anti-virus program keep your computer secure and if these definitions are outdated, it may cause IT issues for you and your computers. For example, if your definitions are six months old, any new viruses created in the last six months can then infect your computer since your software doesn’t recognize them as threats. The latest definitions are loaded with the correct detection abilities to remove threats before they can cause damage. This is why it is so important to keep your antivirus updated.

Back up

Take a moment to think about what would happen to you and your business if you lost all of your files, or even just the files that have been created/updated in the past week. We can imagine that this would cause a lot of stress and problems for you and a lot of lost productivity time. This is why you must have a reliable back up system. If you choose to conduct your back up onsite, make sure to store the files in more than one place. Use external hard drives rather than CDs as these have a lot more storage and are harder to lose. Ensure that this is stored in a secure place like a safe. If you are still using USB drives or tapes to back-up your data, or if you have no back up at all, it is time to switch to cloud back up. Many experts believe cloud storage is the most reliable backup solution because it is secure, fully customizable, cost-effective, and easy to use. Remember that you have no control when or if a natural disaster or human error could destroy all of your files, so you need to make sure that these are backed up. This will save you a lot of time and stress if this were to occur.

Computer Updates

It is critical that Microsoft updates are completed to update the operating system. This plugs holes in the system to decrease vulnerability to virus attacks and other harmful IT issues. This also ensures that the computer programs are enhanced. You should also be sure to update Java, Adobe Reader, Firefox, Chrome and other applications to minimise the risk of exploitations and ensure that your computer is not vulnerable to attack.

Implement the ABC of computer maintenance today so you can experience less IT issues. If you have any questions or need further IT support, contact us today.

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