I
t is only logical that if you take care of your PC and properly maintain it, it will last
longer. A PC does not require all that much in the way of general housekeeping and
maintenance, and if you make its care part of a regular preventive maintenance routine,
it’s not even a bother for the most part.
This chapter is a bit different than most of the other chapters in this book because it
discusses things you should do rather than technical information about PC components.
The presentation is divided into three general parts. The first deals with what you should
do and when to kee pthe PC running. The second part deals with the tools, cleaners, and
other supplies you need to use to properly clean and maintain a PC. The third and final
part details the specific steps you should take when cleaning and maintaining the PC,
inside and out.Preventive Maintenance of a PC
Much as for the scheduled maintenance for an automobile, the reason you perform pre-
ventivemaintenance(PM)onaPCistoavoidfailuresandcostlyrepairsandtoextendthe
life of the machine. However, this can only be accomplished if your PM program is per-
formed regularly. The owners’ manuals for nearly all PCs include a maintenance chart
that details the maintenance, adjustments, and cleaning activities that should be per-
formed, with some indication of when these tasks should be done.
Table 22-1 is my version of what the maintenance guide should include.(^570) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide
PC Maintenance Schedule Guide
Schedule Component Maintenance Activity
Daily PC Run a virus scan of the memory and
hard disk
Windows Restart or shut down Windows
Hard disk Create a differential backup
Weekly Hard disk Create a full backup
Hard disk Remove all .tmp files and clear
C:\TEMP and C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
Web browser Clear browser cache, history, and
temporary Internet files
Table 22-1. Preventive Maintenance Schedule