This isn't a request for help or anything like that....on another board, there was a discussion on general computer maintenance. I was surprised at the number of people who don't do anything to their computers. They just do their thing and then shut it down. There's no maintenance, nothing. Ever. And then they're surprised when their computer dies and they can't get to the hard drive to save anything. (And that actually happened to me once, a long time ago. I lost my hard drive and didn't have it backed up. And I lost everything....all the pages to my web site, my cookbook, all my recipes, everything. I was heartbroken. It only took one time for me to learn that lesson.)
So then, I started doing regular back-ups of my computer and of Rick's computer. (I have a 500 gb external hard drive that I use for the computers) I don't do them often, a thorough back-up of each computer once a month, with smaller back-ups of certain projects weekly (things I'm doing for Rick or for work, Rick's Quicken stuff, etc.). I'm constantly purging our Temp files, our PreFetch files, our cookies. I have our virus scans set for every other night (mine is every night), with virus updates every night and to come in right before the scans start. I have systems back-ups of both computers on the external drive and on CDs, too, so that if anything happens to either Vista or 8, I have something to work with. I transfer any pictures from our phones to the computer and from our cameras to the computer on a regular basis (usually my computer, not Rick's) and whenever Rick comes home from Oregon, I always transfer any pictures he has taken. I defrag once every three months (haven't defragged the new computer yet).
I started doing this for my GF's computer, too, because she doesn't bother. She's not concerned about it in the slightest. She'll call me and say, "Hey, how about coming up and doing the stuff you do to my computer?" Or, "Hey, I just bought a new virus thingie, how about coming up and installing it for me?" When I remind her that I've showed her how to do this stuff and even written it down in steps, then I get a "Yeah, but you can do it faster than I can."
She simply doesn't care. She doesn't know how to do anything and she doesn't care.
So.....do you maintain your computer? What do you do? And how often do you do it? And is there anything I should be doing that I'm not doing now?
So then, I started doing regular back-ups of my computer and of Rick's computer. (I have a 500 gb external hard drive that I use for the computers) I don't do them often, a thorough back-up of each computer once a month, with smaller back-ups of certain projects weekly (things I'm doing for Rick or for work, Rick's Quicken stuff, etc.). I'm constantly purging our Temp files, our PreFetch files, our cookies. I have our virus scans set for every other night (mine is every night), with virus updates every night and to come in right before the scans start. I have systems back-ups of both computers on the external drive and on CDs, too, so that if anything happens to either Vista or 8, I have something to work with. I transfer any pictures from our phones to the computer and from our cameras to the computer on a regular basis (usually my computer, not Rick's) and whenever Rick comes home from Oregon, I always transfer any pictures he has taken. I defrag once every three months (haven't defragged the new computer yet).
I started doing this for my GF's computer, too, because she doesn't bother. She's not concerned about it in the slightest. She'll call me and say, "Hey, how about coming up and doing the stuff you do to my computer?" Or, "Hey, I just bought a new virus thingie, how about coming up and installing it for me?" When I remind her that I've showed her how to do this stuff and even written it down in steps, then I get a "Yeah, but you can do it faster than I can."
So.....do you maintain your computer? What do you do? And how often do you do it? And is there anything I should be doing that I'm not doing now?