Most people don’t do enough computer maintenance—but a few people get overzealous in their computer maintenance and start to do things that are harmful to their computer. Here’s a list of a few things you shouldn’t do if you want your computer to keep running smoothly.
Computer Maintenance Doesn’t Require Memory Optimization
There are a bunch of programs out their that claim that they’ll optimize your memory. Other programs claim to defragment your memory. All of these programs imply that they’ll make your computer run faster.
I’m not sure that claim is correct. Even if they do optimize your memory, the speed increase is probably quite small.
But if the gain is small, the risk is high. Messing with computer memory puts every program on your computer at risk. That’s why, in normal operation, only one program is allowed to allocate computer memory—the operating system, Windows.
Memory optimizers may make your computer unstable. I’d especially mistrust shareware memory optimizers or those produced by a non-brand-name company.
You don’t need memory optimizers to perform good computer maintenance, so I suggest that you just avoid them altogether.
Good Computer Maintenance Gone Wrong
One very useful type of computer maintenance is cleaning your Windows Registry. Back in the Windows 95 and Windows 98 days, registry cleaning was practically mandatory at least once a year. These days it’s optional, but I still recommend it.
What I don’t recommend is using a disreputable registry cleaner. There are hundreds of registry cleaners on the market and the vague generic ones often can’t be trusted.
Cleaning your Windows Registry is a lot like purging old records from your home file cabinet. You wouldn’t let some random stranger clean out your file cabinet—he might get rid of something that’s very important to you.
Likewise, you shouldn’t use random registry cleaning software—not even if it’s a free download. Many major and reputable software companies produce top-notch registry cleaning software. It costs a little more money, but it can save you from having to reinstall all of your programs.
The Top Computer Maintenance Mistake
A tiny little mistake can kill your computer. That mistake is misreading or not following the version instructions for your computer maintenance software.
Software which fixes your computer on one version of Windows can easily break your computer on another version of Windows. Newer software is usually smart enough not to run on older versions of Windows, but older software might break modern versions of Windows, so be very careful.
How To Ruin Your Hardware
In most cases it’s nearly impossible to ruin computer hardware using software. In the typical worst case scenario, when you break your computer with software you just need to reinstall Windows and restore all of your data from backups.
But I can think of at least one case where routine computer maintenance can ruin your hardware—when you excessively defragment a Solid State Drive (SSD).
Most solid state drives are small and portable. They’re the Secure Digital (SD) cards or the USB thumb drives. Some larger SSDs are used in netbooks and small portable drives with between 32 gigabytes and about 500 gigabytes.
All disk drives wear out, but solid state drives wear out quicker if you write to them a lot—and defragmenting your disk drive requires a lot of writing operations as it moves data from one part of the drive to another.
If you use solid state drives, be careful. Don’t defragment your drive more than once a month, or you could perform the kind of computer maintenance that kills your computer.
Hi guys! I am a computer freak who is obsessed with computer tips, building websites, money making. Finger in every pie, love working, addicted to caffeine. Multi multi tasker, likes juggling ten jobs, should have joined the circus. Ha Ha!
here is where most of computer technicians earn money..when they get a repair for a computer where in the computer is not broken. So always be careful when you’re having your computer repaired.
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Twitter: tips4pc
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Yes this is true! It is far better to find a great computer maintenance program to regularly keep your computer running nicely. This could save you loads on repair bills.
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Thanks for wealth of information, most especially on Hardware.
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We always have useful info here..Be sure to drop in regularly!
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Very informative text, I haven’t heard about the dangers of defragmenting a flash drive. I also have an SSD drive next to my HDD, and I used to defragment both of them. From now on, I’m going to take care of the SSD, because it would be a very expensive accident if I lost it.
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Yes they are not like normal HDD’s.
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I’m going to take care of the SSD, because it would be a very expensive accident if I lost it.Thanks for sharing this informative text to us..
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Very revealing post. I have not heard it before. It is important to know about the basic things in a computer. Almost we have a system in our home so we should have little bit knowledge about default of our system. Frankly speaking i do not have any kind of idea about computer maintenance so after read this i get a few knowledge about the maintenance.
Thanks for information
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I admit that these are also excellent advice mitz just published.
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Twitter: deckingideas
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After completing just a simple defrag on my win xp pc it was considerably faster – amazing how a little tidy up can make such a big difference.
I must admit that I am not the best computer keeper. I do not why – I just cannot. Therefore it is often ruined and different improvement should be made on it…Here I found some very practical tips. I hope I will not have to give it for repair for the next 3 months..:)
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Twitter: freedommmc
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Good post. Automation is the way to go. However its best to check the registry and start up folder to make sure nothing is running that shouldn’t be. Also check all processes from time to time to make sure they are all legit.
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This is considered to be a relevant post for me. There are really some computers that has no maintenance and this is the reason why users are encountering having problems with their computer. But with what you have said here, i am sure many will be able to come up with their own idea on how they will be able to keep a safe and secured computer.
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Twitter: tips4pc
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Yes I got sick of the old boring computer maintenance so I thought I would write something different. You are right that computers that don’t do computer maintenance do have problems all the time.
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Twitter: harpreet4564
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I am agree with you that we should know something about computer maintanance.thanks to share a good information.i don’t know about defragmentation.but after read this post i have learn many new things.
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Thank you for these useful things, because not everyone knows how to take care correctly of their computers. Personally, I only install programs like CCleaner, Malwarebytes’ and so on and I didn’t have issues with my laptop. I don’t want to hire an IT tech support specialist…I can read many interesting stuff about this subject on the Internet and I can do them alone, without any help.
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hello
thnx for this nice information and post ..i will share it with my frnds too
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Twitter: Janis167
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Computer maintenance is still a must, I re-install windows every yera, I just hate it starts running slow.
Twitter: insitedesignlab
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Useful information. I feel as though too little maintenance is a bigger issue but it’s definitely important not to take it too far.
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These are all very true points. We often have to steer our customers away from these registry cleaners and optimizers that we have never heard of, explaining that the registry is fairly sensitive and unless you know what it’s doing, it can cause harm.
Nice tip on defragmentation. I’m still on SATA drive but I will have this article in mind when I get to have an SSD storage.
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well appreciated. First time i read so informative post about PC software..(better to late than never)…
It’s really a refresher for I, tanks for your article … I am a beginner … have much to learn from you
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Twitter: katiepecbvda
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I made the mistake of letting a computer nerd friend do an “F Disk” to my computer. The concept of it is basically starting your computer over from scratch. It totally destroyed that computer. I couldn’t get sound out of it and had some other issues. Don’t do it.
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I’m one of those lazy people who was blessed enough with having a neardy brother who maintains her computer. I swear we are like Didi and Dexter!
Eek this is scary, I need to do some maintenance on my computer, like backing up, virus scans, defragging, etc etc but I always put it off because I get so nervous I’ll make a mistake. I do more internet work than computer work, so doing hardware stuff worries me. I keep meaning to have one of my tech friends do the work, but part of me wants to learn to do it myself so I don’t have to ask for help all the time. Hopefully I can do it without killing my comp!
~Karen~
Twitter: namaserajesh
says:
Thanks for posting such useful article.
Most people, myself included, don’t know what they are doing with computer maintenance. I had no idea that you could ruin your computer while trying to fix it, thanks for the tips! As a practice I always avoid weird sketchy programs. Usually anything that promises a quick fix turns out to be nonsense. If you are unsure how trustworthy a program is, I suggest googling it. Chances are you’re not the first person to be interested in the software, and a quick 3 minute search can prevent you from being scammed and messing up your computer.
Trevor
Twitter: bestwebdesign99
says:
Thanks for taking time for sharing this article; it was excellent and very informative. Though you make some very fascinating points, you’re going to have to do more than bring up a few things that may be different than what we’ve already heard. Very Inspiring and interesting and helpful for everyone who own a PC
Twitter: rickyrock626
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Thanks to share a great post.you should know something about computer maintainance.if you don’t have a knowledge about that then you will ruined your computer.
Twitter: simonjohn904
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thanks for sharing the informative post.thanks for share your view about computer maintainance.if you don’t maintainance your computer then you will ruined your pc.so everything should have knowledge about thus.
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