Alas, March rings in Spring (cleaning)

Even your computer needs tidying up!

• By: Kenneth Roy Mechail

The days grow longer, sunnier, warmer. What’s that? What could that possibly be? Why are you handing me a feather duster and an apron? But of course, spring also brings the necessary evil known as "Spring Cleaning".

But you get the nagging feeling there’s something you have forgotten. My Computers!!! Well, I can wipe this dust off the outside here, the case is clean now. And this screen, how could I read it under all this dust? Quick wipe with a wet-nap, ta da! that looks fantastic! But what about the inside of my computer?

Actually, spring is a great time to think about getting your computer cleaned! The cooling fan and vents, while working to provide effective air flow to keep your CPU running fine, also can allow dust into your system. Dust can grind away at the fans that cool your CPU and power supply. Plus that dust that settles on the motherboard and Interface cards is no good either. Dust on the contacts were the card fits into the motherboard effectively blocks the connection. Dust in a CD-ROM drive can foul-up the reading lens mechanism, rending all your CD’s unreadable.

Physical cleanness is not the only concern. How many data files have accumulated that you don’t need anymore. Everyday use can leave a disk frazzled, with data from the same file potentially spread all over the disk, rather then all at one place, making your drive work harder to get you the information you need to make your business run better.

To help clean up your hard drive, run a good disk scanner (i.e. Scandisk in DOS /WIN /WIN95, Norton Disk Doctor in Norton Utilities). Follow that up by a good Defragmenting program (i.e. Defrag in DOS, WIN, WIN95, Speed Disk in Norton Utilities). Just remember to use the appropriate tool for your system!

No matter what time of the year it is, it is a great idea to clean your computer.

Hint

If you have any questions about what is the right tool or if you’d like us to take on the headache of getting your system ready for spring, give us a call.

The friendly folks here at Electrosonics, Inc. are happy to help serve your needs! Call Theresa or Ken today at 586-415-5555 or 800-858-8448.