PC Tune-Up

One way to keep your pc tuned is preventative maintenance. This includes protecting your computer from threats. There are a variety of threats that a computer faces. These threats may be threats to the software or the physical machine. Either way there are some items that offer protection to your computer.

Electricity, including static electricity, is one of the most formidable opponents facing the personal computer. A small surge of electricity can fry your computer. In fact, static that is so low in voltage that a human can't feel it can seriously damage your computer. For this reason, you should protect your computer from both static electricity and electrical surges.

To protect your computer from electrical surges you want to ensure that your computer is plugged into a surge protector. This will protect your computer from surges in the electricity caused by lighting and other culprits. It has the added benefit of offering a number of outlets. However, you don't want to plug up too many items at one outlet. This means using multiple surge protectors to add like twenty or more outlets.

Protecting your computer from static electricity involves a little more. You need to keep your computer in the right type of environment. Dry air can create an environment with a lot more static, while a more humid temperature, not too humid, will have less static electricity. You may also want to watch out for carpets which are notorious for static electricity. You can reduce this by spraying the carpet with a static guard spray. You should also try to discharge any built up static prior to touching your computer by touching something metal.

Now, with the addition of the internet there are number of threats to your computer software. These include viruses and spyware. In fact, there are new viruses and spyware being invented every day. The market for anti-spyware and anti-virus programs is booming as a result of this situation. Fortunately, many of these programs are have a free version that is available to download over the internet.

In addition to maintaining an up to date anti-virus and anti-spyware program, there are some additional ways to protect your computer software. In fact, the best way to protect your computer is to be informed. Information is the key to identifying and eliminating potential problems.

You can find a ton of information about viruses and spyware online. Simply performing an internet search using the name of the virus, or the symptoms it causes can give you a long list of sites with information. In fact, in the best circumstances you can find a fix available to download right over the internet.

However, most times you will not be so lucky. That is why it is best to take precautions. Visiting internet sites that contain a large number of advertising and pornographic materials may lead to a virus or spyware. These sites should be viewed with caution. In fact, before visiting potentially harmful sites it is a good idea to update your protection software.

Another potential danger is the file sharing program. This is a program that allows individuals to share files over the internet. Along with the potential legal issues many of these programs contain virus and spyware threats. In fact, some of these programs install spyware on your computer as part of their download process. They may warn you about these additional installs or they may not. In any case, you should be very cautious when using these programs.

If you must have a file sharing program on your computer, you may want to limit the files that the program has access to. In fact, I suggest using the option of not sharing any of the files on your computer. I also suggest scanning any of the files you download with your anti-virus program before opening it. Don't be surprised if you start getting a lot of pop-ups, because many file sharing programs contain these.

If you experience a large number of pop-ups you may try to run your anti-spyware program. This may remove the spyware and leave your file sharing software unharmed. However there is a chance that it will disable your file sharing software since it may be the cause of the problem.