Easy-To-Follow Tips To Maintain Your Hard Drive

You can’t live without a computer. These days, a computer is an important component of your life. You simply can’t do without it, especially at work.

Computers rank at the top of the most valued pieces of equipment for any business.

Professionals rely on their computer’s hard drives to maintain productivity, store important data, and communicate with customers.

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Yes, everybody relies on a hard drive. It’s not just you. So, what happens when a hard drive fails?

According to www.recordnations.com, computer problems interrupt workflow and interfere with employee productivity by shutting down their work day. Not only does this create a backlog in work, it results in loss of profit or even to a loss of potential customers.

There are definitely consequences if a hard drive fails. Businesses have no choice but to implement a few preventative measures to minimize the chances of it happening prematurely. The good news is that businesses can maintain their computer’s health without involving too much time or resources.

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Here are a couple of tips that you can follow to maintain your hard drive. As you will notice, these tips aren’t just good for your computer in the workplace for your computer at home as well.

The first easy-to-follow tip is to be careful when installing and downloading a software.

Computers may start acting funny after installing a computer program downloaded from the Internet. Each software installation requires hard drive space, or may contain a virus or malware.

The more programs you install, the less space the computer has. Although your computer uses memory to run programs, it also uses the hard drive to help decrease the load times. If your hard drive is full, it will definitely slow down the computer.

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The second easy-to-follow tip is to stick to software that’s work related.

The Information Technology departments often block everyone from downloading software programs for a reason. Downloading software programs from the Internet without scanning them for viruses is a dangerous practice, and it can cripple a business in minutes.

Whether you’re in the office or using your personal computer, be sure to use a reputable anti-virus program and firewall to manage incoming traffic and access to the PC. It’s a good rule of thumb to only install trustworthy programs that will help business operations.

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You can also apply that same rule of thumb with your home computer. You need to make sure that the software you’re downloading is trustworthy. Of course, it’s always hard to tell is a software if trustworthy and that’s why you need a strong anti-virus in both your work and home computers.

The third easy-to-follow tip is something that you need to do at all times. You need to update your operating system regularly.

By updating your operating system, you are ensuring that you have critical updates to make your system run better, and eliminate issues that could ultimately cause hard drive failure. Most businesses use Microsoft Windows as their primary operating system.

Microsoft Windows allows users to update the operating system on a regular basis by accessing the “Windows Update” on their computer, and in most cases this can be updated automatically.

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The next easy-to-follow tip is to remove programs that you don’t need anymore.

Delete unwanted programs every few months as the unused and unnecessary programs waste valuable hard drive space. If the business does not plan to use them, then remove them using the “Add/Remove” feature in the Control Panel of the operating system. Removing unnecessary programs also makes your desktop easier to navigate.

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The fifth tip is to defragment your hard drive. This is probably too technical for some folks out there are available tools to do it.

The hard drive works hard to keep the computer functional. In fact, it’s the hardest-working component. It’s very difficult to access stored files if the hard drive crashes and usually impossible, depending on the situation. Unfortunately, the hard drive does not save files in any particular order.

It uses the first empty space available, which includes the space created after deleting files. This scatters data across the hard drive, making it harder to access stored data and slowing the computer down considerably.

As a result, it becomes necessary to defragment the hard drive on a regular basis to keep the computer running as quickly as possible. Businesses should defragment all computer hard drives on a weekly basis.

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The sixth tip is to keep your computer clean, not just on the inside but on the outside as well.

Computer hardware needs two things to ensure that it lasts longer than its expected lifetime: airflow to prevent overheating, and to have it’s components free of dust and debris. It’s important to make sure your computer is cleaned on a regular basis to keep it working properly.

Businesses that stack piles of paper in front of their air vents or place the computer under their desk will eventually cause the hard drive to overheat. Ensure that the computer runs properly by uncovering the air vents.

In addition, if your computer is filled with dust that’s choking off the fans or mechanisms, it’s going to overheat, and components are going to fail. Be sure to clean on and around your computer, and use compressed air to keep dust and other debris from causing a problem.

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Maintaining computer security is also a must.

When it comes to computers of any kind, you need to prepare for the worst, especially for a business. Use a solid backup plan to secure important data.

Many businesses can make copies and transfer important data to a central server or external hard drive or create backups using a cloud service. The sky’s the limit when it comes to security.

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Whether it’s your work or home computer, you need to maintain computer security.

The next tip is to keep your computer away from static electricity.

Static electricity will wreak havoc on computer components. To a computer, it’s like a lightning strike. This is especially true during the winter months or in geographical regions with drier air. If even the slightest touch to metal around you produces a “shock,” then it’s best to avoid handling computer components altogether.

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The last tip, which is probably the easiest of them all, is to make use of sleep modes and power save.

Businesses should configure their operating systems to power off after a specific amount of time or a period of inactivity. The less time your hard drive is running, the longer it will last over the lifetime of the drive.

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Of course, you can also do that your home computer by configuring the settings. These are great tips but you’re bound miss one or two or even three in the long run. Who really has the time to do all these tips?

No matter how much effort you put into maintaining the hard drive of your computer, it’s bound to disappoint you. You can’t expect your hard drive to run forever. It won’t but you shouldn’t have to worry because it’s not a hopeless situation.

The best thing you can do is to keep in mind a 24-hour HD support service that can help in case your hard drive finally fails.

The article Easy-To-Follow Tips To Maintain Your Hard Drive was first seen on Hard Drive Recovery Associates

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