Running a Smart Personal Computer
To run a Smart PC simply means doing everything necessary to wisely obtain maximum productivity at minimum risk. If you are a typical PC user you can just buy one, hook it up and turn it on – without any thought of doing anything else to maintain or protect your data or files. That is not what running a smart PC is all about. Because there are limitations to the operating environment on PC’s (primarily with Microsoft’s Operating Systems) – but few actual hardware issues – there are a host of things that must be done in order for you to get to ‘Smart’.
You first need to know that your operating system does not maintain or cleanse its operating data properly. This means that the files that store information on system operation and all the temp records, and error messages are never cleaned or removed as they should be. The effect of this unkempt environment is not unlike never taking out the trash in your home, and you will eventually suffer from the effects of this.
Secondly, you should remove unused and out-of-date applications and utilities from your system. This is really necessary even though it may seem minor. These old pieces of code are dangerous to have around. You should regularly uninstall or delete any program not used in the last several months. Applications that you need or use regularly should be updated and reinstalled with new versions whenever they become available.
Obtain, install and properly maintain industry standard virus protection. While this should not be necessary – nonetheless it is. That means more than just installing an application and forgetting it. Proper security interaction means your intervention and manual execution of all provided security systems with this environment.
You should reboot – turn off and back on – your PC regularly. In the old days, this was thought to be dangerous; today it is recommended. Restarted PC’s just work better – and you will save on energy costs.
Finally, make sure that your Windows System Registry – the database of control parameters that Windows uses to configure and run applications – is regularly maintained. You can find the necessary registry software commercially available that allows you to perform this maintenance and complete the necessary registry fix operations. This will allow you to achieve the necessary Registry Repair functions to maintain your Registry.
