Tips to ensure smooth running and safety of your computers

Every day in our lives, we document and save files for both personal and office use and a loss of any of these file (s) such as a certificate, receipt or a business agreement or even pictures of our loved ones or important video clips could be quite disheartening.

Thus the saying Prevention is better than Cure comes into play; to avoid any of the above from occurring, its advised to follow these steps to ensure data security:

         1.    Get good Anti-Virus software and ensure it’s always up-to-date

An Antivirus is a software designed to guard you and your gadgets (computer, mobile phones, tablets etc) against malicious virus. Several virus infections can hide, modify and even delete your files secretly. It can also cause your computer to crash.

There are lots of reliable anti virus programs out there which include Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials, McAfee, Avira, etc available for free download and use. Therefore be sure to keep your chosen Anti-virus up-to-date for maximum data security.

2. Protect your devices against uncertain power surges with an UPS

A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) protects your gadgets and data when a power surge occurs. There is a spare battery in the UPS which gives you enough time to save your open or new documents and shut down the operating system e.g. Windows properly to avoid losing any file/files or damage to your electronic device hardware components.

3. Always ensure your machine is kept in a dry, shaded and dust-free area

Don’t leave your electronic devices near areas where it is directly exposed to rain, sun or humidity. These conditions have the tendency to induce rusting and cause damage to your electronic device hardware parts.

4. Never attempt to fix or open up your computer without assistance 

When you are inexperienced, you may damage the circuit boards, hardware components of your electronic device and worst of all, probably receive a nasty electric shock! Never fail to consult an expert always.

5. Don’t over-tweak your system 

Try your best to avoid modifying your system registry or over clock your hardware to yield performance boost unless you're certain it is needed and you’re sure of what you're doing. You probably do not wish to fry your computer.

6. Save your backups at an off-site location 

This goes a long way to help protect your backup from damage or loss in case of a fire or disaster. You can save on external storage devices such as Hard discs.

7. Do not move your computer when it is on

You probably do not wish for your computer’s power cord to fall off thus initiating a data corruption and possible physical damage to your hard disk such as a head crash while doing some work on an important project.

8. Avoid sharing access to your computer with unknown people on a network 

Data stored on your computer can be prone to theft and certain forms of modification if anyone on the network can freely access your saved files.

9. Always try out your disk maintenance options

Clean up temporary and unused files. Also defragment your hard disk from time to time as this enables your hard disk remain in a good state.

10. Always observe failure symptoms 

Without being told, you know it's time to start backing up all your files when your hard disk starts producing funny noises and your system starts behaving abnormally.

When data is lost or a storage device gets formatted as a result of it being corrupt, the lost file could be partially/fully recovered using a data recovery software known as recuva. It is simple to use.

If you adhere to the tips above, you have a guaranteed safety for your saved files and optimum performance of your computer.