Technical Tips - Basic computer maintenance

It has always amazed me that computers, unlike almost every other piece of household equipment, are generally sold without any maintenance instructions nor, indeed, any indication that maintenance is necessary. This page describes a few hints-and-tips, second-nature to "techies", to help you maintain your Windows-based computer in the best possible condition.

Maintenance regime

Some may regard these recommendations as "overkill" for a new computer with a decent amount of RAM and a large hard disk, but they will certainly maintain the performance of an ageing computer, or a hard disk that is getting full.

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Deleting the browser cache

Windows Internet Explorer 7

  • Tools > Delete Browsing History > Delete all... I recommend the Delete All regime for general use. Although this may cause some website actions to take marginally longer the next time you carry them out, I believe that the time-and-security benefits outweigh the time disadvantages.

Mozilla Firefox 2

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Disk cleaning

Windows XP

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Windows Vista

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Disk defragmentation

Windows XP

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Windows Vista

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Removing unused programmes

Windows XP

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Windows Vista

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Anti-virus and security checks

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