Preventative Computer Maintenance

Along with backup-specific strategies, practicing ordinary computer maintenance can significantly reduce the likelihood of a data loss event. Like other machines, computers that are well-maintained tend to run better and last longer.

Physical Maintenance

Computer maintenance begins with keeping the machine itself clean. This is especially true if the computer is used in a home with pets who shed, or in a dusty environment. Dust, dirt, and animal dander clog ventilation openings, fans, and heat sinks; and heat is a silent killer of electronic devices.

So invest a few bucks in a can of compressed air and blow the schmutz out of the fans, power supply, and CPU and chipset coolers every month or so. (Make sure to power down and unplug the machine first!)

Software Maintenance

Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Workstation

Operating systems and application software are incredibly complex, and often buggy. Software manufacturers usually provide updates to correct problems as they are identified, but not all users download and install these updates. Make it a habit to check for updates to your operating system and applications on a regular basis, or simply enable Automatic Updates.

Good security software is also an essential. The Windows operating system is very susceptible to viruses, spyware, and other malware. Purchase a good security suite like Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2009, keep it updated, and scan for malware frequently. (The Backup Nut runs scheduled virus scans every morning at 2:00 a.m.)

The Windows operating system accumulates staggering amounts of useless garbage with normal use, and the Registry gets clogged with obsolete entries and other errors. Both of these problems can degrade performance, cause weird errors, and increase the wear and tear on your machine -- all of which can contribute to data loss. There are plenty of programs to help clean up the mess, but one of the best ones that the Backup Nut has ever used happens to be a free one named CCleaner. You can download it here.

Hard Drive Maintenance

The hard drive is the repository of all of your data, and hard drive maintenance can help prolong the drive's life and reduce the chances of data loss.

Using CHKDSK to find and fix filesystem errors.

Hard drive maintenance actually is pretty simple, even for the most tender of my flock. There's a program built into Windows 2000, XP, and Vista called "CHKDSK" (pronounced "checkdisk") that automatically finds and corrects many of the most common hard disk errors. To use it, simply follow these steps:

Click Start, then Run.
Type "CMD" into the box (without the quotes), and click "OK."
At the Command Prompt, type "CHKDSK /F" (without the quotes) and press "Enter."
At the prompt asking for permission to run at boot time, type the letter "Y" (for "Yes") and press "Enter."
Close the Command terminal and restart the computer.

If you have multiple hard drives, you can check drives other than C: (which is implied by default) by adding the drive letter to the command. For example, to run a CHKDSK on the D: drive, you would type "CHKDSK D: /F".

Once in a while, the CHKDSK command won't "take" on the first try, so if it doesn't run on the next boot, repeat the above steps. It almost always works on the second try.

Using the Disk Defragmenter

Ditch your thumbdrive for simpler stoage--Box.net

The second part of hard drive maintenance is to run the Disk Defragmenter (commonly called "Defrag") on a regular basis. What Defrag does, in laymen's terms, it put files back together when they've been broken into pieces and scattered about the hard drive. This not only speeds up hard drive access; it also reduces wear and tear on the drive.

Defrag can be accessed in a number of ways, but on Windows 2000 and XP machines, the simplest way is to open a command box and type "DEFRAG C:", replacing "C:" with the drive letter of the drive you want to defragment, if other than C:. Note that Defrag will run "silently" in this case, with no graphical interface and no progress notification. When the command prompt returns, it'll be done. (You can press CTRL-C at any time to abort the process.)

If you want something a little fancier, a graphical interface to Defrag can be found by clicking on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Then highlight the drive you want to defragment, and click "Defragment."

Following these simple steps can help prolong your computer's life and reduce the chances of data loss.