Elementary Computer Maintenance

Also see the author's other article:

Elementary Computer Security: http://www.heurtley.com/richard/security.html

Location and Power Protection

A computer should be put either on the floor or on a sturdy desk or table. The surface should be level, the computer should not be tilted or wobbly. There should be room on all sides of the computer (except the bottom) for ventilation. Computers should not be located right next to heaters or heater ducts, or in places where they are likely to be bumped or kicked.

A computer and all things plugged into the computer (monitor, printer, scanner, DSL modem, etc.) should be plugged into either a surge protector or an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS), except for laser printers which should not be plugged into a UPS. Most UPSs and surge protectors designed for computers have phone line jacks into which the phone line going to the modem or DSL modem should be plugged.

If the room that the computer is in is prone to static (ie. you get shocked when touching something after walking around in the room) then try to be very careful to touch something other than the computer, or any of its parts, before touching the computer. Modern computers are less sensitive to static electricity than older computers but it is still a danger, particularly when plugging and unplugging components from the back.

Turning a Computer On and Off

Generally, everything that is plugged into a computer should be turned on before the computer itself is turned on. This is so that the computer will detect the existence of all its components as it boots up. This means that, generally, a computer should be turned off before any of its components are turned off.

It used to be that monitor and printer were the only things you could turn on and off (or plug and unplug) from a computer while the power was on. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) that modern computers have was designed specifically to allow anything with a USB plug to be connected while the computer is on.

It is a good idea not to try to make the computer do anything until it's completely booted and settled down. The best way to judge the computer's state is to watch the hard disk drive light. If the light stays off for more than 15 seconds then the computer is probably done booting. Some computers require that you log in. For these computers you should wait for it to settle down twice. Wait for the computer to settle down before you log in and then wait for it to settle down again after you log in.

Media Storage

Nothing but air or specially designed soft cloth or paper should ever touch the data side of music CDs, data CD-ROMs, and video DVDs. CD media plastic is soft and scratches easily. CD players can fill in the missing sound caused by a light scratch on a compact disk and this has given people the idea that scratches don't matter on CDs and that they can be handled roughly. This is not true. It can be very difficult or impossible to recover the data on a badly scratched data CD-ROM and software vendors will not replace scratched CD-ROMs.

A CD-ROM is best kept in a plastic jewel box. Next best is a plastic sleeve with a soft cloth-like back. If no appropriate container is readily available then it's OK to put a CD down somewhere temporarily as long as the disk is data-side up (label down) and nothing is touching the surface.

Transporting a Computer

If you have to move a computer in a car, unplug everything from the computer first, put it on a cushioned surface (either on a seat or on some thick foam on the floor or in the trunk), and make sure the computer is "motherboard" side down, which means a tower computer should be laid on its side. The motherboard is the part of the computer that the keyboard and mouse plug into in back. The keyboard and mouse sockets should be closest to the seat or foam.

Printers

Low cost color inkjet printers are really great when they work and extremely annoying and expensive when they don't. By far the best way to keep an ink jet printer working is to print something in color on it every day. You'll spend less money by printing something in color every day than you will by throwing away an expensive ink cartridge because it got gummed up from lack of use.

Inkjet print heads are made with very small holes and very fine tolerances. If a printer is loaded with paper and then sits around for awhile, the dust on the paper could scratch and damage the printhead as it goes back and forth. If a printer has been sitting around for awhile, take out the paper and blow the dust off before printing something.

The paper-feeding mechanisms of printers often don't work well if the paper is damp. If you live in a damp climate try storing your paper in an air tight container or plastic bag.

Hard Disk Drive Maintenance

The hard disk drive is the part of the computer that stores directories, files, programs and data. Along with fans, disk drives are practically the only mechanical parts still used in modern computers and are the most likely part to fail. There are certain things you can do to extend the life of your hard disk drive:

• Don't move, kick, jostle, bump, or tip your computer when it's turned on. Hard disk drives spin very quickly, around 100 times a second. At those speeds the disk drive axle and the read/write heads are very vulnerable to damage if the computer is moved. If it is absolutely necessary to move a computer while it's on, do it slowly and evenly avoiding sharp jerks. This is true for laptop computers as well as larger computers.

• Don't turn your computer on and off all the time. The power surge that flows through a computer when it's turned on is stressful to entire computer, not just the hard disk drive. If you use a computer only a few times a day then turn it on in the morning and off in the evening, and enable the power-saving features that will blank the monitor and spin down the disk drives when it hasn't been used for awhile.

• Keep your computer clean. Most computers have fans that blow hot air out of the back. This means that cool air is constantly being sucked into the computer, usually through holes or a grill in the front or side. After awhile dust and hair will build up around the air intakes and reduce the airflow thus raising the temperature and stressing the entire computer including the hard disk drive. Once a month or so it's a good idea to use a vaccuum cleaner attachment to suck the dust out of all the holes and gaps in the front and back of your computer.

• Use a disk defragmentation utility to organize the directories and files on your hard disk drive to reduce the number of the times the read/write heads have to move back and forth. This will also make the computer faster.

  All versions of Microsoft Windows except for Windows NT come with a disk defragmentation utility. You run it as follows:

  1. Click on the "Start" button.
  2. Click on the "Programs" menu item.
  3. Click on the "Accessories" menu item.
  4. Click on the "System Tools" menu item.
  5. Click on the "Disk Defragmenter" utility.
  6. Select the drive to be defragmented.
  7. Click on the "OK" or "Defragment" button.

  In Microsoft Windows 98 and ME the disk defragmenter utility restarts at the beginning of the hard disk drive every time some other application writes data to it. This means that under normal circumstances a disk defragment operation in Windows 98 and ME will never finish as there are always a few other applications running. One way around this problem is to boot the computer in Windows "safe mode". Safe mode is a stripped-down diagnostic mode that doesn't run any other applications. To start Microsoft Windows in safe mode, press and hold down one of the control keys (the keys next to the shift keys that read "Ctrl") or the F8 key while the computer is starting up. Instead of the Windows 98 or ME start-up banner you'll see a menu of start-up options. One of the options is "Safe mode". Choose it and let the computer boot into Microsoft Windows. The screen will probably look a little different. Then you can run the disk defragmenter utility. Restart the computer when the disk defragmentation operation is complete.

  Microsoft Windows NT does not come with a built-in disk defragmentation utility. DIRMS (Do It Right MicroSoftware) has a free disk defragmentation utility called Buzzsaw available at http://www.dirms.com/download/buzzsaw.zip. This utility works with Windows NT, 2000, and XP.

  The Buzzsaw program is distributed as a compressed ZIP archive. To install it you first need to uncompress it with an appropriate utility program. WinZip Computing, Inc. offers a free evaluation version of their popular WinZip program at http://www.winzip.com/ddchomea.htm.

• Occasionally (once a month) test your disk drive for errors. There are two kinds of errors:
  • disk surface errors
  • filesystem errors

  A disk surface error is a imperfection on the disk surface that renders a small area of it unusable for data storage. Disk surface errors are caused by moving, kicking, jostling, bumping, or tipping your computer when it's on, or by violently moving, kicking, jostling, bumping, or tipping your computer when it's off, or when a disk drive is very old and getting out of alignment. Generally, if a hard disk drive has a surface error then it should be replaced.

  A filesystem error is a mistake in the internal arrangement of a computer's directories and files. Filesystem errors are usually caused by turning a computer off without first shutting it down properly. If Microsoft Windows detects that a computer was not shut down properly then it will run a disk test automatically the next time the computer is turned on. The disk test utility will usually be able to fix any filesystem errors it finds. A bad filesystem error, caused by a power failure just as important data is being written to the disk drive, may not be repairable by the disk test utility and may require that the disk be wiped clean and the operating system reinstalled.

  All versions of Microsoft Windows come with a disk testing utility.

  For Microsoft Windows 98 and ME the disk test utility is started as follows:

  1. Click on the "Start" button.
  2. Click on the "Programs" menu item.
  3. Click on the "Accessories" menu item.
  4. Click on the "System Tools" menu item.
  5. Click on the "ScanDisk" utility.
  6. Select the disk drive to be tested.
  7. Select the "Thorough" option.
  8. Check the "Automatically fix errors" checkbox.
  9. Click the "Start" button.

  The disk test utility in Microsoft Windows 98 and ME suffers the same restarting problem as the disk defragmentation utility. The solution is to run the disk test utility in safe mode as described above.

  For Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, and XP the disk test utility is started as follows:

  1. Double click on the "My Computer" icon.
  2. Right click on the icon of the disk you want to test for errors.
  3. Click on the "Properties" menu item.
  4. Click on the "Tools" tab.
  5. Click on the "Check now" button.
  6. Check the "Automatically fix filesystem errors" checkbox.
  7. Check the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" checkbox.
  8. Click on the "Start" button.

  It is likely that you'll get a message saying that the disk test can only be performed the next time the computer is booted. Agree to this and reboot the computer to start the disk test. A disk test can take a long time on a big hard disk drive.

Disclaimer

The author assumes no responsibility for the use of the programs and utilities referred to in this article. Follow this advice at your own risk!

Copyright © 2003 Richard Heurtley.

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permited in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.