Getting your hands on your dream PC is just half the work. The rest is maintaining it in good condition. The continued use of the computer, whether desktop or portable badly affects it. The negative effects of external agents such as heat or dust, further worsen the condition.
It can end up causing small problems that we could solve with small periodic maintenance, but if we forget about it and leave our lovely computers abandoned to their fate.
If you’re looking for a computer repair in Calgary, you always have a number of options even if you bring your machine with irreversible damage, either in all or part of its components.
We are aware of the importance of giving that basic care to a computer, and therefore we wanted to make this guide in which we will give you a series of basic but effective tips to keep your PC or laptop in good condition and reduce the risk of I ended up suffering a “premature death.”
We recommend you apply them all together, as this will maximize their effectiveness and helpful tips to maintain your computer:
1. Don’t let it overheat!
It is something basic but completely necessary. We already know how heat can affect electronic components and computers are no exception. Although they have an active cooling system, they are prone to accumulate dust and dirt with the use that can end up reducing their effectiveness.
It is best to thoroughly clean the equipment every year using dry brushes and canisters of compressed air. It is also advisable to change the thermal paste of the components that use it every two or three years since, over time, it can degrade and lose effectiveness.
It is also important to ensure that the ventilation system used by our computer is appropriate to the components used, since otherwise, we may have temperature problems.
In this sense, the airflow also influences, and to enhance it; we must keep the interior of the equipment as clean as possible. This includes reducing wiring and obstacles that may hinder the entry of cold air and the exit of hot air.
2. Your computer should be far from heat sources and interference
An excess of heat can reduce the performance of the equipment and end up permanently damaging its components, so we must avoid it. We must be clear to avoid using the PC near sources of intense heat since it will end up raising the internal temperature and could cause damage.
Interference is another important problem that can affect certain components, such as hard drives, for example, generate what we know as noise in the image and sound and significantly reduce the quality of the WiFi signal.
It is also advisable to keep our equipment in clean areas since otherwise, the ventilation system itself will end up absorbing dust and dirt from the outside when taking air to cool the system components.
3. Take care of the connections and organize the cables
As we said it is very important for the proper functioning and cooling of the equipment. Disordered cables can end up affecting the airflow and facilitate the accumulation of hot air in the tower, which will increase temperatures that can become very dangerous.
Disordered cables can also occupy very valuable space and limit the possibilities of expansion if they end up impeding other components or if they occupy expansion slots. For this reason, the idea is to make orderly assemblies and try to make only the wiring strictly necessary.
It is also convenient to check the connections, since in some cases the failures of some components may be due to a loose or improperly connected cable. It will only take us a minute and it can save us many headaches.
4. Battery in laptops
The battery is one of the most important components of any laptop. Given the current tendency of many manufacturers to integrate it into the case, it is convenient to take care of it. Save it now to avoid an expensive repair.
There is no miraculous advice since it is a component that is degraded by simple use, but these recommendations will help you keep it in good condition as long as possible:
Do not use the laptop always connected to the network and with the battery 100% charged and charged; it is advisable to consume it a little from time to time. Avoid bringing it close to sources of intense heat, since the heat has very harmful effects on lithium-ion batteries.
Nothing to completely discharge the battery, it is better to charge them more continuously and in short cycles than to do long recharges when they are completely empty.
5. Protect yourself against rising and falling voltage
Modern power supplies have integrated protection measures against voltage spikes. Power surges and failures are unpredictable so to avoid serious damage to your equipment due to a power failure or a power surge gets a UPS system.
These devices act as shock absorbers of various voltage spikes and protect us even from micro-cuts, generally improving the quality of the electricity that reaches our PC and other components.
If a blackout occurs we will receive a warning, usually, in the form of sound, that indicates that your integrated batteries are in operation because the light has gone out and that we have a few minutes to safely turn off the equipment.
It is important to ensure that the UPS we have acquired has enough power to maintain our PC for a few minutes in case the power goes out.
6. Updates and software
Keeping the software in good condition is vital for the proper functioning of the PC. You must keep the equipment updated, both at the operating system level and the driver level, and it is advisable to bet on light antimalware solutions, accompanied by a little common sense in daily use.
You should install applications and programs with a minimum of common sense, as it will help avoid the unnecessary accumulation of software that could end up adversely affecting the performance of the equipment.
If we use mechanical hard drives, defragmentation tools can help us improve performance, and therefore it is advisable to use them periodically. In extreme cases, doing a clean installation of the system can return to our computer that “peak of speed” that it had when we bought it.
7. Make good use of things
Practices such as eating or drinking near our equipment can end up having disastrous consequences. It is obvious to say that it is advisable to avoid all these practices if we want our computer to remain in good condition and extend its useful life. Other actions that are practiced by everyone, such as using the laptop in bed or moving it when it is on.
They do not have to have negative consequences, but we must remember that hard drives are sensitive to shaking and can be damaged and that soft surfaces can end up blocking completely or partially the ventilation system of the equipment and favor the accumulation of heat.
Conclusion
Finally, we could also include at this point the good use of the equipment at the software level. This implies being careful with the websites we visit, the things we download and the applications we install. For this, it is enough to avoid means of doubtful confidence and in case of doubt always wait before accepting or installing.