A⁺ Resources For Tutors

Keeping Your PC Optimised

Mike Hollands' website, www.tonikslive.co.uk, provides online tools for tutors who wish to provide some of their tutoring over the internet. His tips on careing for your PC are aimed at tutors who depend on their PCs to work optimally. He recommends nine actions which you should take to keep your PC healthy.

Keeping Your PC Optimised

  1. Introduction
  2. Protect yourself from viruses
  3. Remove spyware
  4. Stop programs starting automatically
  5. Prevent other programs opening automatically
  6. Remove unwanted software
  7. Disk Cleanup
  8. Defragment your disk
  9. Turn File Indexing off
10. Keep a clean Desktop

KEEPING YOUR PC OPTIMISED

1.  Introduction

If you're using your PC to earn income, it's important you take care of it. Here are some suggestions for ensuring it is well maintained.

2.  Protect yourself from viruses

A virus can slow your PC down, and in the worst case prevent you from operating it. However, there is an excellent anti-virus product which is free to download for personal use. It is called AVG Anti-Virus, and you can get it from AVG's website. The software will instruct you what to do if it finds any viruses and can then be set up to keep checking emails and files for viruses to give you continuous protection.

3.  Remove spyware

Spyware software is used by some companies to collect personal information about how you use the internet, and it slows your PC down. There is an excellent free tool that can help. It is Microsoft's Defender, and can be downloaded from Microsoft's site. Once installed, proceed with a full system scan, and Defender will tell you all the items that are threats to your computer, so that you can delete them.

4.  Stop programs starting automatically

If you click Start > All Programs > Startup, you will see a list of programs that start automatically when you turn on your PC. If you right click on the unnecessary ones, they will no longer load automatically when you next start your PC, improving its performance.

5.  Prevent other programs opening automatically

Some programs do not appear in your Start Up menu, but still open automatically. MSN and Yahoo Messenger are examples. To prevent this, in MSN Messenger go to Tools >Options >General and untick the option to automatically run. In Yahoo Messenger go to Messenger >Preferences; and in Skype go to Tools >Options >Advanced.

6.  Remove unwanted software

It is likely that since you purchased your computer, you've installed a number of software programs that you have never used. These unused programs take up valuable hard disk space and memory, slowing down your computer. Go to Start >Control Panel >Add or Remove Programs. Remove any software you feel you no longer need. Your computer will then be benefiting from having less programs to run and store.

7.  Disk Cleanup

Running the Disk Clean Up utility looks for temporary files on your computer disk that you may no longer need, such as unnecessary installation files or program files. To run it, click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. You'll then be presented with a list of files that can be safely deleted, saving valuable space on your PC.

8.  Defragment your disk

The Disk Defragmenter tool will reorganise your hard disk, helping your computer to find and open your documents much more quickly. To run Disk defragmenter, click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. The process does take a little while, so it may be a good idea to start it just before you go and have lunch! If you use your computer a lot, try doing this process once a month.

9.  Turn File Indexing off

File indexing helps to speed up file searches, but slows your computer's performance down at other times. If you organise your files into convenient folders, it is not that necessary. If you go Start >My Computer and then right click on your hard disk drive and select Properties, you will be presented with the pop up window shown below. Untick the Indexing check box at the bottom, and your computer will perform quicker.

10. Maintain a clean Desktop

The more files and programs you have displayed on your desktop, the longer it will take for your computer to display it. So try to keep yourself well organised, and only place on your desktop three or four icons. Place all your files in your My Documents folder. You'll find your computer will appreciate it.

Page Last Updated: 12th November 2006
Site Last Updated: 12th May 2008
Copyright © 2005 - 2008 Mike Hollands