Month: July 2021

Three customers this week with the same symptoms and Microsoft AND Google are the cause. Microsoft has some “necessary” updates they are pushing out and seem to not be recognizing customer settings regarding when updating or downloading for updates is preferred; so, the systems appear to come to a crawl with regard to anything internet-based and marginally performing systems come to a crawl regardless of what the user wants. On top of that, some clients using Google services are having some serious performance/lag issues even just picking up email (this goes back 10 days or so).

I confess that I initially took this quite lightly with a “they will fix it soon attitude” and like the Windows issue with printers and the spooler service soon was not forthcoming soon at all. However, these problems do point out some issues with how we use our computers currently. Far too often machines are fired up, used for a few minutes, and then shut down preventing important updates from loading let alone installing. Far too many of us rely on cloud and other types of internet-based services and interfaces and various “forces” prevent good service.

With more folks trying to work online, young folk doing school online, and businesses switching to cloud-based services, the demand on internet access continues to skyrocket causing bottlenecks, lag, and in some cases service blackouts. On top of this, service providers are having to greatly enhance security measures causing even more apparent outages.

So, a few of my hot topics.

1. Do not store important documents of any kind in emails. If it is important, save it to a hard drive, thumb drive, or other local to you storage. Even putting it on your desktop is a better solution than leaving it in your email.

2. If you set your computer to do updates at night or want it to do updates AND maintenance at night, it has to be left on at night. If you turn it off (close the lid) when you are done, it will do updates and maintenance while you are trying to use it and that goes badly.

3. Anything important to you needs to be stored in multiple places and in multiple ways (no, email is a bad idea). Services exist to do this behind the scenes but most use internet bandwidth to accomplish the redundancy so scheduling for after midnight and leaving the computer on gains even more importance.

4. A slow-running computer isn’t just annoying, it is also a really good hint that something is going wrong. It can be the aging of a storage device to failing memory devices to service errors (backup stuck, updates failing, updates, or maintenance running during prime time) to malware or other unintended apps running. Take heed and get it looked into.

General maintenance of modern computing devices can involve both the hardware and the software (I’ll include data in the software) and is an important part of owning a computer. It can be performed by the user, a designated individual in the company or family, or by a paid professional; but I will reiterate, it is important that it be done and regularly.

Hardware maintenance often consists of cleanliness; both keeping the computer and its functional peripherals clean and cleaning them when they collect dust, grime, fingerprints, etc. Many CPU units use air flow to keep cool during operation and this can lead to dust accumulation which needs to be removed periodically (6 months in some environments, yearly, or even every 2 years in very clean environments). Monitors tend to collect dust and some may build up a haze, glasses cleaner is appropriate for most, some of the early plastic screens have special requirements (check with manufacturer). Keyboards and mice can often be spruced up by inverting and removing any debris, dust, etc. If sticky stuff gets into a keyboard, it is often best to replace but normal surface cleaners may be used in an attempt to clean, again, do so with the keyboard inverted to avoid getting detergents, solvents, and so forth onto the contacts of the keys.

Software maintenance amounts to determining what needs to be updated and getting those apps updated in addition to running storage backups (your files and data) and garbage file removal before finally getting the storage drives defragmented. Some commercial software utilities will perform these tasks for you; but, at least once a month, these operations should be done manually to ensure that they complete and do what is expected of them.

Regularly: keep underside of mouse, surface of keyboard, and touch-pads clean.

Annually: check air intakes and clean if warranted. Check cooling system and clean if necessary. Remove any build up of debris or dust in the interior of the CPU case.

Monthly: perform or verify backup of important data. Remove excess files, temp files, etc. Run a defragment of all storage devices to verify error-free operation and optimize file access speed.

Weekly: verify versions for operating software (check that auto-updates are working as expected) and check on versions of security software (should never be more than 3 days old); manually update as necessary.

Example: Once a week, check that Malwarebytes is up to date and that Microsoft updates have been loading (settings, updates). Have Auslogics defrag set to run weekly and Ccleaner set to run continuously. Once a month, run Ccleaner manually to clean files and the registry; then run Auslogics defrag and have it defrag and optimize. Every six months (at the beginning of summer and winter) visually inspect the case (CPU box) and if any dust buildup is evident anywhere on the outside, open it up for cleaning or contact the person or service responsible for that service to schedule and perform a thorough cleaning.