5 Computer “Secrets Revealed”

Computer Secret #1 Protect your computer from direct sunlight or any source of heat. Any additional heat source on your computer can cause problems with the internal components overheating. Keeping things cool has become a larger problem as computers have gotten faster and faster, and generate more heat. 

Computer Secret #2 Use an alternate web browser, like Mozilla Firefox, which has a lot less security vulnerabilities, or at the very least use the very latest update of Internet Explorer. Security patches and updates are constantly being released, and keeping your system up to date is the best way to insure your computer doesn’t fall victim to the latest threat.

Computer Secret #3 To prevent contracting a nasty virus, never open an .exe, .pif, .com or .bat file that’s been sent to you in some way. This is the fastest way to contract a virus. Some .exe or .bat files contains code that can take over your computer system completely. More dangerous is the "silent" attack; you might attempt to open one of these files and then seemingly "nothing" happens, but in reality the virus is now running in the "background", and can do serious damage to your data and computer system. 

Computer Secret #4 If your computer starts acting funny, or starts making strange noises, you’re probably on borrowed time. Get it into a service provider right away, you’re at risk of losing all of your data. These symptoms are usually an indication that the hard drive is failing, and if it fails, all of your personal data goes with it in 99% of the cases. The faster you get it in for service, the better chance you have of avoiding that disaster.

Computer Secret #5 Backup your data, at least once a week. Computer hard drives (the thing that stores all of your information and files) are mechanical devices with a fixed lifespan. It’s not a matter of IF it will fail, only a matter of when. There are many levels of backup solutions, and your IT provider can discuss what level is best for you, but the very best is called an "image" backup. This solution allows you to recover not only all of your data, but all of the programs and settings you’ve customized in the time you’ve been using your computer; so if a failure does occur, your system can be returned exactly to the place it was prior to the failure.