Survive a computer disaster with Carbonite

10 Ways to Shrink Your Computer Support Bill

No matter how good or bad you are with a computer there are some things you can do to help yourself before calling for reinforcements.

10. Restart Your Computer

We all know that computers can do some pretty strange things but when things go south on you try to restart your machine *before* calling for reinforcements.

If the problem happens again and you can't fix it yourself make a note of what was going on when the problem occurred. This helps us out immensely.

9. Defrag Your Hard Drive

I'd be very surprised if most of you haven't heard of this one before, but you would be amazed at how many people forget this simple step.The job of the defrag is to find files that go together and put them in a close proximity to each other so that the computer spends less time looking. It's like having to cleanup your room. To do this go to "Start > all programs > accessories > system tools > Disk Defragmenter". This should only need to be done every few months unless you are downloading a lot of information from the internet.

8. Backup Your Hard Drive

At least a couple of times a month we get a customer that has "had the big one" and lost it all. Maybe it was a hard drive crash, a nasty virus, or worse the computer was stolen. For just a couple of dollars a month all your data can be safe, sound, and recoverable online. With the growth of high speed internet in homes many data backup companies have started to sprout. I personally like carbonite backup for personal backup systems because it's automatic, and cheap. Only 54.99 a year for all the space you need.

7. Keep All the Disks Safe That Came With Your Computer

Almost every computer you buy from a large manufacturer comes with at least a few disks marked 'important'. However, many people simply set them aside and forget about them. Keeping them in a safe location will help speed up the recovery process in the event of a computer failure. Those disks usually have the operating system, programs, and preinstalled drivers that make the computer function properly. Without those disks expect a loooong recovery process.

6. Download and Run an Anti-Spyware Program

We've moved past the point of anti-viruses being the end all, be all of computer security. There exist, as I'm sure most of you are aware, a new class of computer pests. Spyware, or Malware may act like a virus but most virus scanners don't pickup these programs. You need a separate program to help catch these baddies. Luckily there are a bunch of FREE programs that do a great job of keeping your computer running tip-top. I've listed a few below:

Microsoft Windows Defender: This is a free program that you can download as long as you've got a good copy of Windows XP or Vista. It does a good job too.

SpyBot Search and Destroy: A nice free program. It's has been the standard for a long time and still works wonders in tough situations.

Malwarebytes: This program offers a free version and a paid version. Both are Awesome. This is my favorite program to rid PCs of junk. The paid version allows you to schedule scans of your PC at regular intervals.

5. Keep Your Antivirus Up-To-Date

If you've let your computer's antivirus lapse and haven't done anything about it you're making yourself an easy target. Many people don't like shelling out $40 or more every year just to have virus protection but it is necessary. Most virus problems on home or small office computers could have been caught if the person on the computer had simply updated the darn thing.

4. Use Automatic Updates at Home

Microsoft's Automatic Update feature is, for the most part, a good thing. On a business computer I would think twice about automatically approving every update that comes along, but you could certainly have the computer notify you when new updates are ready so you can decide if you want them. I do recommend home users leave their automatic updates to update automatically. It normally helps more than hurts.

3. Buy an Uninterpretable Power Supply (also called a UPS)

While this might seem over kill for most home users, I always recommend it for a couple of reasons. Number one: It regulates the power coming into your PC. This is important because too much or too little voltage can quickly wear out your computer's power supply. This can cause the power supply to pass out the wrong voltage to components inside the PC, like the hard drive or motherboard, which can be very expensive to repair. The second reason is that computers of course do not like to be shut off suddenly. A power outage while in the middle of anything important can be catastrophic.

2. Schedule Regular PC Check-Ups

Just like your car, your computer needs regular maintenance too. Many local companies have plans catering to just this sort of thing. Normally they are much less than a regular service call, and sometimes can be done remotely without any interruption at all. Check with your local computer shop to see if they provide this service.

1.Slow Down and Read What's Happening

Many virus infectiosn, and malware installations are resultant of people NOT paying attention to what they're doing on the computer. Many free computer programs include bundled software to help offset the cost of developing the software. This 'other' software can be anything, and if you agree to install it there's nothing your antivirus can do to help. Clicking on suspicious emails, opening unknown programs, and downloading programs off the internet are the most common ways to get your PC infected.

Do you have more tips to share? Post them below.

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