PC Help & Tips.
Always keep an up to date and printed inventory of your system hardware and software
If you do have problems with your computer it is always a big help to have the details of your system at hand. Modern system specifications are so complex that few of us can remember what the essential details are. You can save hours of arduous effort by using a system profiler. We recommend Belarc Advisor, a free for personal use utility available from http://www.belarc.com. It will give all the information you need about your hardware and software. If you ever have to re-format your disk and re-install your operating system you will be glad to have a printed copy of all the software you had installed. The information about your hardware will be invaluable to our engineers if your system won't start up.
Back up all your important data
Always make back up copies of your critical data including emails. Most of us have a lot of important information in our email folders so it's not really enough just to back up to your hard drive. In Outlook Express for example, your email folders are backed up regularly and automatically to a folder on your hard drive. You can compact these to save space by selecting File | Folder | Compact All Folders. To find the location of your email storage folder in Outlook Express click on Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder. Copy the entire path (right click | copy). Then click on Start | Run and paste it in there. Click OK. A new window will open. Choose Edit | Select All then Edit | Copy and then copy to the required destination folder on an external drive or media such as DVD drive or Zip and paste into the folder that you have made there
Prolong the life of your computer by keeping it dust free
You can extend the life of your computer by keeping it a clean place. Computers are designed to draw cool air in at the front and blow warm air from inside the case out of the back. We recommend that a tower case is located a little off the floor where dust, hair and particles that have settled on a hard floors or carpets is not sucked inside the case. Try to have it at least 6 inches above floor level.Dust will block heatsinks and can cause thermal problems.
Cooling
Computers contain components such as disk drives and CPU’s that get hot. They have dedicated heatsinks and fans that keep them cool. Never run your computer without the case sides on, this destroys the air flow from front to back and also allows more dust inside.
