Home PC Tips

Make a back-up of your information. There's not one proven way to back-up but use which way works best for you. CD-R's, Zip Drives, and special back-up programs are all plausible options. This way if your system crashes you can have something to replace it with rather than loosing all your information. You won't have the latest updates, but at least you're not starting from scratch.

Another option is to create an image map of your hard drive using two removable hard drives. Use one as the main drive and the second as a back up drive. Make sure the image map is the same on both drives. You can then switch out drives quickly and easily if there is ever an uncorrectable problem with the main drive.

Using windows, you can press the Windows key + F to open up a search window for your Home PC. To search other Home PCs on your network, you can press the Windows key + F + Ctrl.

Avoid overloading your USB ports with devices. Your USB ports have a limited electrical supply and too many devices can cause a short circuit when competing for the same supply. This can cause problems for other devices in your Home PC. You can check your output through Windows Device Manager. If you have too much, you may wish to move some devices or get an external USB hub.

A shortcut to entering websites is to type the name of the site you wish to visit into your address bar and then press Ctrl + Enter together to automatically enter the rest of the URL (http:// and .com).

If you use external devices such as cameras, external drives, etc you may want to consider locking the drives associated with the device. Every time you plug in a new device it gets assigned a drive name. If you are using an application that uses that device, conflicts may occur if it is assigned another drive name every time it is plugged in.

If you have multiple programs open in Windows, you can easily switch between them by holding Alt + pressing Tab to cycle through them.

If you wish to make your Home PC more secure when not in front of it, you can enable a password protected screensaver or press Windows Key + L to "lock" your Home PC. A locked can only be unlocked by entering in your Windows user password.

An overheated Home PC can lead to numerous problems. Ensure that your fan is working properly and isn't cluttered with dust. Over heating can cause permanent CPU damage. If your Home PC is newer, it may contain a thermal sensor that can detect when it is overheating; check your settings to make sure it's configured properly.

Whenever using external devices make sure that you remove the device properly or you may experience some data loss. A "remove hardware" icon should appear in your system tray. Click on it and select the drive name of the device you wish to remove and wait for the dialog box to appear that lets you now it is safe to remove the device.

If your computer is hooked up to the Internet, it is a very smart idea to make sure you have a firewall in place. A firewall is software that blocks incoming and outgoing activity over your internet connection on your computer. You can adjust the settings to control the level of security that if offers. A firewall may also block programs trying to access the internet so if a malware program somehow gets on your computer it will not be able to access the internet to send your information. Newer versions of Windows like XP and Vista automatically come with a firewall program and anti-virus programs like Norton or MacAfee also have firewalls available. Even with a firewall, you are not 100% safe from hackers or malware as the only way to be totally secure is to turn off the internet when not in use. However, with a good firewall program and an updated anti-virus program, your computer should be very secure.

Make sure you download or buy Anti-virus software and update it consistently. Doing this will help protect your computer against any viruses that you may accidentally come across.