Ways to keep your PC running smoothly  Reboot at least once a week  Make sure fan is free of dust and debris  Defragment your PC once a month  Run disk clean up once a month  Clear web browser cache  Uninstall unneeded or unused programs  Run a virus scan and update once a week  Run Spybot once at least once a week

Make sure fan is free of dust and debris Dirty cooling fanClean cooling fan Dirty cooling fans can cause your computer to run slow, produce errors, or even crash resulting in information loss.

Tools used to clean fan  Canned Air (Duster)  Cloth  Portable vacuum  Cotton swabs

Defragmenting your hard drive  Fragmentation is a phenomenon in which storage space is used inefficiently, reducing storage capacity and in most cases performance Wikipedia

How to Defrag your PC  Left click on Start  Choose Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Defragmenter  Choose Analyze (it will tell you if you have anything to defrag. or not)  If you do, choose Defragment  Should be done once a month

Disk Cleanup  Searches your computer for temporary or unneeded files that accumulate on a hard disk. Such as: temporary files from web pages, program installs.

How to use Disk Cleanup  Left click on Start  Choose Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Cleanup  Choose the drive you want to clean (C drive)  Let it scan  Check all the boxes  Click OK  Run once a week

Clear Browser Cache Internet Explorer  Open IE  Click on Tools and select Internet Options  In the General tab under Browsing history click the Delete… button  Select what you want to delete  Click the Delete button

Uninstall Unneeded Software  Click on Start and select Control Panel  Double click on Add/Remove Programs  Select which Program and click Remove

Characteristics of Virus and Spyware Infection  Extremely Slow Processing  Inability to open programs  Internet Homepage gets changed  Constant redirection to unscrupulous websites  Phishing/Scamming s sent to your inbox

Make sure you have an up to date anti-virus program installed and running all the time! Anti-Virus Free editions  AVG  Avast!  Clamware  Microsoft Security Essentials

How to use Spybot  Left click on Start  Choose Programs, Spybot: Search and Destroy  Search for Updates (found on left side)  Check boxes and download all updates  Choose Safer-networking #1 (it is fast)  Choose Search and Destroy and Check for Problems (found on left side)  Infections will appear in red  If you have infections, mark them (with a checkmark) and choose Fix Selected Problems