Created By, Ms. Jennifer Duke August 17, 2013

Standard 1: Objective 1 Demonstrate an understanding of computer hardware, peripherals, and troubleshooting. 1) Explore and demonstrate knowledge of how to maintain computer equipment, protect hardware from theft or damage, and solve common hardware problems.

 If you messed up your life, you could press “Alt, Ctrl, Delete” and start all over!  To get your daily exercise, just click on “run.”  If you needed a break from life, click on “suspend.”  Hit “any key” to continue life when ready.  To get even with the neighbors, turn up the sound blaster.  To “add/remove” someone in your life, click settings and control panel.  To improve your appearance, just adjust the display settings.  If life gets too noisy, turn off the speakers.

 When you lose your car keys, click on “find.”  “Help” with the chores is just a click away.  You wouldn’t need auto insurance. You’d use your diskette to recover from a crash.  To feel like a new person, click on “refresh.”  To undo a mistake, click on “back.”  Is your wardrobe getting old? Click “update.”  If you don’t like cleaning the litter box, click on “delete.”

All joking aside, computer do really make our lives easier!

There are many ways to extend the life of your computer system.

Be careful not to bump or drop your computer, and do not put any objects on top of it. The case, although strong, is not made to support extra weight.

Keep diskettes, drives, and your computer away from magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can erase data on both diskettes and hard drives.

Avoid subjecting your computer to extreme temperature changes. If the temperature is too hot or too cold, it can damage the computer.

Keep all liquids away from your computer. Exposure to almost any liquid can result in extremely expensive repairs.

Avoid dusty or dirty work environments. Dust and dirt can clog the internal mechanisms.

Create an emergency startup disk (also called a boot disk). An emergency startup diskette is a diskette that contains critical information that you need to start your computer if Windows fails to start. You should create a startup diskette as soon as you get your computer.

Check for viruses. A virus is a program that attaches itself to a file on a computer, then spreads from one computer to another. Viruses can damage data or cause your computer to malfunction. Some viruses go undetected for a period of time, because they are activated on a certain date.

Manage your hard drive space. Windows provides several utilities you can use to manage your hard drive space and keep your hard drive running efficiently.

 Defragment the hard drive. When working with files, sometimes Windows divides the file information into pieces and stores them in different places on the hard drive. This is called fragmentation, and it is normal. In order for the computer to use a file, Windows must search for the pieces of the file and put them back together. This process slows the hard drive performance.

 Defragment the hard drive (continued…). The Disk Defragmenter program organizes the data on the drive so that each file is stored as one unit rather than multiple pieces scattered across different areas of the drive. Defragmenting the information stored on the drive can improve hard drive performance.

 Defragment the hard drive (continued…). While the Disk Defragmenter program is running, do not use your keyboard or mouse because using them may stop and restart the defragmenting process. Also, if you are connected to a network, log off before starting Disk Defragmenter. Network communication may stop the defragmentation process and cause it to start over.

 Back up files. Backing up files and removing them from the hard drive frees space for new files on the hard drive. It also protects you from losing important information if the hard drive fails or you accidentally delete files.

 Clean your computer case, keyboard, screen, and mouse regularly. When cleaning:  Chemicals are bad.  Liquids are bad.  Static electricity generated from carpet is bad on internal components (like the motherboard).

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