The most common computer problem people ask me about

Dear visitors to this blog,

I spend a lot of time, (and enjoy it!), in writing stuff for this blog and finding interesting computer related items in other publications that may be of interest to all of you.

I also spend time helping mostly friends and other people they refer me to, around the area where I live, Chapin in South Carolina.

Can you guess what are the most common problems most people have when they ask for my help?

It should not be difficult to guess: "George, my computer runs so slow", or "my computer freezes for no reason", "my hard drive stopped working and I lost all my files", "I can't connect to my printer", "it takes 15 20 minutes for the computer to boot!" etc. etc.

Most of the above problems could be avoided or at least simplified if such computers would be handled with more care. A lot of people think that computers run forever and follow the principle that "as long as it ain't broke don't try to interfere with it...".

This is bad, very bad. First of all you all should believe that ALL computers, (for sure), some day will break up due to hard drive problems, viruses and spyware infections, power surges, power supply failures, etc. etc.

HOWEVER, if you handle your computer with care, (later on I'll cover what care really means), computers can last a long time and in some cases even be upgraded to the latest,(or close to it), technology available. Take for instance my wife's computer,(which of course is taken care of by me), it is about 5 years old, runs like new, has been upgraded with more RAM memory, Windows 7, and I am now contemplating installing a new 1 TB hard drive.

Let's now talk about what computer care means:

-Fight infections from viruses, malicious spyware, trojans and other invasive malware.
-Reduce atart-up programs that load automatically every time you boot the computer.
-Free hard drive space by eliminating programs that you do not use, or were loaded without you ever noticing.
-Delete on a regular basis temporary Internet files, other temporary files, cookies etc.
-Defrag your hard drive on a regular basis.
-Check for malicious programs like spyware, spam, viruses etc.
-Install more RAM memory, at least up to 4 MB. RAM memory is so cheap today that this is a must.If you have 64 bit Windows 7 you can use as much RAM memory as you can afford, but for any other version of Windows, including 32 bit W7, no point in going over 4 MB RAM, because Windows will not recognize it.
-BACK UP your important files or better still make a mirror copy of you hard drive.
-Keep you computer clean and free of dust that accumulates on the cooling fans openings and inside the computer case.

The above are some of the most important steps most computer owners can easily take care of. If you take care of those I can assure you that your computer will run much better than it does now, and it will last much longer also.

There are many utility programs that can be used to correct all of the problems outlined above. Many are free for the taking, others have to be paid for.

I have made available on this blog, many of these utility programs, which can be downloaded and installed, by just clicking on web addresses also outlined on these pages.

THEY ARE ALL STILL AVAILABLE BY JUST VISITING THE POSTS PUBLISHED SINCE THE BIRTH OF THIS BLOG IN DECEMBER 2008.

All you have to do is scroll down to older posts or check the roster of posts outlined on the left column of the opening page.

Here is a list of the most popular and best utility programs you can find here, that will help you keep your computer in top shape:

-Ashampoo Win Optimiser
-CCleaner
-Advanced System Care
-Disk Keeper
-Free Fixer
-Registry Mechanic
-Defraggler
-Startups-all
-Ad Aware
-Spybot
-Fences
-Speccy
-Starup Delayer
-Avira Antivirus
-Clamwin Antivirus

And many more...

By the way, if you have a problem finding any of the above on the blog, all you have to do is google the name, and for sure you'll find the proper web address to download whatever you are looking for.

I will be glad to help you use all of the above or give you more recommendations, all you have to do is ask me.

George Freire