How To Extend the Life Of Your Computer

Turn off and unplug the computer. Carefully remove your computer’s case with the screwdriver.

Using the compressed air, blow away dust and debris that have accumulated inside. Screw the cover back on and give the exterior plug-ins and keyboard a once-over with the compressed air, too.

Transfer any large files, like presentations, music, photos, or giant databases, onto an external hard drive. Clearing out files over 50 megabytes frees up valuable hard-drive space and keeps your machine running smoothly.

Locate, uninstall, and delete any programs you don’t use. For PC users, you’ll find a simple Add or Remove function in the control panel. For Mac users, open the Applications folder and click and drag unwanted programs to the Trash. Then, empty the Trash.

Every time you access a web page or read an email, your computer stores information in temporary files, which take up disk space. Macs automatically delete temporary files, but PCs do not. To manually do so, use Disk Cleanup, located in System Tools.

Scan your hard drive for infected files with an antivirus and anti-spyware program. Many programs locate and report harmful files for free, but charge a fee to remove them. Find an antivirus program that scans your system at least once a month.

Over time, files on a PC’s hard drive fragment, slowing down your computer. To “defrag” a Windows operating system, open My Computer and right click on the C drive. In the Tools tab, under Properties, you’ll find Disk Defragmentation. Defragging takes several hours, so be sure to leave enough time.

On a Mac, permission errors can clog the system. Before and after you install new software, go to Finder, click Go, select Utilities, and then Disk Utility. Click on Macintosh HD, and click Repair Disk Permissions.

Adding random-access memory (RAM) will improve your computer’s performance and extend its life. To check how much you currently have, on a PC, go to the Control Panel. Click System, and then the General tab. At the bottom of the page you should see the amount of RAM. On a Mac, in Finder, go back to the Utilities folder, and click System Profiler. Click the Memory tab.

Every computer model requires a different kind of RAM. Visit the manufacturer’s website to find out what kind of RAM you should install.

Turn off and unplug your computer, and put on your wrist strap if you have one. Remove the cover to access the RAM slots, located near the (usually green) metal plate known as the motherboard. The computer will either have empty slots for extra RAM, or you’ll have to replace old RAM with new RAM to increase capacity. Now enjoy your computer’s new lease on life!