Preventing Disaster
Preventing disaster with the office computers is one of the most important things that a company can do. Computers tend to break from misuse, or as mechanical parts wear down and fail, preventing problems and prolonging life saves both money and time.
Most companies do not consider preventing problems, but instead lean toward bringing someone in, or having the person that knows the most at the office, fix things as they break. The problem is that fixing things as they break requires that things actually totally fail. When computers fail, the people that use those computers are unable to get work done and productivity takes a severe hit, as does employee morale. Reliable computers are much less expensive then downtime, which is measured in lost man hours and sales.
Virus and spyware scanning should be done as often as possible. Viruses are often only noticed when a computer is so infected that recovery is a long and tedious process, and a large number of important files could already be corrupted. Scanning daily if possible, otherwise weekly, will greatly prevent computer viruses from causing downtime. Instead of scanning when the problem is out of control and finding thousands of infections, scanning regularly and removing one or two viruses at a time is the preferred remedy for controlling infections. Spyware programs are very similar to viruses. Spyware is often only observed once the homepage continually and constantly resets itself and so many ads pop up whenever the computer is used that it is all but unusable. Recovering from a serious spyware infection requires a considerable time investment. Modern virus scanners, and some spyware scanners, can constantly monitor the computer thus preventing infections from taking hold.
Protection software, such as virus and spyware scanning software, are useless if they don’t guard against the latest attacks. Protection software that hasn’t been kept up to date is nearly as bad as using nothing for system protection. It is vital to allow protection software to automatically update, if that feature is available, or to manually update the software regularly.
Software updates, particularly operating system updates are also extremely important. Operating systems like Windows are often composed of millions upon millions of lines of code. An error in a single line can allow an attacker the ability to compromise a computer. Anything with the complexity of an operating system is likely to have small flaws that are discovered over time. Regularly running Windows Update can prevent the vast majority of problems. In nearly every case a fix is available long before an attack that makes use of the error is found. Because software updates are a necessity and software programs use different interfaces to perform updates, it is necessary to check the help files or the various menus of regularly used software to determine how to go about retrieving updates.
Hardware failure is also a major concern. A computer hard drive’s platters generally spin at 7200 revolutions per minute, with magnetic parts moving very close to the platter surfaces. As with any mechanical device, over time hard drive components wear out and fail. Strange operation of the computer is often an early warning of an impeding hardware failure. Two signs that something might be amiss are the computer’s random rebooting itself or the blue screen of death, an error message with a blue screen that appears under Windows that cannot be recovered/removed. If either occurs, it is a good time to call in an expert to diagnose the problem and replace the parts before data is lost or the computer becomes so unstable that it is unusable.
Computers are also susceptible to heat. Modern microprocessors can quickly heat up to over 130 degrees. Hard drives and video cards also heat up fairly quickly. Blocking air inlets or outlets can easily cause system instability or hardware failure due to overheating. It is best to put nothing within six inches of the front or back of the computer. Obstructed airflow can dramatically shorten the lifespan of a computer.
Preventative maintenance is a necessity for every computer, especially an office environment. Properly maintained computers can provide years and years of worry free, trouble free service to the simply by following a few key steps. Keep systems up to date, be alert about potential warning signs of hardware failure, and be conscious of obstructing the airflow. In so doing your computer usage will become a lot less stressful and hectic. Fixing and properly maintaining a computer is a lot less expensive than the cost of down time or replacing the entire system. Unlike most other manufactured devices today, it is far less expensive to repair a computer that it is to replace it. The reason being, computers are made up of a number of relatively inexpensive components that can be easily replaced. All it takes is a good diagnostic to identify which component is the cause of the failure.
September 9, 2005 11:43 PM posted by J. Michael Cunningham
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