Why annual tune-ups are essential

Remember when you first bought your computer or laptop? You’d hit the power button and it was ready to go waiting for you. Fast forward a year or two, it doesn’t seem as quick does it? That’s because computers need regular maintenance in order to keep them running at full speed.

Computer tune-up

Let’s take a look at some of the culprits.
Start-up programs: A lot a programs will start automatically when you turn on your computer, some of these are required for day to day operation, some are not. For example, the iTunes helper automatically loads in the background to speed up things when you connect your iPhone or iPod. But if you can’t remember the last time you connected one of these, it can be disabled.
The average computer can have anywhere between 50-80 programs automatically start-up, each one using system resources which slow down your computer. However, if you don’t know what you are doing and disable the wrong programs, your computer can become unstable and will not work correctly.
Viruses and malware: Almost every computer we see, has got a virus or malware infection and the person those computers it is, doesn’t even know about it. These infections sit in the background, using valuable system resources, slowing the computer down even more. Not only that, but they are also spying on your actions, stealing your private information or  possibly infecting other computers and laptops on your home network. As part of our tune-up process, we make sure your system is completely clear of these infections.
Temporary junk: Computers have a habit of leaving junk everywhere. Every website, document or program you’ve opened, there will be ‘junk’ or snippets of information left behind. These junk files can and will eventually slow your computer down.
Hardware issues: When we perform our tune-ups, we also test the components inside your computer to make sure they are working at peak performance.
Dust build up (all those fans inside your computer or laptop act as a vacuum cleaner, sucking up dust and trapping it inside) causes components to overheat. As the temperatures inside rise, your computer will start to throttle back it’s performance in order to keep itself cool. We recommend a full strip down and clean once a year to keep everything clean inside.
Also, hard drives slow down over time. Traditional hard drives are made up of stacks of platters, spinning up to 7200 rpm, which a read/write head whizzes back and forth. Eventually, the platters take longer to spin up, resulting in a slow computer. This can happen on new computers, so we also recommend testing hard drives once a year to make sure they are not failing.
Just like a car, computers and laptops require regular maintenance in order to make sure they are working correctly. That’s why we suggest having it done once a year. If you haven’t had your computer looked at by us this year, then now is the perfect time to book it in for a tune-up…just in time for Christmas.

Call us today on 01543 889 444 to get your tune-up booked in.

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we are offering IT Support to our customers via remote support tools only. All onsite call outs have been suspended and our office is currently closed to visitors. Call us on 01543 889 444 for more details.