Friday, February 3, 2012

Tips from a Busy Working Mama | How to Prevent a Computer Crash

Last week I came to work to discover that my computer crashed. Again.

You would think that computer crashes do not happen very often. Me too. But as "luck" would have it, my computer has crashed 3 times in the past 1.5 years. You can call me sibeh suay {very unlucky!}.

Once you see that blue {when it hangs in the middle of your work}, or worst, black {when it cannot even start-up!} screen of death , your heart just sinks. Getting a new computer is the easy part. It's the mad rush to salvage the data in the curent computer or losing everything on your hard-disk that causes the head, AND heart aches... a lot of "work" is needed to get a computer fixed, and in the end you actually are not able to get much work done. Oh, the irony!

Here a compilation of some tips I've been told to take care of my computer to extend its lifespan, and hopefully not crash another time. Many thanks also to my hubby who is the tech whiz of the family to solve my tech problems!

1. Delete files, applications or programs you don't need. The less memory your computer has, the more likely it is to crash.

2. Don't open too many programs at the same time. It overloads your computer and saps its energy.

3. Don't bring food or drinks near your computer. Spillage may seep into your computer and hurt your harddisk and battery.

4. Make sure your virus and spyware protection is up-to-date and run regular scans. Malicious software can cause crashes too, so be careful not to click on links you aren't sure of. Even if they are from friends and family as their accounts might be hacked!

5. Backup regularly either with another computer, external harddrive, CDs etc. Set a schedule, say every Friday {or more regularly if you have very important work} and try to stick to it. I'm gonna try and back-up every Friday too. At least if there's a crash, my data is safe! Once you backup, you can delete files not used frequently to save space on your computer so that it can work more efficiently.

6. Update your operating system software regularly. Even if it is new, it is still prone to crashes so look out for the patches and updates. Yes, I know how easy it is to click "postpone" but just do it!

7. Turn off your computer when not in use. This is a no-brainer to save energy {and $ }but I know some people leave their computer running from day to day to download files, play games etc. Leaving it on for long periods might cause errors to build up but if need be, restart your computer daily.

8. Make sure to keep the computer cool {make sure the CPU/case fans are clean and working properly!} and room not too moist, as overheating and water condensation causes hardware failure.

Whether you are working mother in the office, or a SAHM blogging from home, I hope you find these tips useful and take care of your computer. It really is a b*tch when it crashes!!!

Let me know if you have more useful tips in preventing a computer crash :)


Dominique Goh said...

Have a computer repair man's number on speed dial if anything happens. My previous laptop crashed but I was able to retrieve all the necessary files/data as they have a special program for extracting the data from the hd.

Shary said...

You know I've been here several times and never followed. I don't know why. So, new follower!

I am guilt of several of these things... thanks for the tips!

EssentiallyJess said...

I need to back up a lot more often than I do. Thanks for the reminder!

Ai Sakura said...

Dominique: thanks for tt extra tip!

Sharissa: thanks lovely :) you're welcome and hope you'll enjoy other posts coming up too!

Jess: me too! I do it faithfully for a while.. Then slack off haha.

Unknown said...

This post is awesome and very useful....especially because I'm always paranoid it's going to happen to me, and that's just with my home computer! Love the tips, thanks so much :)

Unknown said...

P.S. Thanks for following on Pinterest! I'm following you back...I'm slowly getting addicted to it hehehe

Katie said...

This has happened to me more times than I'd like to admit. Thanks for the tips!

Jen said...

Thank you for the reminder to back-up! I've lost countless family pictures to 2 separate computer crashes! It's been too long since I've done it. *Adds 'clean-up/back-up' computer to long list of things not to forget.* :)

Oh, and I'm your newest follower. I've enjoyed perusing your blog. Have a lovely weekend!


Kelly said...

Great advice, thank you! Your blog is lovely so I'm giving you the Sunshine Blog Award! You can read about it here:
Have a great weekend!

Ai Sakura said...

Brandi: No worries, looking forward to more of you pins!

Lee Family: Glad you find them useful!

Jen: thanks for coming by Jen! hope you back up soon! haha

Kelly: thank you! so nice of you :)

Big Tavel Adventure said...

That's a great and thorough list. Unfortunately one usually learns from mistakes, back up is so important.
We always back up our photos on two different external hard drives, it's better to be safe than sorry.