Your Basic Guide To Computer Maintenance

04 Oct, 2004 by John Hawkins

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If you’re familiar with the basics of how your computer and the internet works, you’re more unusual than you think. I can tell you that definitively because I do internet tech support and I’ve talked to people who have (and no, I’m not joking)…

— Said they deleted all the .dll files on their computer to save space and wanted to know why their computer didn’t work anymore.

— Said they got an “illegal operation” while they were on the FBI page and hadn’t turned their computer on for a year afterwards. Was it safe to turn it back on now?

— Ran their tower through their dishwasher because the dog peed on it and are wondering why it isn’t working anymore.

So in an effort to help people, because I care, and most importantly because it’ll mean I have more time to screw around in between calls, I’ve decided to punch up a basic guide to computer maintenance. (Cont)

*** Update #1 ***: Laurence Simon, who used to be a tech himself, has a few more tips worth perusing.