It’s a brand new computer. Maybe it’s a one or two year old computer. Maybe it’s even older than that. Regardless, you’ve been taking good care of it. You back it up regularly, you watch where you click on websites, and you run regular virus and malware scans.

So why are some of your games crashing? Why won’t websites display properly? How come programs take forever to load?

What’s going on?

Chances are, your computer is in need of software updates.

Can you remember the last time you updated your computer? How many of those little icons for Java, Adobe Reader, Windows Update and more are sitting in the bottom right hand corner of your screen in the icon tray (or worse, are sitting out of sight behind that little upward facing arrow)?

Many people hit Remind Me Later when an update notification flashes on their screen, others ignore it, or have automatic updates turned off. This is not healthy for the computer; it leaves it vulnerable to security threats and viruses.

Another reason why people don’t update is because they’re not sure if the notification is legitimate or not. When in doubt, go to the source! For Windows Updates, click the start button or hit the Windows key on the keyboard, type Windows Update in the search box, and click on the Windows Update program. This will take you to the update center within Control Panel. Update your computer from there and you will be sure that you are downloading the right thing.

For other programs, like Java or Adobe Reader, go to their websites (java.com and adobe.com/reader) and download the program from there so that you will have the latest version.

So if you find your computer is running into bugs and issues, make sure you are keeping your software up to date! If that doesn’t fix your problem, then maybe investigate that your computer is clean and doesn’t have any malware hiding on it!

Welcome to a brand new year! It’s time to clean up, organize, and make room for new things! While you’re in the process of cleaning, you may find that you have a lot of old memories stored in old formats: home movies on film or VHS; music on vinyl, tape, or CD; family pictures in photo albums, on old phones, or on slides.

So what do you do with all that?

Why, you put those videos, songs, and pictures on your computer, tablet or portable player! (Or DVD/CD, if you prefer!)

VCRs are a rare commodity today, and you, like most people, probably have a shelf full of tapes you haven’t watched since your last VCR kicked the bucket. Maybe you have movies you want to share with loved ones: with children that are now grown, with relatives who live far away. Maybe you just want to watch an old tape of your favorite vacation.

Vinyl is making a comeback, but it doesn’t make music any more accessible. CD’s are great, but CD players (like VCRs) aren’t exactly commonplace any more (and tape players were already on their way out when CD players were in). If you have a smart phone or an mp3 player, you probably want your music there.

Photo albums can be a hassle to keep organized and keep track of, plus they take up so much space! Old cameras and camera phones aren’t doing your pictures any favors either. One day their batteries may go dead, or you may lose the SD card the pictures are on, and then what?

When something goes wrong with your computer, the first question you’re going to ask yourself is, “Is this worth fixing?” Is it worth fixing, or would it be better to buy a new machine? Is it worth fixing, or should it just be put up with? The lines between each of these decisions are blurry, and circumstances are usually what help you decide.

Example #1: The computer is running slowly.

When it’s worth fixing: When the slowness is due to dust clogging, too many programs installed/running, not enough memory, and malware. All of these issues can be resolved for a low cost, or even for free if you are able to take care of them yourself.

When it’s not worth fixing: When the slowness is due to the age of the computer. While you can upgrade the hardware, the software, and the OS, eventually you run the risk of spending more for upgrades than you would for a new PC.

Example #2: A part is broken (eg., the screen, the keyboard)

When it’s worth fixing: When the part can be found for sale at a reasonable price.

When it’s not worth fixing: When the part is for an old computer (especially an old Mac). Older computer parts are often no longer manufactured and thus are only available used from third party sources. They can be hard to come by and expensive (motherboards, especially).

Example #3: Software problems (eg., not booting, not installing, viruses)

When it’s worth fixing: Almost always. There are tons of scans out there that can remove a majority of viruses and junk programs. Even the worst problems can be solved by re-installing the operating system and re-installing all your software, etc.

When it’s not worth fixing: When you need to re-install Windows OS and don’t have the install CDs/product keys, because you will have to buy a new copy of the OS. In addition, if your computer programs are old, they will need to be upgraded to work on that new OS (which means, more money to spend).

In general, the worth of fixing the computer is dependent on the age of the computer: the newer it is, the harder you should try to fix it instead of buying a new one. If, however, you’re still not sure what to do about your computer problem, it never hurts to give a trusted tech support guy a call and ask for a second opinion!

WARNING: Dust May Be Killing Your Computer

Keeping your computer clean can mean many things. Most often, you probably think it means running virus scans and defragmenters to keep the hard drive clean from bad programming; but there is another component to keeping a computer clean, and that’s keeping the actual, physical computer clean!

Believe it or not, maintaining the hardware is just as important as maintaining the software when it comes to keeping your computer running well! One of the biggest enemies to your computer isn’t viruses, but dust bunnies. They get pulled into the computer through the fan and build up when the computer is not regularly opened up and cleaned out.

So what harm is a little bit of dust in the computer? Well, a lot. Especially when it builds up over months and months. The first sign of a dust clog is typically in the fan: it gets loud when the computer isn’t doing much or even when the computer is idle. The next sign is that the computer is hotter to the touch than usual. A laptop might burn your lap if you set it on your bare skin. A desktop might make you jump if you press your leg to it by mistake because of how warm it is.

After that, your computer performance will drop. Programs will run more slowly. Your computer may even shut down without warning due to overheating. If left in this condition for too long, components will cease functioning. Malfunctioning motherboards and memory will create problems and force the hard disk to crash. Eventually, the hard disk itself can become unusable, which means you face the risk of losing all of your important documents and files.

To avoid the risk of losing your important files and having to send your computer in for costly diagnoses and repairs, it’s important to schedule regular cleanings, whether you do them yourself or have somebody else do them for you. Cleaning the computer is nothing complicated: all you need is a can of compressed air to clear the dust out of the computer’s fan. Although, if you believe your computer has had such a buildup of dust that it is impacting your computer’s performance, it is better to take the computer apart and clean out the individual components. Doing this will save yourself a lot of trouble down the road, so make sure you check your computer regularly for dust build up!

Your computer is an important part of your regular life. It helps you with work, with play, and with keeping in touch with those important to you. You keep all your precious pictures on it, records of purchases and donations, documents and music on it. Imagine now, that one day, you wake to find that that was all gone.

Do you have any way to retrieve those files? Are they somewhere in the cloud? Or stored on an external disk? Or are they gone forever? If you fall into that last category, it’s time you set up some way to back up your files. You never know when something might happen to your hard drive.

If you are backing up, on the cloud or an external disk, do you know that your backup process is working properly? It’s one thing to know that you’re backing up; another to know that what you’re backing up will be usable should the need arise.

We had a customer not too long ago who lost their data to hard drive failure. It should have been simple enough to restore from one of their two backup drives, but it wasn’t. It turned into a multi-day project because their backup data was corrupted. Turns out, they weren’t backing their files up correctly, and it ended up costing them a lot of their work records.

Fortunately, they were eventually able to get most of their files back from the other drive, but the fear remained with them. If you’re not checking your backups, you may one day end up in the same situation as them, and you may not be so lucky.

If you’re not sure if your backups are working properly (or if you don’t have a backup process in place to begin with), don’t hesitate to give us a call or contact us via our website!

Also be sure to check out our blog to comment on this article and share your experiences with us, regarding backups or anything else!

You seek out something new…

When you search for things on the internet, you want the process to be simple and straightforward. Let’s say you’re looking for an antivirus program, the cheaper in cost, the better. Free would be best. You know there’s lots of free antivirus protection out there; your friends and family have all recommended you different names. You have your list in front of you and you head to your favorite search engine.

You click on the first result you see and you’re brought to a page with three or four different download buttons, and you’re not sure which one to click. Of these, only one is the actual download button for the software you seek; the other three are deceptive ads hoping for your click. Let’s say you click the wrong one. You realize it almost right away when you’re taken to a new webpage. Quickly you back out and return to the download page. Whew, safe… right? You try another download button. This one actually gives you the file.

You find what you seek but get more than you bargained for…

You install your new antivirus and you feel all set, protected. Suddenly, there are a number of applications popping up behind your antivirus screen; programs you don’t remember installing. From here, a number of things could happen: your computer could freeze from all of the programs running at once, a number of viruses could worm their way into your software, you could get the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. No matter what happens though, you no doubt will ask yourself what went wrong.

The answer is a number of things could have gone wrong: the misguided download button could have led you to a page that gave you bad programs, the antivirus download was packed with other unnecessary programs that you weren’t warned about, the antivirus itself is simply a virus. So how could you have stopped this from happening?

How to make sure you know what you’re getting…

1. You could stop foul things from getting onto your computer before they have the chance to. McAFee SiteAdvisor is a free program that is installed onto your Internet browser and checks the quality of websites before you visit them. It also is able to block you from going to sites that it knows are bad, even if you are redirected to them.

2. You can scan your computer for programs called malware (they are less deadly than viruses, but they can still cause problems for your computer) after you’ve clicked on links that you didn’t mean to (deceptive ads, pop ups, etc). Even if you didn’t let the page load, there’s still a chance something may have gotten through. Programs like MalwareBytes and ADWare scan for malware and remove them from your computer.

3. Know the website of the antivirus (or any program) you are looking to download. Adobe products are found through adobe.com. Microsoft products are found through microsoft.com. If you are unsure what the official website is of the program you’re looking for, do a search through your favorite search provider (like “what is the official Microsoft website?”). Look at the top results (watch for ads!). If you’re still unsure, ask someone who you think may know the answer! Like your friends at Hogan’s Systems Consulting!

4. Keep your computer and antivirus up-to-date. Let your antivirus run scans periodically.

5. Back up your computer on a regular basis, so that in case something does infect your system, you can always restore to an earlier point before it got there.

Good luck out there and stay safe!

For more tips on how to keep your computer safe and yourself happy, head to our website at Hogans-Systems.com or click like on our Facebook fan page!