Extend Your Computer's Life, Cont'd

3. Monthly Preventative Maintenance

Once a month, perform 2 tasks: Clean your temporary files and empty your trash or recycle bin (you can do this with the Disk Cleanup utility in Windows® XP) and defragment your computer (you can do this by running the Disk Defragmenter utility in Windows® XP). Think of this as checking your oil, tire pressure, window-washer fluid, and clearing the kids’ toys out of your car.

4. Annual Computer Maintenance

Just as a car needs a tune-up once a year, so too does a computer. There are 2 aspects to this process: electronic and physical.

The electronic tune-up consists of the regular monthly maintenance plus a disk scan of your hard drives and a manual check of all software for updates. In Windows® XP, utilize the Check Disk utility – check both boxes to fix file-system errors and scan for bad sectors.
1. For each application, such as Adobe® Reader or Microsoft® Office, check for updates using their built-in method or via the support or download section of their websites.
2. Although you may not be required to do so, I recommend restarting your computer after each software package has been updated. This will allow the various bits of code to properly "register" with the computer and cause any error messages to be isolated to the last update you did (versus just "something").
The physical tune-up, while short (it takes five to ten minutes from start to finish), might seem intimidating at first. Don't let it scare you, though. There are only five simple steps: unplug, unplug, look, lift, and dust.
1. First, turn off and unplug your computer and your monitor. Next, unplug the rest of the cables from the computer case, the network cable, the printer cable, and so on. Inspect the cabling for any broken or frayed bits. If you have a laptop, take out the battery. For desktop computers, unscrew the case (generally in the back) and lift it off (some computers, like Dell and HP, have flip cases that you open by pressing down a plastic button).
2. Now, with the hose and bristle-sweep attachment of your vacuum, clean off the air vents on the outside of the computer case, the monitor, and the keyboard (and the docking station if you have a laptop). Then, gently vacuum out the dust from inside the case. This is not a detailed spring cleaning; go lightly and quickly (it should take you less than 30 seconds).

5. Independent Health Check

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At least once every 18 months, if not yearly, ask someone you trust, or who comes recommended, to do a health check of your systems and processes. Think of this as your 10-point check or other type of review you might subject your car to prior to a big trip. You want this done by an IT professional who is a generalist, not someone specialized in a particular aspect like back-up software or databases or who has a solution in need of a problem. You want personalized advice focused on your technology, nonprofit and environment.

For recommendations, look on the Web at generalist IT and consulting professional societies like Independent Computer Consultants Association (ICCA), Society of Professional Consultants or Institute of Management Consultants USA, as well as N-TEN or TechSoup.

If you want to try tackling the health check on your own or if you are uncertain about what to keep an eye on with different IT professionals and technology service firms, I recommend the following 10 items for the core health check.

Cold-Start Check: Just as cars frequently display symptoms upon startup, so do computers. To the trained ear, a high-pitched whine or inconsistent grinding noise can quickly identify a failing monitor, fan, or hard drive. The cold-start (or “cold-boot”) process starts up the computer from a completely powered-off state, skipping any welcome or other splash screens to look for error messages that may appear during startup and to listen for any warning beeps or other sounds.
Online Performance Check: Cars can be hooked up to automated diagnostic utilities to quickly see any issues, and so can computers. First, go online to a free antivirus or spyware scanner such as those provided by Trend Micro. Next, go to a PC diagnostics site like PC Pitstop and run the free full tune-up. Print out the site’s suggestions to consider later.
Error Logs: In Windows® XP, check all three default Event Viewer logs for errors or warnings. Copy and paste the errors and warnings into a plain text file and print this out. Then delete the log entries.
Isolation: Now disconnect the computer from the network or Internet and exit all programs like Instant Messenger, virus-scan, and so forth.
Temp File Cleaning: Run Windows® XP’s Desktop Clean-Up. This only cleans out the temporary files created by the person logged on at the time, however; many others are left to build up. A file and folder search for files named "~*.*" will find the rest. Most files beginning with a tilde (~) can be safely deleted.
Defragmentation and Warm-Start: Defrag the computer’s hard drive twice in a row, then reboot the computer checking for errors, warning beeps and other telltale noises. This tests the computer’s restart ability. Check the Event Viewer for any errors or warnings that haven’t already been captured.
Inventory: Download, install, and run BelArc’s BelManage or other inventory and software checking utility. (I often recommend BelArc because its software is straightforward, its stand-alone, non-commercial version is free, and it provides charitable software donations to non-profit organizations.) Make sure to print out this report.
Updates: Using the report you printed in Step 7, check for and install all the updates recommended by both the report and the software manufacturer, including software patches and drivers.
Troubleshooting: Once you’ve installed theupdates, restart and check the logs again for errors or warnings. This time, you’ll want to capture and print any that are left so that you can troubleshoot them. As appropriate, make sure to back up the computer’s data first.
The Test Drive: Finally, take the computer for a test drive, starting it up the same way the user does in the morning, opening email, the word processing application, the Internet and so on to ensure no errors are present and nothing is unusual from the user’s perspective.

Additional items to consider during the health check include viewing and documenting configurations of common software, network settings and other configurable options. Problems standardizing these configurations on computers in the same environment typically indicate issues either with the computer or with the network.

Final Thoughts

If your nonprofit has more than 30 computers, you may find it challenging to consistently take time away from your mission to devote to this maintenance routine. If this is the case, consider asking for help from a local technology service provider or an independent IT contractor. Likewise, if you’re uncomfortable handling this maintenance, treat it no differently than your car – and seek help from a professional.

I have laid out the core ten items in the annual health check process so that you can use the process as a benchmark for a provider’s quality of work prior to any long-term commitment. You may also want to review ICCA’s 10 Tips on Hiring a Computer Consultant.

Just as you can expect to get a long, useful life out of your car by following the recommended maintenance schedule, following these simple guidelines will help you get the best benefit out of the technology you have for the least cost.

About the Author: John Avellanet is the managing director of Cerulean Associates LLC, a Virginia-based consultancy focused on providing independent, business-focused IT strategies and advice. Cerulean offers a workshop for nonprofits on cost-effective IT as well as a part-time, remote CIO service for nonprofits and growing companies. Details and downloads can be found on their Web site at www.CeruleanLLC.com.

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