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Maintenance

SHHH! We’ve Got a Dirty Secret To Confess!

We’re Guilty Of This Computer Sin… Are you?

We have a dirty secret to confess…

We don’t clean our office computers as often as we should. Yes, we’ll shake the crumbs out of the keyboard from time to time just like everyone else, but that could hardly constitute as a “cleaning.”

With spring in the air, we thought this would be a good opportunity to remind everyone to clean out those dirty PCs. After all, you should do this every 3 to 4 months. And, it’s not just for sanitation purposes.

The electromagnetic field put off by your computer attracts dirt. Just take a look at the back of your PC near the fan vent. This dust and debris accumulates, and acts just like insulation, making your computer run too hot.

It’s Not Just Dirty… It’s Dangerous!
The dust clogging those vents will cause your CPU to heat up—and heat is the biggest cause of component failure in computers. That dirt and dust can end up shutting down your PC and costing you real money!

Here’s a general overview of how to clean your computer…

A Warning Before You Start Scrubbing
Never spray or squirt any type of liquid onto ANY part of your computer. If a spray is needed, spray the liquid onto a cloth and then use that cloth to rub down the component. You NEVER want to get any of the components inside the computer wet and you don’t want to spray cleaner directly onto a computer screen!

Also, when vacuuming the dust INSIDE your computer, make sure you use one that was designed specifically for the job and not the one in your closet. Standard vacuums create static electricity that can damage the internal components of your computer. Instead, use a portable battery powered vacuum designed to do this job.

Tools You’ll Need
You will also need:
– A screwdriver to open the computer case; just be very careful not to unplug, unscrew, or knock anything out of place!
– A can of compressed air.
– A computer-approved cleaning liquid such as rubbing alcohol or mild cleaning agent like dish liquid diluted down.
– Cotton swabs (Q-tips).
– A lint-free cotton cloth.

Tip: Wiping down the outside of your computer tower with a solution of one half vinegar and one half water will minimize static.

Before you begin, turn off your computer. Start by getting out all the dirt, hair, and dust with a vacuum. Do an extra good job around any ventilation locations as they will help to keep a steady airflow thereby keeping your internal components cooler.

When cleaning the fan, we suggest you hold the fan or place something inbetween the fan blades to prevent them from spinning. Avoid spraying compressed air into a fan or cleaning it with your vacuum since it may cause damage to some models.

Compressed air is great for getting all the crumbs, dust, and dirt out of your keyboard, but be sure to also wipe down the keys and surface of the keyboard.

When cleaning the monitor, use a lint-free cloth (like the one you use to clean your eyeglasses). Paper towels, dryer sheets, and other cloths may scratch the monitor. Also, never use Windex or a commercial cleaning product, and never spray anything directly onto the screen. Instead, lightly spray a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water onto your cloth and wipe it down.

Want Us To Clean Your Computer For You?
Want us to do the dirty work? Then give us a call at (734) 457-5000. We’re running our annual “System Spring Cleaning Special” for just $59 per computer.

Our Microsoft and A+ Certified Technicians will clean out your systems, check for viruses, spyware, and malware infections, and get your computer in top-running form for your busy summer months.

No more grime, germs, or dust bunnies—we’ll get rid of them all as part of our Spring-cleaning special!

Call us: (734) 457-5000 Or, you can e-mail us: info@MyTechExperts.com

10 Warning Signs Of Impending Computer Disaster

These Tips Can Help You Avoid Expensive Downtime And Repairs

Computers rarely stop working overnight. In most cases, there are early warning signs that problems are brewing.

Here are 10 surefire signs that you need to get a professional to investigate your network ASAP:

  1. Your workstation or server starts running very slowly, freezes up, or crashes.
  2. Your web browser has been changed to another strange browser you’ve never seen before.
  3. You are getting an unusual amount of pop-up windows, even when you aren’t surfing the web.
  4. You don’t know if every computer on your network has the most current virus definitions.
  5. You don’t know if you have a firewall in place or the last time it was updated.
  6. You haven’t attempted to restore your data from a backup tape or other storage device in awhile, and you aren’t checking your backup log for errors.
  7. You receive e-mails accusing you of sending spam, and/or you find e-mail messages in your “outbox” or “sent” folder that you didn’t send.
  8. Your computer starts making a grinding, clicking, or loud whirring sound.
  9. The fan is constantly running.
  10. You are getting a growing number of error messages, and you are forced to create work-arounds to complete certain work tasks.

If any of these signs are present, you should contact a pro immediately to investigate further!

The old saying of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is especially true in the world of computers and all things digital; and if you are like most businesses, your computer network is critical to the operation of your company – so make sure you don’t procrastinate if any of these signs are present.

Ideally, you should perform regular health checks and maintenance on your network to make sure problems don’t crop up. Here’s why:

  • Critical security updates need to be applied at least once a month to protect you from a constant flow of new hacker attacks.
  • Firewall, virus and spyware protection need to be monitored and updated on a daily basis because new attacks are released daily.
  • Your data backup system needs to be monitored and tested frequently to ensure easy data recovery in the event of loss. The rate of tape drive failure is 100%; that’s why you need to frequently monitor your backups.
  • Servers and workstations need regular tune-ups to keep them running fast and error free.
  • Monitoring of disk space is important to avoid data loss, crashes, and storage problems.
  • Server event logs need to be monitored for early alerts to network issues.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is taking a reactive approach to network support and maintenance rather than a proactive one.

In other words, they wait until something stops working and THEN they call in the professionals to fix it. This approach not only costs more in the long run, but it also leaves you vulnerable to more devastating crashes such as data corruption and loss, virus attacks, and extended downtime.

Even NEW computers and equipment need regular maintenance because new threats are constantly evolving.

Fortunately, there is an inexpensive and easy way for you to completely avoid – even anticipate and prevent – these problems while making your network far more secure, reliable, and problem free.

We call it our “No Problem Network Support” plan, and it’s designed specifically for the small to medium business owner that doesn’t have the time, expertise, or staff to perform this regular network maintenance.

Thanks to advancements in support technology, we can now monitor your network 24/7/365 days a year and provide all the maintenance your server needs for a fraction of the time and cost.

For a flat, monthly fee, you’ll get 24/7 remote monitoring of your network to not only ensure that it is running at peak performance, but also to guarantee that your data is being backed up and secured, that your virus definitions are up-to date, that your firewall is configured properly, that your server is optimized, as well as keep an eye on over 100 system processes and alerts that could spell problems brewing.

If you hired a technician – even a junior one – to perform these basic network tasks, it could easily cost you $40,000 in salary, insurance, and hiring costs. If you were to outsource this type of service, it would easily run you $800 to $1,000 a month in hourly, on-site fees.

However, thanks to the No Problem Network Support plan, we can deliver all of these services to you for as little as $189 per month.

We’re so certain that you are going to LOVE this service we are willing to give it to you for 3 months, absolutely FREE, and without any obligation whatsoever.

If at the end of those 3 months you aren’t absolutely convinced that this service is worth every penny you are paying for the fast service and peace of mind, simply call or send us an e-mail that says, “this just isn’t what I had in mind,” and we’ll stop the service immediately—no payment, no obligation.

That way, you have absolutely nothing to risk. What could be more fair than that?

But if you decide to keep the service, we’ll bill you a flat monthly fee that you’ve agreed upon up front — no surprises, hidden costs, or extra fees.

And, to make it even more of a “no-brainer,” we’re going to offer the first 5 clients a very special VIP discount to create an even greater incentive for you to sign up TODAY.

To take advantage of this FREE 3-month trial, contact us at 734-457-5000, or e-mail info@expertsmi.com.

Defragging Your Hard Drive Can Make Your PC Run Fast

Defragging your hard drive is one of the most overlooked PC maintenance tasks, yet one of the simplest ways to keep your PC running fast.

When your files are organized, your hard drive has to work less to retrieve data, which speeds up the computer.

In Windows XP, open My Computer and right-click the hard drive, then click Properties and look under the Tools tab.

You will select the hard drive you want to defragment and click Analyze to see the state of the drive. The computer will take a moment to test the hard disk, then show you a graphical representation of the drive. Mostly blue bands indicate a healthy state on contiguous files.

Scattered red bands indicate fragmented files. If you have a lot of these, Windows will prompt you to defrag and you should accept when ready.

You’ll want to schedule your defrag, since you won’t be able to use the PC while this utility is running. Consider doing this when you leave the office for the day – it could take a few hours to complete depending on drive size.

If defragmenter produces errors, consider running defrag from within Safe Mode, where most services are stopped and nothing is using the drive.

How often you defrag the hard drive depends on your usage. If you constantly add and remove large files, you will need to do this often. If you do general PC work like checking Emails, working on spreadsheets, etc you will only need to perform this task about every two months.

Professional System Cleanings Are Essential To A Problem-Free Summer Computing Season

We spend a lot of time talking with clients, and writing in our newsletters, about the importance of keeping your systems clean from spyware, pop-ups and viruses. With the warm weather of summer approaching, it’s important to talk about physically cleaning your PCs.

The dirt, dust and debris that accumulate inside your computer’s case and power supply acts just like insulation, and can make your system run much hotter than it should.

As this extra heat builds up, it can cause erratic operation, lockups, random shutdowns, and in some cases, even data loss.

Tech Experts provides a comprehensive, professional system cleaning service that starts at just $59 per PC, with discounts available for multiple machines.

Our 15-point inspection program is designed to keep your equipment running smoothly, and to pinpoint potential problem areas before they turn into expensive repairs.

If you’re an adventurous sort, and would like to tackle this task yourself, here are some tips:

1) Compressed air is your friend – but make sure you get the “greenhouse gas friendly” canisters. If this is the first time you’ve cleaned your computer, and you’ve had it a while, you will probably need several cans.

Start by disconnecting all of your cables and power cord, and open the PC’s case and take it outside if there’s a lot of dust inside.

Give it a few quick blasts from the can, with the goal of getting all the dust bunnies out of the box. Avoid extended spraying, as the air that comes out of the can is quite cold, and can cause condensation to build up on the electronic parts if you hold the spray button down too long.

Use the nozzle straw attachment to get to hard to reach places like under the motherboard, between the cables, and through the internal air vents.

2) Now turn your attention to the rest of the computer. Particularly, dust out the fans and intake grills, paying special attention to the power supply. If you have a notebook, this is even more important, since these fans are especially prone to clogging.

3) Clean your keyboard, since you have the canned air handy. A few quick sprays will send whatever you’ve accumulated in the keyboard (hair, dust, crumbs, etc.) flying out. Next, you’ll want to clean the surface of the keyboard. Most are pretty tough, so any regular multi-purpose cleaner should work. We prefer to use glass cleaner, such as Windex. Be sure to spray the cleaner on a cloth, and not directly on the keyboard. Wipe the keyboard thoroughly, getting off any gunk or debris that is fixed to the keys.

4) You can use the same technique on your mouse, which you can clean on all sides, but pay special attention to the underside. Mice pick up a lot of junk on the bottom, so just scrape off anything that accumulated there. If you still are using a non-optical mouse (one with a little ball inside), pop the cover off, use a damp cloth to clean the rubber ball, and use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the rollers.

5) You can clean your screen just like you would a window, using any mild commercial glass cleaner. Again, be sure you spray the cleaner onto a cloth, and wipe with that, and do not spray the cleaner directly onto the screen.

Or, just give us a call at (734) 457-5000 and schedule our Spring PC Maintenance checkup.