Spring cleaning tips for your computers and gadgets
It’s officially Spring! Along with doing the typical spring-cleaning chores around the house, don’t forget about your computers and tech gadgets. Here I share some tips on ways to help keep them maintained and protected:
Physically clean them: I never suggest spraying electronics or screens directly with cleaner, but you can lightly spray a soft cloth with a mild cleaner, or use a Clorox or other cleaning wipe that’s lightly wet. I suggest wiping computer keyboards and mice for sanitizing reasons, and then your computer screen to clean up dust. Smartphones and tablets should be sanitized even more if you use them on a daily basis.
You can also physically clean computer towers as well, but I suggest leaving that to a computer tech. They can open up the case and clear out dust and dirt, which can really build up bad if you have pets or the computer is sitting on the floor.
Protect computers against power surges: Spring is also the start of the storm season, so I recommend you check if your computer is plugged into a modern surge protector to help protect it from surges and lightning strikes. Don’t forget, laptops should also be plugged into surge protectors, too. Keep in mind, surge protectors can wear out over time and I recommend replacing every 5 to 10 years.
You can go a step further and get an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) that has a battery backup so if the power does go out, it would allow your computer to shut down properly if it’s on when the power goes out.
Run a malware scan: You should already have an anti-virus that’s protecting your computer, but many of those don’t stop other junk like adware or PUPs (potentially unwanted programs). Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.com) is my favorite scanner for finding or stopping this other junk that might not be classified as a virus, but still cause issues.
They have a free edition that you can use to manually run scans and you can optionally buy it to actively protect you all the time. They even have a mobile app to scan your smartphone or tablet.
Check browser notifications: A newer technology supported by some browsers, such as Chrome and Edge, allow websites to send you notifications at any point even if you aren’t on their website. Typically, you don’t need these notifications and are often misused to send you ads and junk alerts. The first time you visit a website that’s trying to send you notifications you will be prompted to allow or block them. Be careful; only allow notifications on websites you really want to alert you of something.
You should periodically also check the allowed notifications in your browser’s settings to remove or block those you don’t want bothering you. The process to do this varies between the browsers, so I suggest looking up how to do it on the web or contact a computer pro if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself.
Get a yearly professional checkup:
Even if you aren’t having issues, I strongly suggest having your computers, smartphones, and tablets checked out at least annually by a professional tech. They can look at a computer’s drive health and system logs to ensure all is healthy. There are some things you might not notice and become a problem over time. A tech might catch issues before they cause a major problem and help solve any annoyances you have with the devices. They can also do a tune-up and cleanup to get the computer or mobile device working a little better. Plus, they can evaluate the security to ensure you’re well protected on your computer and mobile devices.