Top Five Computer Problems - Part 2

Product Abuse
I see this mainly with laptops and the damage is totally avoidable. Laptops are delicate and should be treated as such. Follow these simple rules and you will significantly extend the life of your laptop.

Prevention: Never move your laptop while it is turned on. Do not leave your laptop turned on overnight. Do not drink or use liquids anywhere near your laptop. Purchase a solid laptop bag and, when not in use, store your laptop in the bag in a safe location.
Near leave your laptop on the floor where others may step on it or hit the screen accidentally.

Disk Failures
Often resulting from a combination of one or more of the problems outlined in this article disk failure is the most common cause of severe data loss. I am always amazed at the faith pc owners place in their hard disk.

Prevention: Avoid overloading your hard disk. Simply put these means don’t install every free internet program you come across and don’t store gobs and gobs of movies on your hard disk. An overloaded hard disk must work very hard to service the operating system and this puts excessive strain on the disk. Purchase, install and use a solid backup device capable of storing multiple copies of your data. Usb keys are handy for single copy backups but multiple copies of your data gives you a good chance of minimising the effect of a disk failure.

Heat Damage
The hidden killer of both laptops and desktops is overheating. Until recently overheating was most common on laptops but I have seen an increase in the amount of desktops with this problem. As with any electrical or mechanical device overheating can and does result in total system failure. Safeguarding against overheating is easily preventable and it will cost you nothing.

Prevention: If you hear excessive fan noise from your computer have it checked.
Ensure when placing your pc you do not block vents and avoid placement in an enclosed area. With laptops you should also take the additional precaution of disconnecting your laptop from the mains when not in use and if the laptop bottom becomes very warm to the touch turn it off, disconnect from the mains and allow to cool before using it again.