As always, it depends and well, doesn’t depend on a few things. Can you afford a new computer? How old is your current computer? Well, Chicago’s CompuTechs+ will tell you why these questions don’t really matter. Unless your computer is old (lets say, more than 7-8 years old), it should still be worth quite a bit of money.  Regardless if you want a new computer, or simply want to repair the old laptop or computer, a decent used computer or laptop will sell for at least $200 or so if everything is in working order. Apple computers and mac laptops always hold their value longer – And that can affect your buying decisions.

The reason to upgrade is simple: RAM (computer memory) and computer or laptop hard drives are cheap. Typical RAM prices are $20-45 per gigabyte (GB), and hard drive prices are about $0.37/GB (laptop hard drives, or 2.5″ hard drives) to $0.14/GB (desktop hard drives, or 3.5″ hard drives) — Equivalent to $59.99 for a 160GB 2.5″ SATA laptop hard drive and $69.99 for a 500GB 3.5″ SATA computer hard drive. These prices are universal for Apple computers or Apple laptops as well.

What this means for you: For (typically) less than $100 or so, you can upgrade your computer with a larger, faster hard drive (with a 3-5 year warranty, meaning more reliability and security for your computer data), as well as increase the computer RAM (computer memory), which means you will be able to have more programs open at once without slowing the computer down. This not only extends the life of your machine, it also increases it’s value once it’s time to finally purchase a new computer or laptop.

Basically, we recommend upgrading for a few reasons…

• Extends the life of your computer or laptop
• Increases the value of your computer (for resale) – But usually only 50% of the cost of the parts will increase that value
• A newly reinstalled computer OS (Operating System)  =  all of your old data still remains on the original hard drive (providing privacy and security)
• Increase the speed of your computer or laptop on a budget
• Increase the capacity of your computer or laptop on a budget

Our next blog will include instuctions and information on how to securely and properly wipe the data off of a hard drive (if you ever plan on selling your computer or laptop).  Formatting doesn’t erase data (it just flags the data as ‘ok’ to delete, and it remains intact on your hard drive. Our method wipes over your computer data multiple times substituting  random 1′s and 0′s, rendering data recovery almost useless using any method — And it deletes each and every file on the drive, and takes an average of 8 hours to complete on a machine with ‘decent’ computing speed.

Now, before we begin, you must make a decision. If you need more than 2GB of backup space, no worries. Mozy Home Edition as well, and it’s CHEAP. How much? $5 per month. That’s it for Unlimited Data Backups. Please keep in mind that while this service is unlimited, the backup will be limited by your high-speed internet connection’s upload speed. CompuTechs+ would recommend that you backup everything except for downloaded movies (not that you would do a thing like that, now would you?). Click on your preferred Mozy version, free or home:

    

After signing up for your account and installing the software, setup is quite simple. Just select the data that you would like to backup, and then start enjoying your peace of mind, for free.

Now, before we begin, you must make a decision. If you need more than 2GB of backup space, no worries. Mozy Home Edition as well, and it’s CHEAP. How much? $5 per month. That’s it for Unlimited Data Backups. Please keep in mind that while this service is unlimited, the backup will be limited by your high-speed internet connection’s upload speed. CompuTechs+ would recommend that you backup everything except for downloaded movies (not that you would do a thing like that, now would you?). Click on your preferred Mozy version, free or home:

After signing up for your account and installing the software, setup is quite simple. Just select the data that you would like to backup, and then start enjoying your peace of mind, for free.

Step 4: Updating your Operating System with Windows Update.

Microsoft Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components. An optional feature provides updates for other Microsoft Windows software, such as Microsoft Office, Windows Live applications, and Microsoft Expression. Microsoft uses this tool to update driver components, patch security holes & exploits, and hardware/software optimizations. Basically put: You would be a fool not to use the update service.

How to use Windows Update

It is quite simply to use Windows Update, simply open Microsoft Internet Explorer, click on Tools → Windows Update. If you don’t see it listed there, it may be listed under the Safety tab. Alternatively, you could go directly to the Windows Update Website (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/). Finally, for Microsoft Vista users, you can get your updates by going to Start → All Programs → Windows Update.

But can’t I update Windows automatically? Yes. Lets see how to enable automatic updates on your computer.

To turn on Automatic Updates in Windows XP (SP2)

1. Click Start → Control Panel
2. Click Automatic Updates
3. Choose Automatic (recommended) Then click OK

To change Automatic Update settings in Vista

1. Open Windows Update (click the Start button → All Programs → Windows Update)
2. Select the Change Settings and choose Install updates automatically (recommended)

If you turn your computer off at night, you may want to select a time during the day to install the updates. Otherwise, select a time in which your computer will be idle; Windows Updates uses system resources to install, leaving you with a slower computer during update installation.

Congratulations! You have just performed a quick 4-Step optimization, tune-up, and security update on your computer. It is the first step to preventative computer maintenance.  Did you like this post? Feel free to Bookmark CompuTechs+ Website, and view our next computer repair and computer maintenance blogs.

When you are finished with Step 4, your computer will need to be restarted. Return to Windows Update to see if there are any other updates available (you may have to do this a few times). Once the computer has been restarted (and there are no recommended updates listed), follow up the optimization with another defragmentation with Defraggler.