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Joe St Sauver, Ph.D.
Director, User Services and Network Applications
joe@oregon.uoregon.edu
During the school year we're all too busy to take care of the computer housekeeping
chores that can accumulate over time. But now that the slow days of summer are
here, it's time to get caught up on your 'spring cleaning.'
1) Back Up Your PC's Hard Drive! [back
to top]
One of the most recommended (but most neglected) computing chores is backing
up your PC's hard drive.
In some cases, users may not back up their hard drive because they may not know
how. In other cases, they may be stymied by having high capacity hard drives
and low capacity backup media. In still other cases, the problem is one of simple
procrastination. But let's be frank: it really won't matter why you're not doing
backups if your hard drive dies or your system gets stolen and you lose all
your work.
Make it your top priority to do a full backup of your PC this summer... or,
if nothing else, at least take a minute to copy any documents you've created
and any important email stored on your PC onto a diskette. That isn't as good
as a full backup, but it's definitely better than nothing.
A nice review of PC backup software is available at http://www.cnet.com/software/0-806180-8-8131383-1.html
If you need new backup hardware, you may want to contact the Computing Center's
Electronics Shop at 346-3548 to discuss your options (for details, see 'E-Shop
Adds New Custom Services' on page 5).
2) Make Sure Your Operating System is Patched Up-to-Date
[back to top]
Most current versions of Windows include a feature known as 'Windows Update'
(you'll usually see it when you click on the 'Start' button on the Windows task
bar). Get in the habit of periodically checking 'Windows Update' for any critical
updates or service packs that may be available.
3) Make Sure You Have Norton AntiVirus Installed and Up-to-Date
[back to top]
Occasionally we see folks who don't know the university has a site license for
Symantec's Norton AntiVirus--we do! We strongly encourage all UO faculty, students,
and staff to take a few minutes this summer to make sure they have installed
Norton AntiVirus and have run LiveUpdate to bring virus definitions up to date.
If you need a current copy of the Duckware CD-ROM, or if you need help using
Norton AntiVirus, contact Microcomputer Services (microhelp@lists.uoregon.edu,
346-4412). More information on Norton AntiVirus is available on their website
at http://micro.uoregon.edu/av/nav.html
4) Create a New PC Rescue Disk [back
to top]
While you're running Norton, take the time to create a current rescue disk,
just in case you ever find that you can't boot from your hard drive. If you
need it, you'll find a rescue disk will be worth its weight in gold.
5) Change Your Account Password(s) [back
to top]
If you haven't changed your Oregon/Darkwing/Gladstone password(s) in some time,
summer's an excellent time to do so. (You'll be forced to change your password
every six months, but you always have the option of changing your password more
often than that, should you want to do so.) An easy way to change your password
is by using the web password changing form at http://password.uoregon.edu/
6) Delete Old Email You No Longer Need to Keep [back
to top]
If you're like most of us, you probably have hundreds (or even thousands) of
email messages you no longer need. Another good summer project is to take a
few minutes and remove expendable emails from your account.
If you're using web-based email for Gladstone/Darkwing (IMHO web email), make
sure you also empty your trash after you've 'deleted' messages (for details,
see the article, 'Wondering How to Really Get Rid of
Your Messages in Web-based Email for Gladstone/Darkwing?' on page 19).
7) Check Your Web Pages for Dead Links [back
to top]
If you're a web page author, you almost certainly have accumulated some dead
links on your web pages over time. One quick and easy checker that works well
if you have only a handful of pages is LinkScan/QuickCheck (http://www.elsop.com/quick/
) If you have a larger set of pages to check, you may want to consider getting
and installing one of the Perl link checking scripts mentioned at
http://www.hotscripts.com/Perl/Scripts_and_Programs/Link_Checking/
8) Check and Remove Any Spyware or Unwanted Cookies
[back to top]
Another chore worth your time is dealing with any advertising-related 'spyware'
files which may have been installed on your system without your knowledge. The
best program for dealing with advertising-related files is probably AdAware
5.83. This software is available free from Lavasoft at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Many websites also write small chunks of data called 'cookies' on your computer
when you visit them. These cookies can be innocuous, but they can also be used
by some sites to track the web pages you visit, or to target (and possibly increase)
the advertisements you're shown.
If you routinely accept cookies, you may want to periodically do a 'cookie
cleanup' to weed out cookies you don't need. You can use browser cookie management
features if your browser provides them, or use a third party cookie manager
or blocker such as Cookie Pal. Cookie Pal is available for a free 30-day trial
from Kookaburra software at http://www.kburra.com/
Note that if you remove some cookies, you may need to 'reregister' when visiting
particular websites, and if you block cookies entirely, you may be unable to
use some sites (including many online shopping sites and UO DuckWeb). One nice
feature of Cookie Pal and similar cookie management products is that they make
it possible for you to accept only cookies from selected sites (such as DuckWeb)
and block all others.
9) Defragment Your Hard Drive [back
to top]
Over time, as information gets written to and deleted from your hard drive,
the drive may become 'fragmented.' That means that instead of being able to
lay down a large file in one contiguous chunk, your PC may have to store a piece
of that file on one part of your drive, and other pieces elsewhere on the hard
drive. This process of hunting for space on your disk to hold parts of your
files will gradually result in your system becoming progressively slower unless
or until you defragment your drive.
When you defragment your hard drive, chunks of files are moved around until
all (or at least most) of your files are written in contiguous chunks.
On most modern versions of Windows, you can defragment your hard drive by going
to Start--> Programs--> Accessories--> System Tools--> Disk Defragmenter.
You can also purchase commercial disk defragmenting tools that have been optimized
to run faster, or work better on nearly full hard drives, or that have other
features not offered by the free basic defragmenting tool included with Windows.
Executive Software's Diskeeper 7.0 is probably the most common commercial defragmentation
tool (see http://www.executive.com/diskeeper/diskeeper.asp
).
10) Physically Clean Your System [back
to top]
The final summer computer housekeeping chore really is a genuine housekeeping
chore: physically clean your PC!
Dust-filled fans, grimy crumb-laden keyboards, and fingerprints on your monitor
all represent areas that should be tidied up. If you've built your own system,
or are otherwise comfortable "going under the hood," a nice list of
tips for cleaning your hardware is at
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,14872,00.asp
If you're not comfortable digging into the guts of your system to clean it, another option to consider would be to bring it in to the Computing Center's Electronics Shop in Room 151 McKenzie for cleaning. (Standard fees apply for this work, like any other repair or maintenance done by the Shop. Call 346-3548 for details.)