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Wednesday, 26 March, 2008 7:16 PM
Seven Tips for Avoiding Computer
Sickness
Graphic
courtesy of www.messiah.edu
Decatur, Ga. –
Whether we are part of a small business, a multinational, or are
just trying to find a recipe online at home, we seem to spend just
as much time fixing ‘issues’ and ‘conflicts’
on our computers as we do working on them. For the home user this
is merely an inconvenience, but to a business it can add up to tens
of thousands of dollars lost to decreased productivity or repairs.
Although the mere thought
of trying to ‘fix’ a computer would cause a cold sweat
to break out in most of us, it is in fact the simple little things
that even the most timid technophile could prevent, which cause
the majority of our desktop woes.
“Malware, viruses,
identity theft and spyware account for about 80% of all computer
issues resulting in downtime,” reveals IT guru Chip Reaves.
“It is estimated that the lost-productivity cost due to these
alone is around $50 billion, and the associated IT costs of dealing
with it has skyrocketed from $20 billion to $198 billion in the
last five years.”
That is a lot of money
and a lot of work-time lost. But Reaves, the National Director of
Computer Troubleshooters, explains that there are certain simple
tips everyone could adhere to – businesses and individual computer
users alike – that will keep our computers (and wallets) in
tip-top shape.
1 Old Hardware. “Studies
have shown that the likelihood of physical problems with computer
equipment goes up significantly after 24 to 36 months,” says
Reaves. “Consider replacing computer systems every three years
– considering how inexpensive computers have become, one major
repair bill could easily cost more than purchasing an entire new
system.”
2 Power Protection. “Surges
and power drops can cause data loss and are always damaging to sensitive
components, reducing their lifespan. Most people do use surge protectors,
but what many don’t realize is that surge protection wears
off over time. For the best protection make sure that the surge
protectors for all your computer equipment are replaced every 2
to 3 years. “
3 Illegal Software. “Many
businesses don’t realize that they don’t ‘own’
software; just the licenses to use it on a specific number of PC’s.
Manyt software programs automatically report their usage via the
internet, and breach-of-license letters and audits from software
manufacturers to businesses are on the rise.”
4 Training. “Having
to spend money training your staff might sound like a waste, but
most employees understand less than 20% of the software packages
they use. The gain in productivity far outweighs the training costs.”
5 Firewall and Security.
“The internet is full of hackers who regularly try to access
computers for nefarious purposes. If they get in (either directly,
or with the help of exploits from malware or viruses) the list of
problems they can cause is pretty big; including stealing files
or customer records, and deleting important data. It’s important
to be sure that all computers in your organization are updated with
the latest security patches from Microsoft or Apple, and that firewalls
are installed and maintained properly.”
6 Backup Data. “It
sounds so obvious but most companies fail to keep 100% of their
important data backed up 100% of the time – there are often
gaps in what’s being backed up which are only discovered when
it’s too late. The consequences of lost data can put a company
out of business on the spot, and data retrieval is frighteningly
expensive.”
7 Spam, Viruses and Spyware.
“80% of all Computer Troubleshooters’ service calls worldwide
are from people with problems directly linked to these issues. You
should consider good virus protection, spam filters and anti-spyware
programs as mandatory if you want a trouble-free computer.”
With a small amount of
common sense, weekly maintenance (much of which we can set our computers
to do themselves) and some small financial outlays, we can have
many more trouble-free workdays and spend far less on the IT repair
man. This will allow us more ‘up’ time to complete our
work and give us the chance to explore the myriad other technology
opportunities that can help us improve our businesses, or our lives.
Now that’s technology in action.
About Chip Reaves
Chip Reaves is the National
Director of Computer Troubleshooters. To help pay for his studies
in computer science at Georgia Tech, Reaves began fixing computers
for local businesses in the late 1980’s. The part-time work
quickly became a full-time business, with Reaves establishing Chiptech
in 1992. Reaves was surfing the web when he discovered Australia-
based Computer Troubleshooters in 1998, and by 1999 he had negotiated
the rights to operate CTS in the US, a move than has lead to over
230 CTS locations in North America today. Reaves is also on the
board of directors of two local charitable organizations. Chip Reaves’
website can be found at www.comptroub.com.
Source: News and Experts
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