Your computer, much like your car, needs continual maintenance in order to keep running smooth, fast, and problem free. Below we’re going to list 5 simple tips that are quick and easy to perform and will ensure a longer computer lifespan and more enjoyable computer experience.

1). Defragment the Hard Drive

While some find this step to be quite obvious, most don’t really understand what this does or why it’s important, nor do they do it on a regular basis. In order to understand the importance of defragmenting your hard drive you need to understand a little bit about how a hard drive works. While you may organize items in your house in a logical order (food in the fridge, shoes by the door, clothes in the closet, etc), a hard drive doesn’t. A computer stores information in the first available location it finds.

This works great if all you’re doing is copying files on a clean hard drive as the process is quite fast. File A gets stored first, followed by File B, then File C, etc. However, problems arise when you start to delete old files and copy new ones. Removing a file leaves an empty space where the file used to be stored. When copying a new file, the computer will store as much of that file as it can in the first available empty space, and store the rest in the next available spot(s). Over time your files become very disorganized and the speed at which your computer can read files drops significantly.

Think of it this way: How long would it take you to make a sandwich if the bread was in the fridge, the tomatoes on the couch, the lettuce in the bedroom, the mayonnaise in the garage, and the meat in the attic? Not only would it take excessively long to complete such a simple task, but you’d probably get a good workout as well.

If a specific file is stored in many small pieces throughout the hard drive, reading that file will take much longer than if it was stored completely in one location. All the extra work the hard drive has to do will only lower the overall performance of your computer, and the lifespan of the hard drive.

2). Install Updates

Like defragmenting your hard drive, many people also don’t understand why updates are important. The biggest reason is security. When Microsoft releases updates for Windows that fix security issues, they also release patch notes explaining what changes were made. The reason for this has to do with mainly large businesses. These businesses need to know what changes were made to ensure nothing will conflict with other software they are running on their networks, which could potentially cause system outages.

Unfortunately, anyone can read these patch notes. Knowing that most people don’t update their computers, hackers are able to create malicious software that target security flaws that were addressed in a previous update. Keeping your Windows up to date (as well as other software such as Java, Flash, Adobe, etc.) is an important step to keeping your system safe and secure. Updates also add more functionality, support for newer technology, new features, and much more.

3). Get a Real Anti-Virus Program

While there are many good free anti-virus solutions, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a fully featured anti-virus program. The free software available only offers basic protection and is often inadequate if you plan to do more with your computer than just use Microsoft Word and check the weather with Internet Explorer. Fully featured anti-virus programs offer a wide range of tools to keep you safe online beyond just a basic virus scan.

Which anti-virus solution you should go for is up for debate and you’ll get a different answer from every computer technician. Do a little research online and find the one that’s right for you. Many anti-virus programs also have a free trial period which you should take advantage of before making the final decision.

4). Keep Your Computer Dust Free

This is an important step especially if you have pets in the house. A buildup of dust and/or pet hair will trap heat and reduce the efficiency of the fans. Even if your computer isn’t overheating, running a computer component at a few degrees higher than normal will only reduce its lifespan. Let’s say hypothetically your video card lifespan was rated at 45,000 hours (5.14 years) and increasing the temperature by 10 degrees reduced the lifespan of the card by 5%. Your video card would die more than 3 months sooner.

How heat affects computer components is far more complicated so the above example is just a hypothetical scenario to illustrate that keeping your computer dust free is a very worthwhile investment, especially since it only takes 5 minutes every few months. Just purchase a compressed air can at your local computer store and dust it out as often as necessary.

5). Backup Your Files

This is the MOST important step of all. All hard drives fail. It’s not a matter of "if" but "when." Keeping your important files backed up can mean the difference between a slight computer setback and a catastrophe. According to a recent report by Google, consumer grade hard drives fail at a rate of 7% per year. That’s 1 out of 14 every single year!

If your computer exploded tomorrow and you lost everything stored on it, would you be okay? If the answer is "no" and you’re not currently making regular backups of your important files, you’ve got a big problem! Data recovery rates can set you back a few hundred or a few thousand dollars depending on problem. But backing up your important files is quick, easy, and inexpensive. A quick search for "How to Backup My Data" on Google can show you how.