Basic Computer Maintenance

LCD Monitor:
- Do not touch or attach items to the screen.
- Turn off to clean.
- Spray mild window cleaner on a soft cloth.
- Do not spray directly on screen.
- Do not use paper towels.

Wires:
- Avoid pulling or putting stress on your wires.
- Avoid putting objects on top of wires.
- Always disconnect cords by grasping the plug, not the cord.

CPU:
-Turn power off before cleaning.
- Any type of household cleaner for outside.
- Once a month take off cover and gently blow off dust.
- Always disconnect power cord by grasping plug- not cord.

Surge Protectors:
- Use a surge protector to protect electronic devices from power surges.
- Will not offer 100% protection.
- To be safe, never use computer during a storm.

CD-ROM Drives:
- Always use the button to open and close the drive.
- Do not use compressed air to clean the floppy diskette, CD, DVD or Zip drives.

CDs and DVDs:
- Use a soft cotton cloth
- Wipe against the tracks starting from the middle and wiping outwards
- Never wipe with the tracks
- Water w/ soap or rubbing alcohol

Keyboard:
- Do not eat or drink while typing on your computer.
- Turn off before cleaning.
- Spray Windex onto cloth, not on keyboard
- Use Compressed air

Mouse:
- Clean the top of your mouse like your keyboard
- Scrape guck off bottom with your fingernail

Installing Software:
- Do not use “bootleg” software
- Be sure to reboot after each program is installed
- Test your computer for problems before installing another program

Protect Against Viruses:
- Don’t open email attachments from people you don’t know.
- If your computer suddenly starts acting strange, you should run a virus scan.
- Be careful about disks and CDs from other computers- not everyone has virus protection.
- Use a firewall. A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that helps screen out hackers, viruses, and worms that try to reach your computer over the internet.
- Be careful about what you download from the Internet!
- Be sure that everyone who uses your computer follows these rules!

General Troubleshooting:
- If your computer does not start the first thing to check is the power source… is it plugged in?
- If your computer locks up (freezes) the first thing you should do is restart the computer.
- If your document fails to print you should check the
    a. paper supply,
    b. power source,
    c. paper feeder.
- If you install a new software program on your computer and it does not work the most likely reason is that you do not have enough memory.