Computer Maintenance

The following maintenance tips will help ensure that you have a plesant computing experience while you're a student at St. Mary's.

Computer Maintenance tips for Windows users:

• Daily
  · Keep your antivirus definition files up to date to protect you from the latest threats. Most antivirus programs will do this automatically.
  
  
• Weekly
  · Run a complete virus scan on you computer once a week. Most antivirus programs can be set to do this automatically for you.
  
  · Run anti-malware tools once a week to keep you system free of malware.
  
  · Backup your important files.
  
  
• Monthly
  · Run Disk Cleanup.
  
  · Go though your Programs and Documents and delete or archive what you don't need anymore.
  
  · De-fragment your hard drive.
  
  · Run Windows Update to keep up with the latest security patches and hard ware drivers for your computer.
  
  
• Every 6 Months
  · If you have a desktop, purchase a can of compressed air, open up your machine, and blow all the dust out. This help prevent overheating issues.

Computer Maintenance tips for Mac OS X users:
Mac OS X performs most regular maintenance for you. OS X has regular daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance programs that run in the background overnight. Leaving your Mac on overnight (not is sleep mode) will allow these programs to run. If you do not leave your computer turned on and awake overnight, simply restart your computer and hold down shift until you see the dark gray apple or computer icon on the screen. This boots the computer in Safe Mode and automatically runs the maintenance scripts and preforms some other useful tasks (Some features/external hardware may not work in safe mode). Once the computer has fully started up, simply restart to return to the normal user mode. Be sure to set Software Update to automatically download the latest critical updates from Apple, as well as making sure your antivirus program stays up-to-date with the latest virus definitions.