Can you believe that Summer 2019 is upon us already? I guess we’ve been quite lucky this year with what seems to have been a mild winter, but I for one can’t quite believe that we are almost into the “melting temperatures” time of year again!
It’s at this time of year that most people tend to pack away their technology so they can fly back to the relative sanity of the UK (yes I see the irony in that statement) or welcome family and guests for the summer period. Either way, a lot of computers get shut down for a few months at this time of year so it’s a good idea to give them the once over to ensure that they “wake up” again after the summertime has ended. This month we’ll look at what you can do to ensure they have a good rest period.
Updates – Windows updates are important and can cause issues if they are not kept up to date, so why not use this time to make sure that you’re fully up to date and on top of them? Checking is pretty easy in Windows 10. Just click on the Windows button (bottom left) and then the Settings Icon (looks like a cog), then choose Update & Security followed by Windows Update. Your computer will automatically check for new updates, download them and then ask to be restarted – if you’re way out of date this might take some time so just leave it to do its thing.
Anti-Virus and Malware – these programs (depending on which ones you’re using) usually sit in the Windows Tray (down in the bottom right of the screen near the clock). You should open each one up and check that you’re running on the latest edition of the virus definitions and of the program. If you’re using Avast (my recommended antivirus program), then you can simply right hand click the Avast icon in the tray and select Update for both the definitions and the program. It will then inform you whether either need to be updated.
Backups – yes it’s something that I keep going on about but that’s only because it’s so important. Whether you back up automatically using some sort of software or whether you put in a USB drive and do it manually, this is a good reminder to check everything is up to date and working correctly. If you’re feeling particularly brave (and you should do this at least once a year if your data is important to you) then you should do a “test restore”. Just pick a picture, or document at random and assume that you’ve accidentally deleted it and see if you can get it back. If you can then great, your system works, if you can’t then maybe you need to give some thought to what you’re missing before your test scenario becomes a reality and you really need to get data back.