Top 10 tips for a healthy PC

Over here in the US, health care is a hot topic at the moment.

Not only are we getting ready to kick off the flu season, but a major debate over insurance is dominating the headlines and polarising lawmakers. Democrats are using both the rapier and the cudgel to sway public opinion while a variety of enthusiasts and businesses are fighting over healthcare for all. In recognition of the ongoing coverage over health care, this week we’ve decided to look at some of the ways you can keep your own computers healthy.

All this led us to the conclusion that we shouldn’t exclude our computers from the furore. After all, a good laptop is a $1,000 commitment and people still treat them casually, while a $500 clunker of a car at least gets regular oil changes.

So have a look at ways you can protect your systems. Prevention is always better than cure.

Honourable mention: Computers and animals

Shaun Nichols: Sometimes it is hard to avoid this one. We spend lots of time every day in front of computers, and those of us that own pets often find themselves in contact with their furry companions.

But pets and computers can be a recipe for disaster. Wayward paws can mash keys and excited animals can pull on cords, putting both computer and pet in danger. And then of course there’s the hair. Few things can clog up a computer’s inner workings like stray pet hair.

This is an even bigger problem for those of us that have cats. Computers tend to heat up and emit warm air, and cats love to lie on and around warm things. I myself have a feline companion that particularly enjoys napping on the warm keyboard of my notebook, a condition that has led to more than one occasion of having to explain an email with the subject line "comment request re: aqgf111111111111111".

Iain Thomson: What is it with cats and keyboards? We used to have an old tom that would sit on top of monitors and a keyboard seems to fascinate moggies.

But it isn’t just our pets we have to keep away from computers. While I’m hoping any reader doesn’t have a rodent problem the fact remains that most cities have about one rat per square metre and lord knows how many mice. Both animals are attracted to electrical current and frequently chew through wires.

Under such circumstances a cat may be the lesser of two evils. But our colleagues overseas have even worse problems. Monkeys in India are a major source of network disruption and in the southern US ants are blocking up phone relay stations as they seek the current they contain.

Honourable mention: Liquids

Iain Thomson: Liquids do have their place in PCs, ideally in hermetically sealed cooling systems used to suck heat from overclocked processors. However, in pretty much every other case, they don’t.

This I discovered to my cost a few days ago when a clumsy reach for the water glass left my laptop deader than purple corduroy bell-bottoms with tartan leg patches. Despite advances in waterproofing (especially sealing keyboards), the average laptop can still be killed quite simply by the humble glass of water. But if it’s sugary tea or wine you might as well just give up and go home.

This goes for PCs too. Whenever the UK suffers one of its periodic floods the TV footage always shows desktop PCs left in swirls of murky water, when moving it upstairs would have saved a fortune.

If you’re going to be drinking anything near a computer make sure it isn’t in the splash zone. The average office might make that difficult but at home, take care.

Shaun Nichols: A few years ago we formally entered the age of portable computing, and with it an increase in catastrophic events. Few things can inspire a tirade of four-letter words like a glass of water or a cup of tea sprayed across your computer.

It used to be that this was not such a big risk. Old systems would often be safely tucked away on the floor or at least elevated a bit on a desk. In the modern era of handheld and laptop computing, however, spills have become an even greater hazard.

As notebook systems stack all of the vital components of a system in an area under or around a keyboard, the parts most susceptible to damage get put right in the line of fire. These days users would be well-advised to keep a close eye on nearby drinks and watch their systems accordingly.