There are many issues that can occur with computers, and most of the time those issues can be a cause of frustration and even anger. Most parts that make up a computer can fail at any time, which can result in an expensive repair bill.
While not all failures can be prevented all the time, there are many things you can do to prevent some of the more common issues that you may face. Taking care of your computer can go a long way to helping you avoid expensive computer repairs.
What You Can do to Avoid Expensive Computer Repairs
Computers can be expensive to buy, and just as expensive to repair if something was to break. One of the most common components in a computer that tend to cause problems is the hard drive. With traditional platter hard drives – not SSDs – the hard drive write heads float roughly 3 nanometers (nanometer = 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter) above the platter. Any sudden jolt could cause the write head to make contact with the platter, causing damage and possible data loss.
While hard drives usually have a typical lifespan of 3 to 5 years, the best way to protect your data is to simply back up your files on a regular basis. This way if your hard drive was to crash, you can just replace the drive and restore your files from a backup.
Dust is probably one of the single most destructive things that can affect a computer. The biggest reason is dust can accumulate in fans and airways of a computer that will eventually cause the computer to overheat. Heat and computers don’t mix well at all. If your computer overheats you may notice random shutdowns, freezes, error messages or slow performance. While most modern computers have safe-guards in place to protect itself from overheating, excessive heat can still damage some of the internal components.
The best solution to preventing your computer from overheating is to regularly clean out any dust that has accumulated both on the inside and outside of your computer. Pay close attention to the areas in and around the fans of the computer since they are what cools your computer.
The infographic shown below provides a summary of how expensive it can be to repair some of the most common problems with computers, and what you can do to reduce the damage.
Infographic courtesy of Happy Hamster.