Top shelf electronic devices are, for the most part, incredibly reliable. If you buy a business-class computer from a top-tier manufacturer and take care of it, it is reasonable to expect the hardware to last for several years. That being said, we are asking more and more of our machines with each passing year. Video calls, cloud syncs, browser plugins, and now AI-assisted tools are running in the background. As reliable as these machines are, the truth is that it is much more likely that you will lose the use of your computer because of hardware failure than a cyberattack. We have written multiple blogs about the steps you should take to safeguard your computer against cyberattacks, but how do you monitor the general health of your PC?
It’s Not A Question Of If, But When Will Your PC Fail.
What’s a blog post without a little drama…
All computers will eventually fail, so it’s important to have all of the same disaster recovery pieces in place that are required as part of your cybersecurity plan. The two main components of any plan are a good off-site data backup service, and a written data recovery plan that lays out the step-by-step process on how to move your data from the offsite backup to a new computer. Remember this, recovering from a failed computer is as much about regaining access to your accounts as it is restoring your files. A good recovery plan includes both.
If you haven’t done so already, also take a look at our DIY cybersecurity solution for some practical tips on how to set up the rest of the protection against hackers.
Leverage Your Operating System’s Built-In Tools
Simple wear-out issues aside, computer failures are often caused by heat, and heat is typically caused by poor ventilation and/or asking more of your computer than it was designed to do. You will need to clean your computer’s fans from time to time to make sure they are working properly (a job I don’t do as often as I should). Keeping the fans clear will help reduce the heat load, but you still need to be sure your cpu, graphic card, motherboard, and all the other components are operating properly.
One especially vulnerable case is a laptop operating while closed, and connected to a docking station and multiple external monitors. If this describes your setup, you are at high risk of overheating your equipment.
It can be challenging to monitor all the possible issues, but Microsoft and Apple both include a suite of monitoring tools in their operating systems that can help you spot problem areas. Microsoft’s Performance Monitor, Resource Monitor, and Reliability Monitor applications cover most of the monitoring basics, and their disk cleanup tool is also helpful. Microsoft’s PC Manager bundles these tools together into a single handy utility.
For an Apple computer, the Activity Monitor and Disk Utility apps cover most of the basics to keep your system running smoothly. If you need more, the System Information and Console utilities can help you take a deeper dive into the system to troubleshoot any problems that arise. Need to go even deeper? The Apple Diagnostics tool can help troubleshoot things further, although unless you are a hard-core techie, you may want to reach out to Apple support at this point instead.
Consider Third-Party Tools
Windows users have a lot of third-party tools available to them to help ensure that their system is running smoothly and sustainably. One of our DIY-er favorites is HWMonitor. This monitoring software can identify many of the same issues that we monitor for our clients. It can alert you if you are overheating your machine and/or maxing out the capability of the processor, graphics, or system storage. You have to keep the application running for it to be effective, but if you work your computer hard, it may be worth it to install a good system monitoring tool like this one.
Don’t Forget About Disaster Recovery
Yes, I know I’m repeating myself, but I want to be sure that you hear me. Back your stuff up somewhere safe and make sure you have a written plan on how to retrieve the backup files when you need them. If you only have a couple of computers, setting this up as a DIY effort can definitely work, but as your business grows, you should at least consider talking to someone like me about getting a set of professional-grade tools to monitor your systems. As always, feel free to schedule a free consultation with me and I’ll be happy to work with you to ensure your IT solution is secure and efficient.