OK, i'm not very good at taking care of my computer...i've like destroyed the Hard drive in less than half year's use,often needs reformating (which is very troublesome,and takes a few hours backing up,doing everything...) and always have prolem taking care of it (because of all those experimenting i do with my computer...).

In short,i need tips on how to take care of my computer. Most importantly those hardwares.I'd hate to spend money replacing any of them. Any tips are welcomed, regardless what they're about, softwares,viruses, or how to keep the computer running smoothly,as long as they are concerned about computers. You can also tell me how something in a computer works.

For a start, you can allocate one partition of your hard disk purely for OS and installed programs. Then you use a separate partition for all your precious data like songs and photos.

This way, if your OS or programs start rebelling and mishaving (due to file corruption or virus attack), you just have to format your OS partition and reinstall, while keeping your data partition intact.

For Kai-san's tip, yeah that's what i do before i've had my hard drive failure...my hard drive juz died like that,bringing everything with it...T_T which took me quite some time redownloading...anyway,great tip tho... it's very useful when reformatting,makes things hell lot easier...

HDD failure is difficult to judge since it can fail anytime without warning sometimes.

Use a certified power surge protector or backup battery (or even a voltage regulator if you are hardcore). If the power that comes into the house/building is not clean enough or fluctuates alot, it wear down the components quicker.

If you do a lot of "experiments" with the computer, you are bound to install and uninstall many programs. Things that has been uninstalled may still leave traces of other files or records behind. Using one of the Registry cleaner.

Well if you do experiment alot, and if your computer is fast enough, perhaps consider computer emulation (e.g. Microsoft Virtual PC). That way, you'll have a virtual version of Windows (or whatever operating system you want to play with) and any damages to it will not harm your own Windows.

experimenting? hardware-wise, all i can say is handle with care, ground yourself before touching anything (static kills circuit boards!), turn off all power and try to keep the insides dust-free using compressed air, not a brush

software-wise, spyware/viruses/corrupted files can kill a hard-drive (my old PC died because of this). get a good anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and a registry cleaner to keep your computer clean. do a virus/spyware scan at least once a week, same for cleaning the registry. if u find the comp slowing down, run defrag to sort out the hard drive.

here's what i use:

antivirus - AVG free
antispyware - AVG anti-spyware + spybot search & destroy
firewall - COMODO pro + peerguardian2 (windows firewall is ok, but not the best if u p2p alot)
registry cum temp files cleaner - CCleaner (Registry Mechanic is better for pure registry cleaning)

@snake: what's a power surge protector?? izit used to control the incoming power or what?? well, i already have Registry mechanic (coz amane_kaoru recommended it), but not Microsoft Virtual PC... i've never heard of it. How can i get it?? should it be downloaded or juz install another set of Windows?? it can be quite useful...hehe...

as for asuna's tips,ok i'll try not to touch my hardwares...it's very tempting to see those things hanging around when you open the cover...but i dunno how to remove the dust,so i only wipe the fan once in a while... well, i defrag once week,but my fren told me i should defrag 3 times a week!! i thought too much defragging can wear down the HDD, so should i continue defragging once or 3 times a week??
as for those viruses,i can see you've protected your computer very heavily. i dunno how to differentiate between a good anti-virus and a bad one,so this is what i use:

anti virus : Comodo anti-virus (i've tried Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus,yeah it's good but slows down the PC alot when scanning,so i removed it)
anti spyware : Spybot Search and Destroy
firewall : Windows firewall only...
registry cleaner : Registry Mechanic

well, is all this reliable or not enough (considering asuna uses alot more than me...)???

Power Surge Protector is just a power bar with fancy electronics inside (or just a fuse) that prevents huge electric current (such as lightning strikes) from going into the equipment that is connected to it. It gives simple and basic protection, but it doesn't control the power at all.

A voltage regular is the equipment that controls, regulates and stabilize the power that feeds to the equipment.

For Microsoft Virtual PC, you can find more info and download for FREE here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/...pc/default.mspx

To use it, you'll need lots of memory and lots of hdd space to run it smoothly. Basically with this program, it creates an entire virtual computer within your computer. So if you ever screw up this virtual computer, just delete it and start over clean. However, I think you will need to manually install Windows or whatever operating system you want to experiment.

thx for da explaination and link snake! i think i'm gonna go get one of those Power Surge Protectors when i have the time,it's quite useful to prevent my whole CPU to get destroyed by lightning =O !! does this Microsoft Virtual PC slows the the computer or eats up alot of RAM??

and btw, how long can a computer actually be turned on?? i turn my computer on the first thing in the morning and only off it when i sleep, is this bad?? my computer CPU only have 2 fans btw. And also, my computer have been making noise lately (not the speakers!)....it's like whenever i turn on my com, there's this ~fuhhh~ sound inside. I dun think i've heard this sound half year ago when i bought my computer. Is this normal??

Haha,sry for asking so many questions, i dunno much bout computers.... :sry

^ its not really bad, unless u spend the entire time on it (which means its bad for your health XD). if u leave it alone on sleep mode or something when you're not using it, it should be ok.

something might be obstructing your fans to cause that fuzzy sound, maybe loose wires or excessive dust...

so how do you remove those dust?? i've only only wiped the fans,how bout the other parts??

(i've opened the case now,so tempted to touch it....)

static from human can spoil the circuits in the cumputer

its best if the circuits are left untouch

unless if your are exprienced
the sweat from the hands going onto the boards can cause some problems too

if you were to remove any parts by your self then you hav to remember where it should go

if something goes into the wrong position the computer might not work properly

to clean the inside,
its best not to use anything wet

jus use a dry non-rough cloth or something to slightly fan or wipe anyway the visible dust if theres any

a vaccum works too if you can risk losing a few components
(jus kidding)

lols at the vacumm thingy!!

anyway

my computer juz scared the hell outta me juz now!! i tried something new on my computer juz now (hacking...hehe...) and it did something to my system 32... :rolleye it says something like system 32 aborted 'something' and needs to restart in ?? (countdown)seconds. whats a system 32 anyway?? izit like my OS's main operating centre??

system32 is a folder within Windows folder that's very important to the operating system.

Aborting "something"? Countdown to restarts? That doesn't look good.

uh oh. i dont dare to touch my system32 files LOL.