By Rob Pegoraro Washington Post Housecleaning on a computer resembles that in a home, but there's no exercise benefit to it, and I've yet to hear of any records described as good soundtracks for the chore of cleaning up around the computer. Like the analog kind, though, computer housekeeping is both necessary and often overlooked. The usual computing wisdom starts with backups - every day, of everything on the computer. I've yet to meet a single home-computer user who bothers to do that. After that, virus protection is the big one - it's the computer equivalent of keeping the kitchen utensils clean.
Every day brings a new update, patch or security alert.
Almost all PCs ship with virus-protection software enabled, but many users neglect to update virus database files or switch off virus protection entirely. Even if it's not a malicious virus, it can be an annoyance. Don't be one of those victims. Keep your anti-virus software up to date. Learn how to use its auto-update tools.