How to Keep Your Tech Up-To-Date During Lockdown

Covid-19 is having a huge impact on our daily lives and many of us are trying to navigate our way through it by relying on technology. There are lots of great apps to help us stay in touch with our friends, family and work colleagues and as a result our smartphones, PC’s and laptops are getting constant use so it’s important to keep on top of your IT housekeeping to ensure your devices are running smoothly.
 
It’s also worth remembering that phones and other devices can be breeding grounds for germs so it’s vital to ensure you routinely clean them alongside the government recommended regular hand washing.
 
Keeping IT Clean
 
Daily:

• Tablets, smart phones and laptops will need cleaning more regularly than before the outbreak. Aim to clean your phone and other devices every day. You can just use lint free cloth and a screen/lens cleaner solution.
• Do not submerge your phone or device unless it is waterproof with an IP68 rating.
• See how to clean your smartphone effectively using soap and water here.
• Don’t forget your keyboard and mouse, a quick wipe over with a disinfecting wipe will help get rid of any germs.
• As soon as you touch your device you are putting germs back on to it so be sure to continue washing your hands regularly throughout the day.

 
Weekly:

• Check all cables are firmly pushed in.
• Manually run a virus scanner if you don’t have one set to run automatically
• Back up the whole computer on to an external hard drive and to the cloud. You might not be able to buy an external hard drive at the moment so consider using cloud based options such as OneDrive, iCloud or Dropbox. You can also purchase one like BackBlaze.

Monthly:

• Check for any updates of your Operating Systems Windows, Ubuntu and Apple
• Check for any other software updates such as MS Office, Anti Virus software etc...
• Clean your email Inbox - delete unwanted junk mail and sort into folders to keep them well organised.
• Clean all IT equipment with a soft cloth.

 
Every 6 Months:

• Check monitors for dead pixels.
• Run a print head clean on printers.
• Change all passwords.

 
Annually

• Get your computer professionally cleaned and tuned up (subject to government updates ref Covid-19).

Now is a good time to get on top of your IT housekeeping to keep it operating smoothly and efficiently so you don’t end up missing an important video meeting on Zoom or family get together on Skype!

---