6 Common Mistakes Computer Users Should Avoid

Such situations are not the types of things that the user thinks averagely. As most are unaware of the types of catastrophe that can occur, as long as they occur. It is only the more experienced users who are away from this, and thus make necessary provisions, to protect themselves from the events that occur.

This is due to the reason why it is so important that you learn about the various measures that you can implement to protect your system.

Below is a list of the most the biggest mistakes that your average computer user will make. Many of which may or may not be immediately obvious to you. Thus, knowing these things will put you in the best possible position, in the event something unexpected happens on your system.

1. Use ransom ware protection

One mistake that many computer users make is no ransom ware protection on their system.

Ransom ware is basically a kind of malicious file that, once it arrives on your system, will detect and block sensitive information on your computer behind encryption. Thus, to access this information, you have to pay the virus maker, hence the ransom in ransom ware.

This is, without a doubt, one of the worst situations you can have on your system, but it is preventable, if you know how. The most effective thing you can do is use antivirus software, which will prevent any ransom ware virus from coming to your system. There are many useful tools you can use, some are specialist anti-ransom ware tools you can look at, and there is also a built-in Windows feature called Controlled Folder Access.

This built-in Windows feature is highly adept at protecting your system, and works excellently with Microsoft Defender. It is recommended that you use both, but very rarely controlled folder access, to protect the most sensitive data from hackers and malicious files.

2. NET restart your system

Anytime your system starts working, things may start to move very slowly, and for no apparent reason, the first thing you should try is a simple system reboot. Rebooting your system is one of the most effective ways to fix a great many problems that occur on your system. Some things you can fix on your system with a simple reboot include:

1. Programs running slower than usual.

2. Applications using considerable amount of memory.

3. Internet connectivity problem.

4. Blue Screen of Death Errors.

3. Your computer is not backed up

Failure of a hard drive is one of the most destructive things that can happen on your system that is only made worse, if you do not have a backup plan in place. To protect your data, all you have to do is either use cloud storage or purchase another hard drive, whether internal or external. Alternatively you can go with a flash drive, if you only want to back up small documents.

When you have your own backup system, it should provide regular backups on your behalf, provided it has enough storage space to do so.

When it comes to using something like a flash drive or external hard drive, you have to manually plug them in at the appropriate time, so that the backup can be run. This can happen once a week or once a month, ideally, you want to keep as many backups as possible, but you don't want to overdo it.

Of course, there is nothing preventing flash drives or external hard drives from failing. However, this is the least with cloud storage. You can use the cloud to back up virtually everything, and it works much faster than other backup methods. Thinking about backing up your tablet or your phone, then cloud storage is something you might consider investing in.

Just keep in mind that the backup that is being done, keep track of it and have some understanding of how to restore this data, in which case you need it.

4. Not keeping your OS up-to-date

Developers are constantly releasing new updates for their software and for good reason. These reasons may include fixing bugs, adding new features, patching known security vulnerabilities, and making the system more secure. When you neglect to keep your operating system up-to-date, you essentially leave your system to be exploited. One of the best things for your computer system is to set Windows Update to Automatic.

5. Frequent use of disk defragmenter

If you're on one of the latest Windows operating systems, you don't need to think about defragging your hard drive, the reason is that your OS is configured to do this automatically. You should only consider doing this manually if your hard drive is abnormally fragmented. And this should only be done on computer standard HDD. Your subsequent SSD drives do not need to be defragmented, nor do they benefit from the process in any way, as the data is stored on them very differently.

6. Using the Power Button to Turn Off the Ones System

If you simply press the power button, it will run through the shutdown process. However, if you hold down the power button, it will do what is called hard shut down. This will shut down your computer suddenly, shutting down any files and programs in the process. This is not the recommended way to shut down your system, as it can also lead to data corruption, data loss, and hardware failure.

You may get some discussions that there is nothing wrong in shutting down your system in this manner. But the reality is that they are very wrong. You should only occasionally use a hard shutdown in cases of emergency.