Many of you who are familiar with my other articles will notice this is a bit off the regular path for me as I usually write articles dealing with home based businesses and setting up websites. The reason for this article on computer maintenance is this. If you are doing Internet Marketing of any type then you are going to be using a computer. And if your computer breaks down, then your business breaks down along with it. So with that in mind, today's article deals with keeping your computer up and running smooth and trouble free. Many people use a few of the methods listed below, but if you use all of them regularly you will go a long way towards keeping your computer up and running like it was meant to. You should be able to find these programs by doing a search through Yahoo or Google. I don't believe I can put the download addresses in this article without being in violation of EzineArticles guidelines for published articles.

1 ) Anti-Virus Software: One of the most important ways to keep your computer happy is good anti-virus software. There are way to many viruses out there today. You can find many free anti-virus programs on-line with a little research. One I recommend is AVG Free Version. AVG will auto update it's definition file as long as your computer is on-line. AVG will also run virus checks in the background, with a minimal effect on you system resources. You can download it from the Grisoft Web site, just use Google or Yahoo and type in AVG Anti Virus Free Edition download.

2 ) Anti-Spy-ware Software: Anti-Spy-ware is also available for free on-line. Two I recommend are Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. Spy-ware and malware can slow down your computer tremendously as well as popping up unwanted ads all over your desktop, even when you are not on-line. These 2 free programs, while they work very well, have one drawback in my opinion. Auto updates are not available. Which means it's up to you to remember to check for updates on a regular basis. Both programs do have a "check for updates" option right on their main page. You should have them check for updates at least once a week. Spybot and Ad-Aware can be downloaded from their web sites. Watch when you search for Spybot on Yahoo or Google as their are many impersonators using various forms of the Spybot name. Their web site should read safer-networking somewhere in the url. If you type in spybot search and destroy you should get directed to the correct web site. With AdAware the address should read lavasoftusa in the url. Look for the AdAware SE Personal Edition as the newer versions are a bit bloated.

3 ) Disk Cleanup: The disk clean tool up will help you to keep unneeded or no longer used files off your computer. You will have a gradual build up of unneeded files over a period of time in your temp folder, cookies folder from Internet surfing, and various other places on your computer. You can access the Disk Clean up tool in your accessories folder under system tools. Run this once at least once a month.

4 ) Windows Update: Make sure your Windows Update program is set to check periodically for updates for you operating system and the drivers and such for your other installed programs. There are new updates made available on a regular basis from Windows. Many of these will fix security problems and other issues pertaining to you computer.

I'll begin this article by creating a fake company, BadDesign Inc. This company has 85 users and currently run 8 servers. The mix includes Microsoft OS, Mac OS X and some Unix boxes. Altogether there are six servers running in a poorly ventilated room. The small owner of BadDesign is from the old school of networking and has no interest in Managed Services. He once heard about it and sarcastically replied "and I own the Brooklyn Bridge!" Mr. Russell believes in the break/fix model. "Why must I pay for something that works all month? he asks with a feral growl. "I'll pay if it's broken". What Mr. Russell ignores is the amount of downtime whenever that happens. Plus, most of the time he can't locate the Mac guy. "I should have never used that silicon brain!" And "the Unix guy acts like he's the President". "I'm going crazy with these computer guys, it's like they own my company!" Unfortunately this scenario is played out everyday, somewhere in the world.

My question is, how do you possibly sell Mr. Russell on virtualization? Do you educate him on the benefits of managed services first and then gradually introduce virtualization? The MSP has an undaunting task of converting the small business owner to paying for what is really intangibles. Education to me is the key to success. In my Security + classes one of the major tenets of network security is executive buy-in. The average SMB owner cannot be approached with technologies, he has to be placed in his comfort zone, profitability. Deposit a little, withdraw a lot.

Virtualization is the MSPs golden child. Knowledge of the technology will go a long way in winning over the client. The very first thing that needs to be addressed is the misconception that virtualization is new. Technologies that closely resemble virtualization was common in the 60s an 70s. I could picture Mr. Russel smiling and stressing "I knew it, all these new things and we go right back to the correct way!". When processing power increased it became less expensive to move to PC servers as opposed to mainframe computing. Today's network are victims of computer sprawl, some enterprise networks have hundreds of servers. The cost of housing, powering, cooling and maintaining these devices keep rising and rising. Virtualization gives the client the ability to run multiple servers and apps on one physical box. Due to the fact that there is a decrease in physical devices management becomes easier. The large developers have thrown money behind virtualization. Citrix buying ZenSource ($500m), Sun buying Innotek, Microsoft buying Softricity and Kidaro and VMWare. It is reported that VMWare has the majority of the market with their VMWare ESX Server. With Windows Server 2008, Microsoft is offering a new Windows Server Virtualization option. Windows 2008 Hyper-V allows you to run multiple servers inside one physical box resulting in more efficient use of hardware and administrative services. One major requirement is an x64 based processor.

I believe that if the MSP at first educates him/herself on the basic workings of virtualization it will require very little convincing. Just the demonstration of having multiple operating systems functioning independently on one physical machine is a great sales pitch. What is outstanding is that you can actually remove the physical server and yet have the same service. Mr. Russell can be converted. Like Miss Lanowitz, I totally agree that virtualization is the technology of the 21st century. Maybe by the next 25 years we will see virtualized community servers running movies, radio stations, complete classrooms, the potential is limitless.

If your company's computer crashed tomorrow, then would the valuable data they hold be safe? If not, then you might be in need of a recovery data center facility to provide protection for your files in case of an emergency.

While most companies hope that they will never need a professional data recovery system, having a backup system in place for valuable files is extremely important. The reality is that computers break down and hard drives crash. Wouldn't it be better to have a system in place to protect your company's information than to worry about having to recover lost data?

When looking for an offsite recovery data center, there are a few things that you need to think about when choosing one that fits your company. Try selecting a backup service that offers the ability to speak to a live person anytime that you may need assistance.

Even if your company operates only during daytime hours, knowing that your backup service is there anytime you need them can be reassuring. Also find out about the optimization features that the backup provider is offering.

Data backups are going to be most likely ongoing activities, which will consume a lot of time and storage resources, so be aware of how they handle your storage needs. You will also want to find out about the online services that the data center offers.

Will it be possible to restore data without the help of their support team? The more ease of use and self-sufficiency of the product can go a long way when you are looking to quickly restore lost data.

No matter what type of recovery data center you utilize, the important thing is that you are backing up your data. Facilities like these offer a great service and save money and time for countless companies.

Do some research and find out what is offered in the way of backup retrieval. It only takes seconds to lose valuable information, but with the proper system in place, the loss of both time and money to retrieve lost data is diminished.

Computers or PCs are fantastic when they function well- allowing you instant communications with the world, loads of information to learn about and the ability to entertain the entire family. Problems start, though, when a PC does not work right any longer. Without the right information this can become extremely annoying to overcome.

There are many reasons why a PC may fail or not function as you would expect. Here are some of the main reasons.

Hardware Failure

As with all things that contains electronics or mechanical parts, things can go wrong - it's part of life. If this happens to you then, once you ascertain what has failed, the failing component can be replaced. Of course, the main problematic area can be diagnosing the fault in the first place.

Virus

Yes astonishingly there are still computer users in this world today who do not protect themselves with anti virus software on their computer - despite the fact that there are many free applications to download to protect you. If you do get a virus on your PC you may find this can deteriorate your PC's performance and even cause an absolute failure.

Spyware/adware

Whist spyware and adware are generally is not as damaging as having a virus it can often block up your computer and slow your Internet connections causing an ultimately slow machine. Not to mention the security risks of having these on your machine. A free downloadable anti adware or spyware program should help resolve this issue.

Crashes

Sometimes a computer goes slightly wrong and people go into panic mode - restart your machine - it may often solve your problem. Programs do crash and this is a fact of life. Sometimes if something has crashed it is obvious what is going on but other times it can not be so obvious. A restart of your computer can often solve these types of issues.

Slow Computer

This is a common computer issue - often after owning using a computer regularly for a long period of time, downloading trial software, installing new applications etc etc. Your computer is often trying to load a hundred different programs on start-up that you do not even need - (do you have loads of icons down by the clock?). This is taking up valuable computer resources and will end up slowing your machine down. Either uninstall any programs no longer needed or disable them from the start-up menu.

When a computer starts slowing down, it can be very frustrating. When you just want your computer to work, sometimes it won't. Fortunately, there are some simple things that you can do to get your computer running quickly again. Just follow these 5 simple computer tips, and get your computer running quickly again!

5 Tips For Computer Users:

1. Clean up disk errors: Whenever your computer is abruptly shut down or a program suddenly crashes, errors are written to your hard drive. Eventually, these can slow down your computer. Fortunately, Windows comes with a free tool to scan for and fix these disk errors.

Click on the Start Menu, and then on My Computer. Right click on the hard drive or petition that you want to check for errors on (its usually the C drive) and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab, and then on Check Now. Make sure all of the boxes are checked and then click on Start. This can take as long as an hour, depending upon disk size and number of errors.

2. Remove temporary files: When you browse the Internet and use programs, temporary files are created on your hard drive. These take up disk space and can slow down your computer. To remove these files, simply do the following:

Click on the Start Menu, and then on My Computer. Right click on the hard drive or petition that you want to check for errors on (its usually the C drive) and click on Properties. Now, click on Disk Cleanup. Check all of the boxes and click OK.

3. Defragment your hard drive: I'm not going to try to confuse you with all of the technical jargon explaining why you need to defragment your hard drive, but let me tell you: on a Windows PC, it is essential that you frequently defragment. I would suggest at least once a month. Windows comes with a free utility to defragment your disk.

Click on the Start Menu, and then on My Computer. Right click on the hard drive or petition that you want to check for errors on (its usually the C drive) and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab, and then on Defragment Now. Select your disk volume to defragment (probably C), and then click Analyze. The tool should tell you whether or not to defragment after it analyzes your disk. If it tells you to, click Defragment Now. This process can take a very long time, depending upon the size and fragmentation of your disk.

It can take many hours, so I would recommend running it at night when you go to sleep or when you're about to leave for work and aren't going to need to use your computer.

4. Optimize Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer is not a very well written program, and consequentially it can run quite slowly. Here are two options that you can tweak to speed it up:

From Internet Explorer, click Tools from the menu bar and then Internet Options. In the History section, set the number of days to keep history for to 1. Having a large history can slow down the program. Now, click on the Advanced tab. Under Security, check the "Do not save encrypted pages to disk" box.

5. Automate Windows Update: Microsoft frequently releases patches and fixes to close security holes in Windows. These are very important for your computer, so its best to set Windows to download them automatically if it isn't already.