It’s Spring cleaning time for your computer! If you think about it – Still can’t remember how long since the last time you cleaned your PC? Deleted old files from your pc? If you can’t when, maybe it’s time to give your PC a little break and clean it

No worries, there are other people who do not have time set aside to clean their computer, but they do find time to notice their PC is slowing down. Regularly cleaning your computer and it’s parts, especially since most are in a restaurant environment, can keep your system running perfectly and help protect you from unwanted problems. This can also get your restaurant POS system up and working the way it’s supposed to be.

Below are some advices for spring cleaning:

1. Start with your mouse. You might not suspect it, but your mouse could hold a variety of harmful bacteria that may cause illness. Use a small amount of cleaning solution on a lint free cloth to clean the mouse a couple of weeks or so. If you or other users have been sick, you may want to do this more often..

2. Next is your keyboard. Keyboards collect a lot of extras from you – little crumbs of food you ate for lunch, dust from papers scattered across the desk, and sometimes even dirty hands on the keyboard. Cleaning the keyboard is a piece of cake, first you need to turn off your PC, unplug all wires and take your keyboard to a trash can. Gently turn it upside down, to prevent it from falling to the ground, and lightly shake it or use compressed air to remove any dirt or deposits hiding between the keys.

After you have cleared the dirt from around the keys, use cotton {swabs|buds} with a little cleaning solution like isopropyl alcohol to clean in between the keys. Next use a lint free cloth with a little bit of cleaning solution to wipe the tops of all the keys. Finish up by wiping the whole keyboard with a dry cloth.

3. Cleaning your computer. This is the actual computer component that your monitor, keyboard and mouse plug in to is either a tower or desktop unit. These units can collect an astonishing amount of dust and debris, especially if they are placed on the floor. Have you baffled after seeing what’s under your computer tower? If so, then you seriously need a spring cleaning time!

With the same lint free cloth with sprinkles of solution, start wiping down the outside vents and around the connections. You have to make sure you get as much dirt as you can off the vents. The more dust is in there, the more your PC is going to overheat.

4. Dumping old files. Can you still remember how long has it been since you emptied the recycle bin? The recycle bin is where all your deleted files go before they are permanently removed from your computers hard drive. To permanently remove all deleted files from the recycle bin, simply right click on the “trashcan” icon and select “Empty Recycle Bin”, then choose yes among the “yes or no” options. This will remove all your recycle bin’s content giving more free space on your hard drive.

5. The cache. Another disk space hog can be temporary internet files that have never been deleted. To simply delete temporary internet files within MS Internet Explorer, open IE, click on Tools -> Internet Options. You will find the buttone labeled “Delete…” under the Browsing History section. Click it and you will see several choices like Temporary Inter Files, Cookies, History, Form data and Passwords, which you can delete whenever you want.

Down here is a brief description of the choices under the Browsing History section:

Temporary Internet Files – Deleting the temporary internet files will remove copies of websites/webpages, images and media that are saved on your computer for {faster|quick} viewing.

Cookies – Deleting the cookies will remove the files stored on your PC by websites to save preferences such as login information.

History – This option will remove the list of websites you have visited.

Form Data – This will delete any saved information that you have typed into forms.

Password – This will delete any passwords that are automatically filled in when you log on to a website you’ve previously visited.

There is also a Delete All button that will clear all of the above.

After these quick and easy to follow guidelines, I’m sure you’ll be able to clean your PC properly!

The author of this article is the Customer Relations Vice President for POS-For-Restaurants. With over 20 years of restaurant POS solutions experience, POS-For-Restaurants helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.

More information on our website: POS-For-Restaurants.com