• Always back up your work.
• Do NOT defragment your hard drive more than once a month.
• Listen to your computer.  If it starts making whirring clunking, or grinding sounds, turn your computer off and call me.  If you keep using the computer, chances are we won't be able to recover your data.
• Do not turn the computer off without going through the proper shutdown procedure.
• Empty your trash files regularly.
• Never, never plug your computer into anything that doesn't have surge protection!
• Don't unplug peripheral devices (i.e. printers, back up drives) while the computers on
• Don't keep lots of programs on the desktop (shortcuts are OK).
• If something isn't working and you don't understand why - STOP.  You could be turning a $100 problem into a much more expensive issue.
• Open your computer casing up at least twice a year and get rid of the dust. This will keep your computer cooler, this extending its life span. This is a very easy procedure that I can show you in 3-5 minutes.
• Keep all software that came with your computer, printer, scanner, digital camera, iPod, etc. in one place. Keep them in CD sleeves, a CD wallet devoted strictly to computer disks.  The disks do you no good if being tossed in a desk drawer has damaged them and your computer can't read them.
• Make sure to log on to the Microsoft or Apple website to download and install important software updates. They are often posted bi-monthly.

If you're not sure what some of these mean, let me lend a helping hand.

Some information from Microsoft:
As of July 11th of last year, Microsoft no longer supports Windows 98 or Windows ME.