The sound of the first bell is just around the corner, and whether your little one is going into an early grade, high school or university, computers have become a part of every day studies.
What do today’s kids use computers for? Two main functions are research and assignments. But did you know that in some schools today, students are learning coding and app development as early as grade five? For many adults that’s a staggering thought, given that OUR back to school shopping was some new outfits, maybe some shoes, a lunch box, and some basic writing supplies.
Let’s chat today about computer health.
In today’s modern family there is often a family computer in a central location. If this is the computer the students in your household are using, it’s important to check a few details before school starts up. Computer troubles during an important assignment can be a catastrophe!
The three main things to be checking on your iMac are hard drive health, back-ups, and malware issues. General iMac health and performance can be addressed by a tune-up performed by one of our Apple certified technicians. If the computer has been slowing down in recent months it can be caused by any number of things including imminent hard drive failure, not enough RAM for the software you are running, and even malware.
A back-up hard drive running time machine will clone your entire computer. This is how you’ll rescue your files and photos if something happens to it. Make sure yours is still running. And are the super-important documents (assignments) being backed up TWICE? Google Drive or Dropbox are good solutions to back up that folder.
Does the student in your household have their own laptop? If yes, there are different challenges here. Since they are usually the only user on that computer, there isn’t a second set of eyes that might spot a concern. Is the hard drive getting full? Are the security updates being done? How is the battery health? Is the computer backing up? And lastly, does your student eat while they’re using their laptop? Has food been creeping inside the computer through the keys? If yes, we might need to open it up to clean the inside.
As a general note, computers that are used (only) by our kids are a bit more at risk for malware because of the types of sites this age group frequents. You’ll want to be checking for malware too!
The other piece of tech in your household that should be checked this time of year is your printer. Do a test print to make sure it’s still working, and verify that you have a good supply of paper as well as well as an extra set of inks on reserve. When ink jet printers set idle over many months, the ink can dry out.
Lastly is your adapters! Check that each one is still working, especially power adapters. If your student has a new computer with USB type-C, there might be some USB-C adapters needed to be able to connect to all the legacy gear.
During our back to school season bring your computer in for a Computer Health-Check to check all of the above, for only $99. If a problem (for example malware) is uncovered, you can upgrade to a Deep Clean while it’s in the service department. Usually an additional $100 to upgrade, if you reach out to me today, I’ll mark you down for a special upgrade rate of only $50.
Mac Outpost
London, Ontario
