A few simple good habits, drawn from what we see most often on call-outs.
A backup that lives inside the same computer is not a backup. Copy your important documents to an external drive or online storage, and check now and then that you know how to restore them.
A computer left on for weeks accumulates small glitches. A full restart fixes a surprising share of slowdowns and display oddities.
An unexpected invoice, a parcel you never ordered, a message from a bank that is not yours: when in doubt, do not open and do not click. Check through another channel.
Installing several does not protect you more: they interfere with each other and slow the machine down. The one built into Windows already does its job properly if kept up to date.
They fix security flaws that are actively exploited. Endlessly postponing the restart amounts to leaving a door open.
On a machine over five years old that drags, replacing the hard drive with an SSD often feels like a brand-new computer, for a fraction of the price.
A noisy fan and a hot computer almost always point to dust build-up. Prolonged overheating damages components.
Not on a sticky note on the screen, but in a password manager. A lost password can make an account permanently inaccessible.
Three useful reads, ours and elsewhere, to understand without spending your evenings on it.
The software we use in the workshop: on-demand antivirus, disk and memory checks, and how to check a file, a link or a website.
The French public service for victims of cybercrime: practical guides on current scams, ransomware and account hacking.
A French blog covering hardware, software, artificial intelligence and video games, with reviews and guides.
A free diagnosis beats a wrong move.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
