10 Warning Signs of Impending Computer Disaster… And How to Prevent Them

The old saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true in the world of technology. Computers rarely stop working overnight; in most cases, there are early warning signs that problems are brewing.

These 10 red flags are surefire warning signs that you need a professional to investigate your network ASAP:

1. Your workstation or server starts running very slowly, freezes up or crashes.
2. Your web browser has switched to another strange browser you have never seen before.
3. You are getting an unusual amount of pop-up windows, even when you aren’t surfing the web.
4. You don’t know if every computer on your network has the most current virus definitions.
5. You don’t know if you have a firewall in place or the last time you updated it.
6. You haven’t attempted to restore your data from backups in a while, and you aren’t checking your backup log for errors.
7. You receive emails accusing you of sending spam, or you find email messages in your outbox or sent folder that you didn’t send.
8. Your computer starts making a grinding, clicking or loud whirring sound.
9. The fan is constantly running.
10. You are getting a growing number of error messages and have to create workarounds to complete certain work tasks.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is taking a reactive approach to network support and maintenance rather than a proactive one. Ideally, you should perform regular health checks and maintenance on your network to make sure problems don’t crop up. Even new computers and equipment need regular maintenance; new threats are constantly evolving, and no backup solution is 100% reliable.

Here are some proactive steps you can take to protect your network:

• Apply critical security updates at least once a month to protect your network from a constant flow of new hacker attacks.
• Monitor and update firewall, virus and spyware protection on a daily basis.
• Monitor and test your data backup system frequently to ensure easy data recovery in the event of loss.
• Perform regular tune-ups on your servers and workstations to keep them running fast and error free.
• Monitor disk space to avoid data loss, crashes and storage problems.
• Monitor server event logs for early signs of critical issues.

If your company is like most, your computer network is critical to the operation of your business. So make sure you don’t procrastinate if any of the warning signs mentioned above are present and make it a routine to monitor every aspect of your network.

Finally, contact the Technology Solutions Consulting team at James Moore if you have any questions or concerns about the technology that supports your business.