Computer maintenance people at Staples have done a survey of their customers and discovered that most people ignore routine computer maintenance. [I regularly change oil in mine. sub.ed.]

Apparently they only think about it when their computer blows up or turns out to be packed full of more viruses than the Centre for Tropical Diseases in London. Staples "EasyTechs," indicated that more than 80 percent of the chain's customers don't bother with routine maintenance and most of the problems they call in the techs for could have been prevented. One punter only thought about doing any maintenance when he discovered 8,000 viruses on his machine.

The EasyTechs have found enough dust inside one computer to fill a hand-held vacuum cleaner. There was a family of cockroaches using one computer for emergency accommodation while their flat was being refurbished. There was even a bee's nest in one computer box although how the owner failed to notice that Staples did not say.

The maintenance program EasyTech suggest is stuff like keep your antivirus software up to date. Only a third of the 105 techs reported their customers had the current versions. You should use Windows Disk Cleanup to safely get rid of temporary files. Keep your computer in a well-ventilated area and clear out any dust or dirt that's gotten into the case. Defragment your hard drive regularly. Check regularly for updates to your OS, whether it be Windows, Mac, Linux or other, and make sure you download any security patches. Back up stuff that's hard or impossible to replace on an external hard drive or flash drive, most people don't.

You should be aware of bees coming in and out of your computer casing and wonder why your motherboard has a honeycomb design that actually produces honey.