1. Keep it Covered and Clean保持清潔，不用就收起來。

　　Dust and dirt are your worst nightmare. One of the best ways to keep your computer running over the long term is to keep it clean. Dust and pet hair can gum up the gears and cause issues in functioning. Remember to clean your computer and keep it covered when not in use to prevent dust and dirt from getting into the inner components. Use canned air to remove debris, especially from fans. If fans get clogged with too much dirt, they can slow down and not remove the heat from the computer, causing a melt down much earlier. Clean your screen with screen cleaner, never window cleaner, as the ammonia will dull the screen. Also, don’t eat food or place drinks next to your computer for the same reasons. One accident can have serious consequences。灰塵污垢是頭號勁敵。要想延長電腦壽命，首先必須保持電腦清潔。灰塵和寵物毛發容易堵塞齒輪，造成運行故障。應該經常清理電腦，不用時要收起來，以免灰塵污垢進入內部零件。可以用罐式空氣噴霧清理雜質，尤其是風扇位置；風扇積塵太多的話，運行速度就會變慢，進而無法正常散發熱量，早晚會造成電腦癱瘓。請用專門的屏幕清潔劑擦拭屏幕，那種窗戶清潔劑會使屏幕變花。另外，也別對著電腦吃東西或把飲料放在旁邊，否則一旦失手后果不堪設想。

　　2. Keep it Cool保持電腦涼爽

　　Heat also causes many issues. Your CPU and graphics card can get so hot, they can cook. The computer generates heat when it’s running. When you combine that with ambient room temperature, your computer works harder and slows down. Try to put your computer in a clean room that stays cool and out of the sun. Provide proper air flow and don’t place anything in front of the fans on your PC. Again, clean your CPU fans to ensure they run smoothly and move heat out of the computer. You can also add extra fans to your PC or use a cooling stand for your laptop。熱量會引發各種問題，CPU和顯卡有時會熱得燙手。電腦運行時會散發熱量，如果電腦溫度高于周圍室溫，那么電腦運行就變得困難且緩慢。盡量在干凈清涼避光的環境下用電腦，保持室內通風，風扇周圍不要放置任何東西。再次強調，一定要清理CPU風扇，這樣才能保證電腦正常運行和散熱。當然，你也可以選擇為電腦配置專門的散熱器。

　　3. Keep it Current保持更新

　　While those updates may seem like a pain when you’re trying to get work done, they are necessary maintenance for your system. If you have a PC, you will need to do defrag and disk clean up manually (at least once per month). You can set it to run during the night so it doesn’t interfere with your work. Also, if you have a PC, keep your antivirus software updated。雖然那些時不時冒出來的更新提醒常讓人心煩，但卻是維護系統的必經程序。如果你用的是筆記本，那應該自己定期清理磁盤文件(至少每月一次)；要是怕影響工作，可以在晚上清理。此外，筆記本電腦一定要保證殺毒軟件的更新。

　　4. Don’t Jostle It切勿碰撞

　　While the computer is running, it’s a good idea not to move it. If you have a laptop, remember not to jostle or move it more than needed. Be gentle. Too much movement can damage the moving pieces and cause issue later. Also, if you have a laptop, hold it at it’s base, never by the screen, and use both hands. When traveling with a laptop, invest in a padded case。電腦運行時最好不要隨意搬動，尤其是筆記本電腦，除非是迫不得已，否則不要隨便移來動去。電腦也要溫柔呵護。經常搬動會損壞部件，埋下問題陷阱。而且，使用筆記本時應該托住底部，而不是抓著屏幕。帶筆記本出行必須要有電腦包。

　　5. Make Sure You Have Enough RAM and Hard Drive Space確保足夠內存和硬盤空間

　　Your RAM (random access memory used for active programs) and your hard drive (used for things you store like videos, documents, and pictures) should be at the right levels to meet your needs. If you got a good deal on a computer, it’s likely they gave you the bare minimum of memory and hard drive space. You can upgrade memory fairly easily, and your computer will run faster and last longer。電腦內存(用于活動程序的隨機存儲器)和硬盤(用于儲存視頻、文檔及圖片等資料)的使用應該恰如其分。如果東西太多，那么記憶和硬盤空間就變得有限。升級內存很容易，升級完后電腦會運行得又快又好。

　　6. Solid State Drives Are an Affordable Upgrade to Increase Longevity使用固態硬盤延長電腦壽命

　　One of the best ways to refresh a computer and lengthen its life is to replace the hard drive with a solid state drive. The new solid state drives are becoming more affordable now. They have no moving parts and run much cooler than standard disk drives. They also will increase your start-up speed, and you will notice a must faster response in your computer overall。更新并延長電腦壽命的一個方法就是用固態硬盤代替硬盤。現在最新的固態硬盤也貴不到哪兒去。固態硬盤沒有運行零件，沒有標準硬盤那樣的散熱負擔；而且，固態硬盤還能提高開機速度，電腦的整體反應也會快得多。

　　7. Don’t Treat Your Computer Like a Light Switch切忌頻繁開關電腦　　Unless you have to keep your computer running all the time, you may want to turn your computer off when not in use to save on power costs. Turning it off once per day (like at night) is fine. However, continually powering it on and off multiple times per day stresses the components as you are changing the temperature inside the system, causing the hardware to contract and expand. Try to limit this stress. Your system will last longer。除非你不得不一直使用電腦，為了省電，不用時會關掉它，比如一天結束時一次性關掉。如果一天當中過于頻繁地開關電腦，零部件就必須不斷調整系統內部溫度，硬盤也相應不斷熱脹冷縮，結果反倒增加電腦負擔。盡量減少這類負擔，電腦才能使用得更長久。

　　Just like a car, when you perform routine maintenance and treat your computer with care, you will most likely squeeze a few extra years out of the system. When you consider the cost of computers, it makes sense to invest in a few additional efforts to stretch your money farther and gain additional quality and quantity from your system。電腦跟車一樣，若小心使用、加以定期維護，就能延長系統使用壽命。想想買一臺電腦的成本，那么平時多加注意、略加投資進行質量維護也還是值得的！