Moore's Law says that the number of transistors able to fit onto a piece of silicon will double approximately every 18 months. What does this mean to you? It means that the speed of computers grows exponentially year after year. A new computer, even a budget one, has more than ample power to do some farily complex tasks.

So we find that a computer's life is now longer than the three years that used to be recommended. Yet we find countless businesses and organizations still on a 3-year replacement cycle. There is absolutely no need to replace most computers on a 3- or even 4-year cycle. This especially applies if the computer's main use if word processing, email, and Internet use. Even a computer five years old is powerful enough for these tasks.

Tips for Extending Computer's Life

Here's a list of some simple things you can do to extend the life of a computer and get up to 4 more years of solid performance out of it. They are listed in order of easiest to hardest.

1. Give the computer a thorough cleaning, inside and out. It can be a little daunting to clean the inside of a computer. Read some instructions to clean the inside of your computer here.
2. Upgrade to a bigger monitor. This applies especially if you're still using a bulky CRT. An efficient flat panel puts less heat in your office (saves on cooling bill), uses less electricity, takes up less desk space, and are more affordable now than ever. Plus, you can continue using it even after you finally replace that computer.
3. Get more storage space. Adding an external hard drive like this one can give you all the storage you need, plus provide an easy way to move large files from one place to another. Again, you can continue using this hard drive after you replace the computer.
4. Replace your aging keyboard and mouse. Getting a new keyboard and mouse can make the time spent in front of the computer much easier to deal with. Keyboards are the biggest container of germs and bacteria in your office (aside from the month-old lunch left in the office refrigerator). A good keyboard/mouse combination such as this one is a good investment.
5. Add more memory. RAM is so cheap these days! Adding it yourslef isn't too difficult. Here are some written instructions, and here's a video on YouTube.

Warning Signs to Look For

So you're going to keep that computer a few more years? What do you need to watch out for to know if it needs service, repair, or replacing?

• Sudden changes in noise - a grinding sound, a whine, or knocking. These could indicate a failing hard drive or cooling fan inside your computer. If you hear these sounds and don't know for sure what they are, turn the computer off and get it looked at by qualified personnel.
• Repeated crashing, blue screens, or unexplained software errors. On a PC, these are usually indicative of viruses, hardware problems, or even Windows becoming unstable (it's known to do that over the course of time).