None of these poses a risk to your computer. In fact, all of them are designed to keep things rolling more smoothly and to protect you from malware and viruses.
Blackboard and our other online programs really love the Chrome web browser best, so if you don’t have it yet, follow this link to download and install it.
These will take a while, especially if you haven’t run an update recently and you’re not using the university web connection. They are not automatic because they would interrupt your workflow if they happened while you were doing something else. They also take a lot of power, so plug in your adapter, start the update, and don’t disturb the machine until it’s done. Run them one at a time. (Don’t attempt to do both at once.)
You should do all of this at least once a month; if your system is up to date, you will get a simple message telling you that, and you can go on with your life.
This one can take quite a while, but it’s really important. When you begin the process, you will probably be asked which updates you want, and your answer should be “all of them.”
This one isn’t automatic either, but it’s pretty fast.
We are so accustomed to simply shutting the lid on a laptop when we are finished working that most of us never actually shut a computer off. That causes trouble because all computers (both Apple and Windows) accumulate little bits and pieces of old data that slow things down, and a full reboot cycle cleans things out.
(By the way, the shutdown process may take a minute or more. If you specify “shut down,” then slam the lid instantly, the computer may have a lot of trouble starting up the next time. Give it some time. Wait for the screen to go completely black.)
Your smartphone (which is really a little computer too) needs to do all these things as well, and one of the most forgotten items is to occasionally shut the thing off and restart it. Lots of confusions and glitches get solved when you do that.
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Ashland University.
Revised 12/23/22 • Page author: Curtis Allen • e-mail: callen@ashland.edu.