Help me "failure-proof" my PC

[SantoUno]

So my main goal upon turning 25 years old (tomorrow) is self-preservation, and that includes all of my possessions. So after taking care of boring stuff like being financially secure and in good physical health, my next priority is to safeguard my electronics in case of failure and/or theft.

To start off, I already have a good antimalware (Kaspersky Total Security) and Spybot Search and Destroy to help purge adware and the like, but if my PC did not start tomorrow (which somewhat happened three weeks ago but it was just a loose circuit breaker from outside), I would be totally dumbfounded as to what to do. I also constantly read comments from peeps here on the Escapist or even content creators on Youtube that I follow of their PCs spontaneously combusting or whatever the hell happens that they suddenly find themselves without their main workstation.

So first off, how do I back up certain things such as the OS, all my files such as music, documents etc?What do I do to try and prevent any sort of sudden failures from the hardware? And more importantly, if I do find myself without a working PC, what can I do to either get the PC up and working ASAP or take it to someone with the right skill set to diagnose the issue?

I understand some of these are kind of open-ended questions but even the most basic solutions and/or procedures is a great start. Much appreciated.

 

[mad825]

You can clone your HDD/SDD however you'll need another device with equivalent amount of storage space, it can mount-up to be many many discs. Typically an OS won't need backing-up unless you got yours as part of the OEM in which you'll need to seek other means unless you cloned it, whatever the case make a note of the product key. I just use a USB stick 256GB stored in a safe place with data that I need and cannot replace.

There isn't much you can do against hardware failing suddenly(catastrophically). You can regularly remove the dust off components with a can of air which may improve the lifespan marginally and just keeping the computer as cool as you possibly can. If you're really going to bother, you can use monitoring tools like an application that features Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T) for the mass storage device however this only detects a gradual hard drive failure as opposed to a catastrophic one.

Troubleshooting PC issues is often symptomatic of the damaged PC component however it the PC doesn't boot it's a bit more difficult and typically involves the motherboard or PSU. I've built my PCs for just under a decade, it's either GPU, PSU or motherboard. I've personally never had any real issues with the RAM or CPU.

When it comes to protection for your data, the thing to keep in mind is that prevention is better than cure. So even though you have a AV and that. The protection isn't guaranteed and the vast majority of infections are caused by your own ignorance. I would also suggest on getting a firewall unless you know how to work your way around windows.

For me, if the worst comes to the worst I'll just have use my 10 year old laptop for a week.

 

[Luna Saltatio]

You can't avert catastrophic failure, but you can back up remotely so that even if your physical plant burns down you retain your data.

 

[beyondbrainmatter]

What, protecting your hardware from power related issues? First step is getting a decent PSU. Jonnyguru (www.jonnyguru.com) is the place to go for your PSU reviews. Kitguru (http://www.kitguru.net/) also is good with PSU reviews. If you want to improve on that, you can get a surge protector for your PSU to plug into and a step up from that is a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Some pretty broad questions there. Different things need to be backed up in different ways. Here's some solutions:

For backing up your music, photos, crucial files:
-Pretty straightforward. Just get an external and sync everything up there. There are many programs for that, but many of them cost money. I use Total Commander, for the sole fact that you can just drag the entire directory over the other, and tell it to "Overwrite all older", which means it doesn't take hours if you are only adding a bit of stuff at a time.

For backing up your OS:
-Not as straightforward, but is a one-time deal. After doing a fresh install or reformat, install your drivers and everything, maybe couple of standard roll-out programs, and then make a drive image. The process is called "cloning" or "ghosting". This is only if you are afraid of messing up your serial key for your Windows installation if you make changes to your system. But if you are making an entirely new computer, you'll need to purchase a new license anyway, so it's usefulness is somewhat limited.

If you find yourself without a working PC:
-Well this is too open-ended to answer properly. First thing you can do though, is learn how to isolate problems by yourself. Everything from black screen, beeping from the motherboard, input devices not working, no internet connection, or simply not turning on can be attributed to so many factors (is it plugged in?) that so many people have the ability to isolate with a bit of common sense, but fail to do so. You can always call a specialist but forums (such as this one) can be surprisingly helpful and responsive in a pinch.