It’s holiday time, and some rainy weather often provides a good opportunity to run some updates on all those home computers, laptops and iDevices – or maybe run some updates on devices owned by visiting family members, where maintenance may have been overlooked. (How many update notifications are there on your Dad’s iPhone??)

So – where do you start with some general maintenance and getting those devices up-to-date…

OS X
OS X

1. Clean up the Desktop
– Relocate files to the appropriate location in the Home folder.

2. Run Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities)
– Repair permissions;
– Repair disk.

3. Visit the App Store
– Install updates.

4. Check your Web Browser
– Install Chrome;
– If Firefox is installed, go to Firefox > about Firefox to update to the latest version;
– Flash – Check Flash Player version.

5. Do you have a reliable Backup?
– Check that an external HDD is available, and set Time Machine to update to the HDD. (If not, go buy a USB HDD);

6. Check the installed version of OS X (About this Mac)
– The latest versions of OS X are free, and available in the App Store – check the hardware requirements for each OS…

7. App purchasing
– Where possible, purchase all your apps through the App Store, for easier and more reliable, regular updating.
iOS
iOS 8

1. App updates
– App store > Updates > Update all

2. System Update
– Settings > General > Software Update

3. iCloud
– If not already available, setup an iCloud account (free)

4. Backup to iCloud
– Settings > iCloud > Backup
Win 7
Windows

1. System Updates
– Go to Start > System and Security > Windows Update > Check for updates

2. Check that an antivirus application is installed
– Install AVG (free)

3. Update your Web Browser
– Install Chrome (so much better than older versions of IE).

4. Defrag the HDD
– Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
eMail
eMail Make your email ‘portable‘
If you want to preserve some long-term sanity, your email address needs to be a constant, not changing every time you move to a new ISP.