Computers may have become a lot more user-friendly over the past decade, but they’re still far from perfect—PCs require a certain amount of configuration and maintenance to operate at their full potential. Unfortunately, because we humans are also far from perfect, we frequently don’t put in the work we should, and we end up with a slower, sloppier, less secure machine as a result.

No more excuses! Whipping your PC into the best shape it can be requires but a dozen simple tasks. None are complicated, most take a matter of minutes, and all will have a major effect on how well your computer works for you. Even better, by the time you’re finished you’ll never have to worry about doing many of these tasks again.

Clean the case, keys, and display

The first task is the most basic: Are you keeping your computer clean? It’s not just important because a dirty PC looks gross, or is less pleasant to use. Simply put, a clean computer can last longer. Dirt and dust buildup in and around your computer can clog the fans and air intakes, causing your hardware to run hotter, which lowers its expected life span. So if your PC is looking a little musty, take the time to clean it.

Photograph by Robert Cardin

To do so, you need to have only a few things on hand: a Phillips-head screwdriver, a can of compressed air, paper towels, and rubbing alcohol.

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Has your computer's hardware started freaking out, freezing up or behaving in weird ways since you've made the jump to Windows 8? Don't lay blame at the feet of a mischievous gremlin. Instead, it’s much more likely that your devices simply aren't rocking the most up-to-date Windows 8-compatible drivers.

Yes, a simple driver update might just fix your Windows 8 hardware woes.

The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant does a decent job of identifying which parts and software in your rig need an update prior to installing Windows 8—and Microsoft's Windows Compatibility Center website offers the same feature for DIY types who prefer to search for specific programs and hardware—but many devices still fall through the cracks, and you'll need to manually update any drivers Microsoft can't snag itself. (Note that the process outlined below works for Windows 7, as well.)

How to update Windows 8 drivers

Before you get your hands dirty, however, you should see if Windows Update has automatically checked for driver updates. Not all drivers are available through Windows Update, but many are and it’s the easiest way to proceed.

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Whatever your reason for considering a new shell, we'll walk you through the process of selecting one--and we'll look at how to move the parts and pieces from your old case into your new case smoothly and efficiently.

Choose a Suitable Case

PC cases fall into three broad categories: Budget, Midrange, and High-End. But a relatively inexpensive case isn't necessarily worse than an expensive one.

Budget Bonanza

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Why is [Program X] always running when I start my PC?

Windows maintains a list of programs that automatically run every time you boot up your computer. Some of these startup programs (such as antivirus utilities) are beneficial, but many of them are not necessary and can slow your PC as they run automatically in the background. Speed up your boot time by disabling Windows startup programs.

Why does my PC keep making a grinding sound?

This can happen for a lot of reasons--and unfortunately almost all of them are bad news. The most likely answer is that a fan or hard drive in your PC is starting to die, causing it to spin off-kilter. PCWorld contributing editor Lincoln Spector wrote a smart guide to pinpointing the source of a grinding-sound problem in this Answer Line column. No matter what the cause turns out to be, you should immediately back up your hard drive, just in case.

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Late-night snacks and caffeine-powered drinks are often our closest companions while we're typing away at our computers: They fuel the ideas and thoughts that we input one keystroke at a time.

But if you don’t stop to examine your keyboard every once in a while, you might miss the fact that it has become covered with crumbs, grease, and sticky soda stains (not to mention a coating of dust). And that’s not all: A recent study showed that some sample keyboards had more bacteria and filth than a toilet seat!

When it’s time to sanitize your keyboard and evict that nasty grime and bacteria, don't fret--you can remove all of it effectively in just a few steps.

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Configuring two or more hard drives in a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) setup can increase performance and/or provide automatic protection against data loss from drive failure. RAID used to be expensive, hard to implement, and limited to businesses with dedicated IT departments. Now, motherboards in most desktop PCs support RAID, and Windows 7 provides software RAID that requires no special hardware at all. The technology is easily within the reach of the wallet and skills of any reasonably tech-savvy PC user.

What type of RAID do I want?

RAID comes in a number of flavors--or levels--that offer data protection, enhanced performance, or both. In addition to the seven core levels (RAID 0 through RAID 6), you'll encounter a number of variants and combinations. Some controllers (and dedicated external storage and NAS boxes) can layer and even abstract RAID levels, allowing you to mix and match different capacity drives and add capacity without any additional configuration.

Here are a few of the RAID levels you'll find on affordable, consumer-level RAID adapters, motherboard chipsets, and Windows software RAID:

JBOD (extend, spill over): JBOD, or Just a Bunch Of Disks simply allows you to extend a volume (drive letter, e.g. C:\) onto other disks. Data is written to the first disk until it's full, then to the second disk, then the third, etc. It offers no boost in performance or redundancy and is a holdover from the days when smaller disks had to be chained to handle large amounts of data. It's largely irrelevant given today's more capacious hard drives.

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Too bad you own a laptop. Desktop keyboards are easy to fix. Just buy a new one (they can cost less than $15) and plug it in.

Since that's not an option, let's start with the next simplest fix: The driver. But first, just to play it safe, create a restore point.

Once you're safe, open Device Manager: If you're using Windows XP, click Start, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. Click the Hardware tab, then the Device Manager button. In Vista or Windows 7, just click Start, type device manager, and press ENTER.

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Editor’s note: Former computer security consultant Anil Polat has set a goal of traveling the world indefinitely, while blogging about his tech-fueled experiences at foxnomad.com. Given his on-the-go lifestyle, Polat has strong feelings about what to look for in digital tagalongs. Here’s what he recommends.

Ethernet cable: Many hotels have ethernet jacks that allow you to bypass all of the potential flakiness of so many wireless connections. Many airports (hint, hint: JFK) don’t advertise that they too have their fair share of jacks hiding around certain terminals, opening up the possibility of free Internet via wire. A handy little retractable ethernet cable could be just what you need.

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Several keys on skyDX's keyboard stopped functioning. He asked the Desktops forum for help.

If your flute comes out lute, your pluck merely luck, and your bonanza a banana, try cleaning your keyboard. That might not fix the problem, but it's the best place to start.

Shut down the PC. Turn the keyboard upside-down (if you have a laptop, keep it open and turn the whole thing upside-down) and gently tap on the back so that crumbs and dirt fall out. Then use a can of compressed air (you can buy this at any computer store for a few dollars) to blow out whatever is still stuck. Be sure to read the instructions on the can, first. Then turn the PC upside-down and tap it gently again to get the last bits out.

If you have a desktop, you might consider unbending the end of a paperclip, and using that to fish out the junk below the keys. There's an element of risk in doing this--it could damage the keyboard (although it hasn't yet for me). That's why I strongly recommend against this for laptops, where a broken keyboard is a much more serious problem.

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Chances are, your PC is pretty tame--you have a beach-scene wallpaper, the default Windows 7 Aero theme, and a standard-issue Dell keyboard. But you don't have to settle for the ordinary. It's time to mix things up with a few easy ways to make everybody say "Wow."

Though we can't give you the oh-so-cool Minority Report interface, we can give you a few tips on how to spice up your tech life--with a widget here, a wallpaper there, maybe even a touchscreen or two--and impress your friends with a new look.

Update Your Interface With a DIY Surface

Your computer probably looks like, well, a computer. It has a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse--the basics.

Why not update your interface? Throw in a touchscreen. Heck, throw in a whole touchscreen table!

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Happy Clean-Your-Keyboard Day! Okay, I made that up, but think about it: when was the last time you did anything with your keyboard besides drop cookie crumbs on it?

Over time, all keyboards accumulate dust, crumbs, and other everyday dirt. And all it takes for, say, your J key to stop working is for something to get lodged under it.

Meanwhile, research has shown that keyboard keys can harbor infectious germs--especially if the keyboard is shared by multiple users (a common scenario in modern households).

Bottom line: give those keys a good cleaning every now and then. For starters, buy a can of compressed air. Hold the keyboard sideways over a trashcan, then blast every single nook and cranny with the nozzle. (Maybe it's just me, but I find this kind of fun.)

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Mario can't rescue the princess without his Fire Flower. Mega Man can't beat Dr. Wily without his Mega Buster. If you're going to save the world, you need the proper equipment--and a keyboard and mouse just won't cut it. Fortunately, you can get pretty much any mainstream console gamepad working on a PC, so you won't have to shell out megabucks for an X-Arcade TankStick to bring back your gaming glory days.

Current Controllers: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

First off, if you haven't tried using your Wiimote on your PC, you're missing out. We've got a how-to on using your Wiimote with your PC already, but the abbreviated version is: Get GlovePIE.

Xbox 360 controllers also aren't too tricky to get working, since they're made by Microsoft. If you have one with a USB cable already, it should work when you plug it in, but if you'd rather not be tethered to your PC you'll need to grab an Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver ($25), which will let you use up to four Xbox 360 gamepads and headsets at a time so you can brawl with your buddies.

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Take a close look at your mouse. Chances are good it has at least three buttons: left, right, and middle. (Note: Your middle button might be your scroll wheel, which on most mice is clickable.) I've already talked about getting the most from your mouse, but this week I thought I'd home in on the middle button.

Why would I want to do that? Well, I just took an informal poll of about ten people, and guess how many of them actually use that middle button? A grand total of one. One! People, people, people...

Close Browser Tabs Quickly

First up: browser tabs. I routinely have 10-15 tabs open in my browser at any given time. If I want to close a tab, I have to click it, then click the little X that appears on the tab. That's one more click than I prefer, and it brings into focus a tab I'm planning to close. Crazy, right?

If you middle-click any tab in Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, boom, it's gone. No need to make it visible first; no need to reach for the X. Just middle-click, boom.

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Until now, we've focused solely on what happens when you click that middle button (which on some mice is also the scroll wheel). For example, clicking it on a browser tab instantly closes that tab. Clicking a Web link opens that link in a new tab. And middle-clicking a browser folder opens new tabs for all that folder's links.

Ever wonder what happens when you click and hold the middle mouse button? Glad you asked. This action activates a handy page-scrolling option in applications like Word, Excel, Adobe Reader, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

In other words, when you click and hold the middle mouse button, you can then drag your mouse forward or back to scroll up or down the page, respectively. This feature is intended for folks who don't have a scroll wheel, but it works just as well with scroll wheels--and I know many people who prefer the speed of middle-click scrolling to the slow, steady pace of wheel scrolling.

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On Tuesday you learned about using it to quick-close browser tabs, and yesterday you discovered that middle-clicking Web links automatically opens them in new tabs. What more could ol' Middy possibly do for you?!

If you're a Firefox or Internet Explorer user, plenty. Let's say you've organized a handful of favorite sites--you know, the ones you visit daily--into a folder. Smart move.

Here's an even smarter one: You can instantly open every link in a folder, each in its own tab, but middle-clicking that folder.

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Yesterday, for example, you learned that clicking Middy on any open browser tab closes it immediately--even if it's a tab that's not currently visible.

If you happened to read the comments for that post, you got a sneak peek at today's tip: middle-clicking Web links. (Way to steal my thunder, LindaA! Just kidding.)

Specifically, when you middle-click a link in Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer (not sure about Opera, but I'm guessing so), that link opens immediately in a new tab.

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I just took an informal poll of about 10 people I know, and guess how many of them actually use that middle button? A grand total of one. One! People, people, people...

Starting today and for the rest of the week, I'm going to show you how to make the most of the middle mouse button. (Think I'll call it "Middy.") It's more versatile than you've ever imagined.

First up: browser tabs. I routinely have 10-15 tabs open in my browser at any given time. If I want to close a tab, I have to click it, then click the little X that appears on the tab. That's one more click than I prefer, and it brings into focus a tab I'm planning to close. Crazy, right?

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I asked him what I considered an obvious question: "Why didn't you just press the Windows key?"

"The what key?" he responded.

Seriously? This isn't common knowledge? Apparently not, because after a quick survey of some friends and family, I discovered that few people ever bother with the Windows key, and some don't even know what it's there for.

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Last week I talked about how to activate a window just by moving your mouse over it. This week, let's focus on ways you can get more from your mouse.

Scroll the Ribbon in Office 2007 Apps

When you're viewing a document in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, a flick of the mouse wheel scrolls your document up or down, just like in a Web page.

Move your cursor up to the Ribbon, however, and the mouse wheel takes on a different function: It scrolls through the tabs.

I'm not saying this is any faster or easier than just clicking the tab you want to view, but it does give you an alternative.

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USB hubs come in all shapes and sizes, but they have one thing in common: They sit on your desk, adding to the overall clutter. (Where have you gone, wireless USB? Where?!)

If you happen to have a desk with those cord-organizing grommet holes, I've got the perfect solution: the In-Desk USB 4 Port Hub.

This clever accessory fits inside any standard 2-inch grommet hole. Plug the underside into one of your PC's USB ports and you've got four new "topside" ports at your disposal.

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Sue Bulot wants advice about digitizing all of her important papers.

You can't get rid of all your important papers, but with a shredder and a scanner, you can reduce them to a handful. Of course, you have to know what you should keep, what you should scan, what you should shred, and what can safely be tossed into the recycling.

You should keep your original of birth and death certificates, passports and other citizenship documents, and your current will. Because of something called the Best Evidence Rule, you should also keep contracts in their original form. Courts will usually accept a copy of a contract, but if there are two conflicting versions of a contract, the one that isn't a copy carries greater weight.

What about tax records? Two different accountants told me that a scanned document wouldn't be a problem with the IRS. But when I called the IRS, a customer service representative recommended I "keep the original forms for three years."

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James dropped his laptop and broke the screen. What should he do?

First, you need to determine if anything else is broken. Try booting the laptop. If the screen can still create a legible image, you should have no trouble seeing if everything else works. (On the other hand, if you hear a loud scraping noise, turn it off, immediately. That could be your hard drive destroying data.)

If you can't get any image on your screen, try plugging it in to an external monitor. If the screen is the only thing that's damaged, and you're tight on cash, you may want accept that your laptop is now a small desktop.

You can also get the laptop repaired, but be forewarned: Replacing a laptop's screen professionally can cost as much as buying a new laptop. It will almost certainly cost more than buying a monitorless desktop of equivalent power. But contact your laptop's manufacturer and get a price before you make that decision.

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Margaret T. wants to boot from a flash drive and work on documents from there.

You'll need to get an operating system onto the flash drive. You've got a number of options, and I'll discuss two. But first, a couple of rules that apply to any bootable flash drive:

1) Make sure your PC can boot from a flash drive. You can do this in the hardware settings (also called the CMOS or BIOS settings), but I can't tell you exactly how. Boot your computer and look for a message like "Press KEY for Setup." It will be one of the first things to appear on your screen as you power up. Press that key immediately. Hunt the resulting menu for something like Boot Options or Boot Order. You want to make sure that USB devices are listed before your hard drive in the boot order.

2) Use an empty flashdrive. It will make everything easier.

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ImAWhat asked the Answer Line forum why, when he has two USB devices plugged into his "really cheap laptop," he can't run a third.

The first thing you should do is make sure the ports are working. Unplug all of your USB devices, then pick a dependable one and try it out in each port. If it fails to work in one of them, the problem isn't the number of ports, but that particular one.

Another possibility: That old laptop of yours just can't get enough electricity to the USB bus to power three different devices. A powered USB 2.0 hub

Another possibility: If your laptop is sufficiently old, it may have USB 1.1 ports, while your devices could be USB 2.0. That could cause a problem, but it's unlikely. USB 2.0 is backward compatible with 1.1; 2.01 devices run in a 1.1 port, just v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

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If you're looking to outfit your business with a new printer, now is a great time to buy a color laser. Whether you're a single user who prints newsletters at home or you're buying for a corporate marketing department that designs collateral materials, you're in a buyer's market. Color laser printers are becoming progressively faster, smaller, and cheaper to operate than ever before, and with prices starting at $300, they're affordable for all budgets.

The lowest-end (sub-$500) color laser printers, while incredibly affordable, are typically slow and have limited paper capacity--and they aren't cheap to operate, due to the relatively high cost of consumables. Printers in the $500-to-$1000 range are faster, handle more paper and different paper sizes, and cost less to maintain than inexpensive models. If you're prepared to pay over $1000, the sky's the limit: You'll find printers with workhorse print speeds, large-capacity paper trays, lower costs per page, and sophisticated paper options. Here are a few key features to consider when looking for a color laser that will work best for your business.

The Need for Speed

Before you buy any printer, you'll need to figure out how many pages your office prints per month. Then you'll need to look at the specified engine speed and monthly duty cycle of the printer you're considering, to see whether your usage pattern fits within the printer's capabilities.

The printer's engine speed, expressed as a page-per-minute (ppm) specification, tells you how fast the printer is under ideal conditions (or, in some cases, the rather unnatural conditions achieved in a vendor's test environment). In our tests for our Top 10 Color Laser Printers chart, most printers do no better than 75 percent of their top engine speed. The cheapest color laser printers, not surprisingly, are usually far pokier than their makers claim them to be. Nevertheless, engine speed is a decent guideline for figuring out whether the printer can handle your office's output on a day-to-day basis. The more people who use the printer, and the more they print, the higher that engine speed should be--unless you like hanging around the printer with your coworkers, waiting to see whose print job comes out first.

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A corrupted Outlook database trashes your e-mail archive and contact list. An accidentally deleted folder wipes out critical business documents. A sudden hard-drive failure destroys your MP3s and photo libraries. The list of potential catastrophes goes on and on, and few users are prepared to deal with them. That's because they lack a diversified backup plan.

From a certain point of view, data is a little like money. Financial advisors always recommend maintaining a diversified portfolio, the idea being that if one stock or mutual fund tanks, you won't go broke. The same concept applies to backups: By diversifying your approach--that is, archiving your data in multiple places using multiple methods--you're safe even if disaster strikes one location or collection of data.

Let's take a look at the ways you can expand your backup portfolio to protect against the inevitable data catastrophe. To ensure the safey of your important files, I recommend using at least a few of the following methods in unison.

Method 1: The Full-System Backup

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For years, XGA resolutions have dominated both notebook displays and digital projectors, making it easy for mobile presenters to use a laptop with their office projector. Now, however, with both business and consumer notebook displays shifting from the 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 (and as such, from XGA resolution to WXGA), projectors have failed to keep up: Only a handful of projector models sold today are WXGA.

If your notebook's resolution and your projector's native resolution differ, your image will be interpolated, a process that can introduce unsightly artifacts and distortion, especially in text documents. If your wide-screen laptop lacks a way to toggle among resolutions via a single button, at least make sure that you can adjust the notebook's resolution downward in software to match the native resolution of the projector you're using.