Computer Care and Safety
Computer Care and Safety
Computer Care and Safety
In 1991, the computer ethics Institute (CEI) held its first National Computer Ethics conference
in Washington DC. The ten commandments of computer Ethics were first published in Dr.
Ramon C. Barquin’s Paper prepared for the conference “IN PURSUIT OF A TEN
COMMANDMENT FOR COMPUTER ETHICS”.
1. Thou shall not use computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shall not interfere with other people’s computer work.
3. Thou shall not snoop around in other people’s computer files.
4. Thou shall not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shall not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shall not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shall not use other people’s computer resources without authorization or proper
compensation.
8. Thou shall not appropriate other people’s intellectual output.
9. Thou shall think about the social consequences of the programs you are writing or the
system you are designing.
10. Thou shall always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for
fellow humans.
Computer Laboratory
A computer laboratory is a room or building where computers are stored and used for;
learning purposes e.g. teaching and learning practical skills, internet surfing etc.
COMPUTER LABORATORY RULES AND REGULATIONS
i. Computer components should be dust free. Avoid smoking and exposing
computers to dust.
ii. Never try to remove the cover of the computer system unit.
iii. Keep all; liquids and food items away from computer. Liquid and food crumbs can
cause rusting. Also mixing liquid and electronic components can cause serious
electrical shock.\
iv. Never use your computer during storm. The computer is connected to electricity
and that means that lightening can be conducted to the computer.
v. Physically, be careful, avoid knocking and dropping any hardware to the ground
as this could cause any of the delicate components to break or be damaged and
stop working.
vi. Proper shut down of computers should be followed to avoid disks and system
failures (avoid abrupt switching off).
vii. Be careful when using the internet. Do not accept downloads from internet sites
you do not trust.
viii. Never open an email attachment unless you know and trusts the person who sent
it.
ix. Avoid making any hardware connections to the system unit mother board when
the computer is on e.g. keyboard, monitor and mouse connections.
x. Don’t bring magnetic devices to the lab. The computer has magnetic disks which
can be spoilt if they come near other magnetic fields.
xi. Handle delicate storage devices with care. Don’t touch the inner surface of
compact disks and floppy disks. Safely remove flash disks from the system.
xii. Avoid excessive bright and flickering computer monitors. The brightness of
computer monitors should be adjusted to avoid eye strain.
xiii. Always sit upright to avoid muscles pain and back aches caused by poor sitting
postures.
i) Keeping it physically clean; when dealing with computer system, dust is not
physically attractive. It can potentially destroy some parts of the computer
system.
Usually computers are cleaned using an electric blower to remove the
dusts.
Use dust covers to cover computer systems when not in use. if you are
using ploythene covers, then don not cover the computer immediately
after switching off as it will trap heat.
Employ an expert for cleaning.
ii) Safeguarding against malware; Malware is any type of software which is
designed to damage a computer or gaining unauthorized access to information
stored in it. It includes;- Viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware and others. Most
malware is distributed by flash disk, floppy disks, internet and other storage
devices.
The best way to guard against malware is to install antivirus software such as
Avast, Norton, Bitdefender, Kaspersky etc. Antivirus software helps to prevent
malware from running on a computer by detecting and removing it. Update the
antivirus regularly.
iii) Backing up important files; A back up is an external copy of important files on the
computer. This saves you the tragedy of losing your precious information in case
your computer breaks down. Backups can be created on CDs, DVDs, external hard
drives or even online backup.
iv) Installing and updating software; We can get the best out of our computers by
installing software for specific purposes. Installing means setting up and
preparing software for use. New versions of soft wares are being released every
day, it is important that existing programs are updated to get the best out of our
computers.
v) Upgrading hardware and software; Upgrading is a term used to describe adding
new and better features that improve the performance of the computer.
Hardware upgrade means adding or replacing components of the computer like
adding a hard disk with bigger memory, adding more RAM. Software upgrade
refers to significant improvement to a computer software/program for example
using an earlier version of the operating system.
vi) Fine-tuning a computer system; You can fine-tune your computer system through
many ways including disk defragmentation, disk clean-up. Disk defragmentation
scans files on the hard disk and rearranges them so that they can be read faster
by the computer. Disk clean-up is a window utility program that scans the
computer for temporary files and other files that can be deleted.
Or. A Computer Virus is a program designed to alter the way your computer functions
without your knowledge or consent.