When it comes to making money online, you have to locate a product or service to sell, set up and operate a website or an online store, drive traffic to your sales page and convert prospects into buyers. To do all of these, you'll need at least a computer smoothly running to access the Internet in the first place. Therefore, it's better to learn some basic computer skills to keep your computer healthy and troubleshoot computer problems when need be. My PC is running smoothly because I perform regular checking and cleaning up tasks on my system. Maintaining the health of a computer is no rocket science. As long as you follow the guidelines below, you can keep your PC free from errors, without having to seek support from technicians who could charge you hundreds of dollars.

1. Speed up the performance of your computer:
The Windows operating system comes with a set of useful tools you can use to optimize your system by freeing up disk space, speeding up access to data, detecting and repairing disk errors. For further information, you may want to check out Microsoft's website at: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx.

2. Use MSConfig:
MSConfig includes a basic startup manager which allows you to enable or disable auto-start programs. Optimizing startup configurations will speed up the boot process. To access MSConfig, simply type 'msconfig' in the 'Run' dialog box, click 'OK', and then click the 'Startup' tab. The system will take you to a page with a list of startup items that are loaded every time you turn on your computer. Some startup programs are absolutely necessary while others are simply a waste of RAM.

3. Download Ad-Aware Personal for protection against viruses:
Free antivirus programs may carry their own spyware which will mess up your computer. For protection against viruses and infected attachments, I recommend using Ad-Aware Personal, which is downloadable free of charge. It has advanced features that are designed to protect you from viruses, Trojans, malware, browser hijackers and tracking components.

4. Download Sygate personal firewall:
I installed Sygate personal firewall on my PC to guard against hackers. This software comes with a user friendly interface and, most importantly, is free for personal use. It is claimed to be the first personal firewall to offer protection from malicious code intrusions to keep the information on your PC safe and private. What I like most is its enhanced features for protocol driver level protection. For example, hackers tend to perform network-wide port scan to locate vulnerable target machines. I close down port 80 (HTTP connection), port 20, 21 (FTP), and port 23 (Telenet) to protect my system from hackers. However, closing down computer ports are only recommended for experienced users.

5. Use Symantec Ghost:
I recommend using Symantec Ghost to take an image of your system and save it in a safe place. Symantec Ghost actually creates a virtual partition, or an image, on your hard drive, which could save you lots of time in case your system hangs or crashes. Simply use the Symantec restore program to restore the image back to your system partition. You can have a fresh and healthy OS within ten minutes. No more trips to technicians who tend to charge exorbitant prices for their services.

Building a successful online business is without doubt time-consuming, and you need to put the majority of your time into driving traffic and closing sales. This means you need to spend as less time in maintaining your system (both hardware and software) as possible. Having a clean and optimized Windows operating system is not that hard. I'm sure it will make keeping the health of your Windows system a breeze by following the above-mentioned steps.