ETS Tanning Bed Blog

Recently we talked about the importance of regular, ongoing cleaning to keep your tanning beds in tip-top condition. But, salon maintenance should also include your work stations and computers. Most of us use salon management software like Helios and a few other mission critical applications. Keeping those computers cleaned and maintained means less down time and a lower chance of losing all your important records.

Inside & Out

There are two parts to maintaining a computer system – the inside and the out. Keeping the inside of your systems clean means having up-to-date software, installing and running an updated anti-virus program, deleting old files and defragmenting your hard drives from time-to-time. If you have a newer Windows or Mac system, you should be able to set it to automatically run those regular maintenance tasks so you don’t have to think about it. If not, consider upgrading.

Bug Blasting Free Tip

For a quality and free anti-virus program, try AVG. It’s available at http://free.avg.com and it’s great for protecting against viruses and spyware, which is critical if you’re going online from your business computers.

Oh Yeah! Back It Up

You should also be backing up your important accounting and business files on a regular basis. I make a CD copy of all my accounting and important files at the end of every month. Then, I take the disc home and throw out the last month. By keeping the back-up copy off-site and at my house, I’m protecting it in case of theft, vandalism or fire at my salon.

Dust the Computer?

Now, what about the outside of the system? While dust on and inside your business computers won’t affect your tanning beds, it can affect how your computers run - leading to down time and lost business. Dust and dirt can short out circuits – so, once a year, get a can of compressed air and use it to clean out the keyboard and drives. If you’re comfortable opening up your system, do so and clean inside of it and around the circuit board.

If you’re not technically savvy, you could always take your system into a store like Best Buy (they charge $99 for an annual computer check-up and cleaning). But, you might just be better off asking a friend for help or investing in a basic computer book.