The best way to keep your computer systems running smooth, and problem-free is to create a healthy environment for it. A healthy environment begins with clean, filtered AC power. Never use a surge protector with your computer. Only use an Uninterruptible Power Supply, sometimes called a UPS or battery backup. These are power rated in volt-amps. Generally, a laptop or mini will require at least a 350 va unit. An iMac 750 va, and a Mac Pro or server 1500 va. I recommend American Power Conversion (APC), Belkin, and Triplite units

The life-blood of any unix system is the directory structure and permissions. Think of the directory as the table of contents to a book, with the hard drive being the book. If the directory becomes corrupted, it is not possible to find the desired data. Permissions specify who can read and write to files and folders. Damage to both is just part of the nature of computing, but can render your data and computer useless. To prevent small problems from snowballing, use Disk Utility weekly to repair permissions and to check your directory. Even better, use Mac HelpMate from The MacXperts to automate this and other routine maintenance jobs.

It is not a question of if you will ever lose important data, only a matter of when and how often! Backing up your data is an essential part of computer support. It is vital to have at least one on-site and one off-site backup. In the event of catastrophic loss, such as fire or theft, your on-site backup will be lost. This is where your off-site backup becomes a life-saver. For Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 users, Time Machine is the ideal on-site backup option. Off-site solutions include Mozy, SpiderOak, Carbonite, JungleDisk with Amazon S3 Services, and CrashPlan.

Think your Mac is immune from malware? Think again. Sure, we don't get nearly as many infections as Windows users, but it does happen. Perhaps even worse is that your Mac can receive a Windows virus that can then be sent to a Windows user, destroying their system. Not such a good move if you are trying to build a business relationship with that person or organization. Every Mac should have a solid anti-malware utility installed. My personal choice is Intego VirusBarrier.

Need a full-featured office application suite, but don't want the expense and bugs of Microsoft Office? Sun Microsystems Open Office, available for the Mac as both Open Office and NeoOffice are terrific alternatives for many users - and they are free!

Got Boot Camp? Now how are you going to backup your windows partition? WinClone to the rescue. WinClone will create a duplicate of your Boot Camp partition, saving it to your Mac partition. Then when your Mac side is backed up with TimeMachine, your Windows data is doubly safe.

Think you need to go through the expense, hassle, and security concerns to install Windows on your Mac to run your Windows-only applications. Perhaps not. There are may alternatives to running Windows software without windows. Check our our blog "Running Windows on Macintosh".

Ever been out of town and just had  to have that important document that was safely stored away on your home computer? There are now many free and easy options to have remote access to all of your Mac and Windows systems.