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Hmmm is there anything more frustrating than trying to work on a computer that has seen better days?

This one that I'm working on right now is as slow as treacle and finding anything that I need that's filed away on the hard drive is like watching grass grow. While the motherboard and hard disks are all fine it's been ages since I reformatted and now performance has dropped considerably and I'm getting more and more impatient every time I want to open a new file.

At some stage I'm just going to have to bite the bullet ... back everything up ... and do a format and reload. Of course finding the time to do that is going to be an issue and maybe I'll just have to come in next Sunday and get the job done because the computer's slow performance is costing me a lot of time.

So how is your computer going? Is it functioning as it should or is it chugging along like mine and you're just too busy ... or perhaps too lazy ... to do something about it?

Are you prepared to go on working with something that runs about as slow as a geriatric snail simply because you feel you don't have time to stop and fix it?

The last thing you need when times are tough is for the equipment that you use in your business every day to be costing you money rather than making you money. For webmasters our computers are the most important tools that we use and we need them to be in top condition or else they are costing us money.

If your computer is running slow stop for a moment and add up all that time you waste each day waiting for your computer to find and load a file and then multiply that figure by what you think your average hour is worth in dollar terms. The end result just might scare you into doing something to fix the problem sooner rather than later.

Is it time to replace?
And while we're talking about the importance of your computer and how it can really have an impact on your bottom line ... just how old is that computer that you're using? Have you been using the same computer and components for years or do you regularly update your computer?

A recent study out here found that many businesses buy a computer and then use it till it fails. They have no replacement policy for old equipment and just wait for the computer to reach a point where it dies and can't be revived before they go out and buy a new one.

That approach might be fine for home users but is it really the best approach if you're running a business that relies on your computer? When an old computer fails it almost always takes a lot of valuable data with it. Important files and data is lost when an old computer goes to God and the impact on a small business ... on your business ... can be enormous.

How would your business fare when that old clunker that you're using suddenly turns up its toes and can't be revived? Just think of the passwords that you might lose and what you would have to do to recover them ... if they could be recovered.

Perhaps it's time to start thinking about replacing your old equipment on a regular basis. A computer that is two years old is two years closer to death ... a computer that is three years old is three years closer ... so how old is your computer and what are you going to lose when it dies?

Don't buy cheap
Of course replacing equipment can be very expensive and we want to keep our costs down so it's tempting to head off to some bargain store for any replacements that we might have to buy. It's also very tempting to buy from some of those cheap suppliers in China but always remember that you get what you pay for.

If you need a computer for your business ... and what webmaster doesn't ... then it's false economy to buy cheap because they don't last ... the quality of their components is inferior ... the chances are that a cheap computer will spend a lot of time being repaired rather than working to make you money ... and that's just a fact of life.

Your tools ... those things that you use every day to make money ... need to be kept in good working condition. You need to look after them ... you need to spend money on the best tools for the job because ultimately cheap can equate to junk and junk is not going to make money for you.