If you feel like you spend about as much time and energy fixing computers as fixing cars at your shop, it may be time for an information technology (IT) checkup. Here's some advice we've collected from computer experts familiar with body shops about ways to make sure you get the most use, and least hassle, out of your shop's IT investment.

Image courtesy of Istock Photo Illustration by Stephanie Parker

• Do some basic housekeeping. Chris Schaefer, president of CS Consulting in Portland, Ore., helps a number of body shops with their IT and said that shops, more than other types of businesses he works with, tend to have more dust that can collect in and on computers.

"As that dust builds up, it can cause the machines to overheat and stop working," Schaefer says.

You can help extend the life of your computer hardware, he said, by periodically wiping off the machines and clearing the vents — and even opening up the computer cases and using canned air to carefully blow out the dust.

You may not have to rekey that estimate

"Most of the newer CPUs and PCs have variable speed fans that adjust depending on how hot they are," Schaefer says. "If you hear the fans in the machine running full bore all the time, that's an indication you have a heat problem and probably need to clean the machine."

• Upgrade your system software wisely. Make sure you've signed up to be notified about system software upgrades from Microsoft, but Schaefer recommends against allowing such updates to be made automatically. This allows you to choose which and when upgrades are made so you don't come in one morning and find all your machines updated — and perhaps having problems.

Schaefer also suggests that his clients do not rush to switch over to Microsoft's new Vista operating system.

"Vista is going to be a great operating system, but if you are buying new equipment, I'd buy it with Windows XP," he says. "Windows XP is finally to the point where it's stable and works well. Let the home PC users work all the bugs out of Vista for a year. I have no question it's going to be a good operating system, but unless you want to be a beta tester for Microsoft, the earliest I would recommend any shop consider Vista is late this year or early next year."

• Think DVD, not just CD. Fred Bersot, a senior product manager for Audatex estimating products, said his company now offers shops monthly ShopLink updates on a single DVD rather than multiple CDs. This speeds up the installation process and allows for higher-resolution graphics.

Audatex is not alone in the shift toward DVDs, so if you're in the market for new computer hardware, Bersot and Schaefer recommend getting a DVD drive in any new machine.