Maintenance

• Microsoft didn't have downloadable patches or service packs when Windows 3.1 came out the way it did for later versions of Windows. Regardless, these types of updates would be long removed from Microsoft's website. You can look around the Internet for odd specialty websites for programs that are small enough and have the ability to run on Windows 3.1. Most of the maintenance you can do to keep this old OS running well is to keep from downloading or installing lots of programs. Windows 3.1 is so small it might even be best to just occasionally reinstall the whole operating system. This will clean things up and often be the simplest solution. The only other regular maintenance would be to run defrag and disc check on a regular basis.
  
  

Upgrading

• The only reasons to use Windows 3.1 is if you have a very old computer and can't afford to or are too stubborn to upgrade. The only other possibility is that you only need something very small like Windows 3.1 to do a simple task and not take up a lot of space or resources. In niche applications Windows 3.1 is fine if it does the job. However, using one of the varieties of Linux operating systems might do the job just as well and be easier to update and maintain. Other than niche applications it will most likely be simpler and more cost effective to upgrade to another operating system, even if it is still an outdated version of Windows such as Windows 95.