How to Clean Out Your Computer

Last Monday was National Clean Out Your Computer Day, and we were busy performing our regular clean out! Now that the daunting task is crossed off our list, we are ready to give tips on the best ways to clean out your computer and keep your data backed up and secure.

Photo credit: rfranklinaz / Foter / CC BY

Get Rid of What You Don’t Need The first step to cleaning out your computer is the hardest. Deciding what files you need to keep and get rid of is difficult. There are many programs available that will clean out your unused files for you, but if you want to be in charge of what stays and what goes, here are a few steps.

• Open Control Panel on Windows or System Preferences on Mac and remove every program you don’t use. If you are unsure, you can always Google the program and see what exactly it does.
• Open your Temp folder on your main hard drive and delete everything. These files are just taking up room.
• Pull up the Run box and type in “msconfig.” Open the Startup Tab and remove programs you don’t use or don’t want to power up when you start your computer. These programs start once you turn your computer on and don’t stop running even if you don’t use them. This will speed up your computer significantly. Mac instructions are here.

Clean Your Files Windex may solve a lot, but it is not what you need to clean your computer files. There are two ways you can clean up the files on your computer that are just taking up room – disk defragmentation and disk cleanup. Depending on your operating system, you may have to find an external application to perform these cleanups. Install Antivirus Software It may seem counterproductive since you spent so much time deleting files and programs, but installing an anti-virus software is a necessary step to keeping your computer clean and healthy. There are a lot of things you can do to help your computer, but once you get a virus your data (and sometimes your system) is a done deal. Prevent a virus by installing software that hunts these computer diseases down. Backup and Plan for Disasters Backup, backup, backup. MDL Tech can’t say it enough! If you don’t backup your data, you will be kicking yourself in case of a disaster. One of the best times to backup your data is when you are cleaning out your computer. Store all of your data on a separate hard drive and place it in a safe place. If something terrible happens, you will be stress-free with your backup at hand. Of course, you are constantly adding to your data. How are you supposed to keep up with backups? This would be part of your disaster recovery plan. Decide on time intervals where you sit down and sync your data between your computer and your backup drive. In your disaster recovery plan, you should account for natural disasters where even your backup can be compromised. Cloud computing is one solution you have to always be able to access your data, but you need to make sure your cloud choice is secure. It is a bit of a headache, but cleaning out your computer will make your life easier in the long run. Clean up your files and backup your data to do your computer and yourself a favor.