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Dec
30
Written by:
host
12/30/2008 7:00 AM
 Over the course of a year, the digital junk in your computer can build up to one massive mess. Files get scattered everywhere except where you want them to be, email piles up, photo files become unruly, and downloaded PDFs and programs you thought you couldn't live without (but actually never looked at) take up hard drive space. It's time for a bit of end-of-year cleanup. Here are a few suggested tasks to take on. The time required will depend on how organized you've been all year— about an hour if you're neater than Monk, and much of the day if you're like, well, me...
- Clean up your email folders. Sort by topic or by sender to locate things you can delete quickly (like ads from vendors). Drag files related to committees or particular tasks into appropriate files. Pay special attention to emails with attachments, and delete as many of those as you can. After a reasonable amount of cleanup, drag everything that's left into an archive folder entitled ZZZ-2008 (the ZZZ will make sure it's last in your folder list.) Do a little happy dance now that your inbox is empty!
- Next attack your digital desktop. Virtually everything which is not a shortcut should be put somewhere else. Files on the desktop clutter up your thinking process and can even slow down your computer, so move 'em somewhere else, even if it's just to a "Deal with this stuff later" folder.
- Expore your Documents folder. If it looks like a bomb exploded there and left more files than folders, it's time to get busy. The goal should be a nice, manageable system of folders and sub folders. There are plenty of systems for filing, with 43 Folders being one of the most popular, but choose one that will work for you.
- Clear out your photos and images folders. Photos and clip art with names like 0253243_043 are truly not very helpful, so delete them, rename them or group similar items into folders or albums. Use folder naming schemes that will work well for the long term. For example, "Mission Trip 2008 - Appalachia" is better than "Appalachia Work Trip 08," because you can create a Mission Trip 2009 folder next year, thus keeping like names together.
- You have been creating daily backups of all your data, right? Right? Well, then, it's time to get started with that process. Get your computer backed up right away onto an external hard drive, using an online storage service, or to a network drive.
- Use a utility program to clean up some of the other junk on your computer, like temp files, cookies, and your browser's cache. There are basic tools on both Windows and Mac platforms; for a more advanced option, here's a great option for Mac users, and for Windows users (who should also defrag the computer.) (Though generally safe, it's still a good idea to use all of these tools with care, of course!)
- Finally, if your computer case, keyboard, armrest, monitor, or mouse looks dusty, gunky, or multicolored in a way it was not designed to look, give it a good cleaning as well. Unplug all of the power sources (removing laptop batteries is a good idea, too). Then use a wipe made for electronic equipment on the screens, and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will do wonders at cleaning plastic laptop cases and other external parts.
~ Tim Gossett
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