As we get back into work life after that long Christmas & New Year holiday, don’t forget that January is National clean up your computer month.    This week we have decided to focus on “clearing up the clutter”.  It can be a real nuisance when our computers are full. The things we think about are not being able to download anything or save copies of documents, but also, this will prevent Windows from installing new updates which are vital for security. If security updates cannot install, it leaves your computer in a vulnerable state. But what can we do to clear up some space?  

Here’s just a snippet of things we check -  

Download Folder.

Lets all look at the Downloads folder, I can guarantee we all have hundreds of documents and pictures in there, perhaps back to when we purchased our computers… The question is, do we need them? And the answer is probably no.  

So, lets remove them. Any you don’t need, drag your cursor to highlight them. Or press ctrl and A to select them all… now delete them. These will now land in the recycle folder. We will come back on how to permanently remove those shortly.  

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Desktop

The Desktop isn’t probably quite as bad as the Download folder, but for many people, the Desktop is a convenient place to drop a file we are working on, but then it gets let there and forgotten about.   Our Director, Mark is one of the worst culprits for this (he cleared his desktop in October, but when checking this week, has found he has added over 70 files to his desktop since then).  So, now is the time sort, archive away and delete all those temporary files from the desktop!

Applications

Many computers will come preinstalled with what we like to call, Bloatware. These are the manufacturers applications which they say will speed up your computer… but the majority of the time, they don’t. They are just clutter.

Removing these will not only create some space, but it may also even help speed your computer up. Some of these apps will have background tasks which are constantly running when your computer is turned on.  

The Cloud

Pictures, videos, large spreadsheets, and word documents. Things we work on every day and save on to our local computers. One service we always recommend to our customers is Microsoft SharePoint. Did you know if you have your emails and software with Office 365, this service is probably already included in what you are paying for? Microsoft SharePoint which runs through the Microsoft OneDrive application will allow you to save up to 1TB of data in the cloud. You can personalise how you want it to be set up.  

Folders can be created with restricted access, and you can collaborate with colleagues. Do you have a spreadsheet both you and a colleague require access to? Then why not work together within the same document? Not only is it a useful service to have, but saving in the cloud can clear up so much space on your computer. As well, if your computer corrupts or goes missing, you can be relaxed knowing all your data is in the cloud and not on that dead computer!

Interested? Why not give us a ring and get yours booked in, lets get that PC up and running for the new year ahead!   Give us a call on 01204 897824 and Reece or Luke will get you booked in!!!